China Systematically Developing New Technologies

newsblaze writes "China, having recognized there are major gaps in its science and technology arsenal, released their Technology Development Plans. The plans cover five main areas — geology, mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering and aeronautical engineering. Three areas are prioritized in space technology and six major goals are announced. All this comes after having first set out their 100 Year Vision of Greatness. They appear to be giving themselves a breathing space, telling the world they are interested in cooperation and also giving themselves a major target, in much the same way as John F Kennedy did for the USA."

Comments

What's the fourth main area?

[eggsurplus]

The plans cover five main areas -- geology, mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering and aeronautical engineering

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[Reason58]

The plans cover five main areas -- geology, mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering and aeronautical engineering Counting.

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[treeves]

Steganography.

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[cybermage]

ruthless efficiency?

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Ecconomic Warfare of course.

This is just a shot fired across the bow of globalization. But since the globalists are all worshipers of Mao, this resurgence of national identity for China will go unnoticed.

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Surprise?

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[sentientbeing]

and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope.. I mean party.

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[cjdkoh]

they can't reveal the fifth area. if they did then people would know the step that comes before profit. we can't be having that.

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[happyemoticon]

THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!

Re:What's the fourth main area?

[Traa]

Suplies?

Cultural differences

[lawpoop]

The fact that China is pursuing a 100-year plan for greatness underscores the difference between American and Chinese culture, and shows why American culture is superior. Why bother planning for the next 100 years when the rapture is immanent? Instead, they should be teaching the Bible in schools like we do here, so that they might be saved when Jesus returns.

Re:Cultural differences

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

Why bother planning for the next 100 years when the rapture is immanent? Instead, they should be teaching the Bible in schools like we do here, so that they might be saved when Jesus returns.

It will no doubt shock you to know this, but the majority of Christians in the world do not believe in the rapture and quite a few of us really have no desire at all for the Bible to be taught in schools. Churches and parents can do the Bible teaching quite nicely on their own. The problem is that the people who do believe in the rapture and want the Bible to be taught in school make an awful lot of noise and while they are in very large numbers in the USA, they are not in the majority in other places. Catholics, Orthodox and other Christian groups totally reject the idea of the rapture as a misunderstanding of the Bible. But I suppose you probably think we all spend our spare time bombing abortion clincs too, don't you?

Re:Cultural differences

[rbarreira]

That's like telling the dead man "there are not many killers". What good does that do to him?

It's easier when you have a target

[jonnythan]

It's a lot easier to make technological gains when you're essentially trying to copy the technologies already in use in other parts of the world.

Re:It's easier when you have a target

[qwijibo]

It worked well for Japan and the auto industry. They started with making inferior copies cheaply, figured out how to improve the quality without substantially increasing the cost, and now American manufacturers are second rate.

Though, there have been some impressive contributions to the crypto community from chinese researchers recently. They're already ahead of the curve in some fields.

Re:It's easier when you have a target

[CyberLord Seven]

It's not that simple.

You have to have a reason for your people to not want unions.

From what I understand Toyota and Nissan take much better care of their employees than GM and Ford. At Toyota and Nissan if you come up with a great idea that will eliminate your responsibilities you do not lose your job!

Of course not all the blame goes to the auto companies. They were working within the framework of the society at large and it's laws. And they were also dealing with their own history towards their own employees.

Re:It's easier when you have a target

[Vicissidude]

They started with making inferior copies cheaply, figured out how to improve the quality without substantially increasing the cost

Actually, the Japanese also copied their quality improvement program from an American, W. Edwards Deming. We handed them everything they're currently using to put us out of business.

Japan started upon Deming's quality improvement path in 1950. Ford Motor, in contrast, didn't start until 1981. Those facts alone can explain the last 40 years of automotive history.

Re:It's easier when you have a target

[hey!]

The great genius of Japan is that they don't have the last shred if the Not Invented Here syndrome. Same goes for India. Japan didn't start out making cheap copies of goods, they started over after having their industry bombed out. They went from junk to world class way faster than Americans realized, not because they copied, but because they learned. In fact they learned about the best of American innovation faster than Americans did.

American has dreadful NIH and xenophobia. We won't even use the metric system. I heard a guy on Jon Stewarts show talking about changes in US immigration policy away from immigration and towards guest worker program. He memorably said, "The one thing we copy from France, and it has to be their immigration policies."

China once had the kind of NIH and xenophobic attitudes America has been sliding into, and they suffered a century of weakness as a result.

America is still stuck looking inwardly, and to the past. The big irony of a decade or more of conservative ascendancy in US policy is that the conservatives initiatives have managed to demolish one of the conservatisms most cherished values: national sovereignty. National sovereignty doesn't mean the same thing when you are dependent upon others for everything except agriculture, and that done with foreign machines running on foreign oil paid for with currency propped up by foreign treasuries. That's not a xenophobe's nightmare future, that's today.

It's not that this is so bad, this is exactly what we told the world we wanted. The problem is we didn't exactly have much of a plan to manage the transition, other than to take some quick short term profits from labor cost differentials.

Personally, I think its futile to think about putting the genie back in the bottle, because it can't be done without breaking the bottle. But that's exactly what people are going to start demanding once the reality sinks in because we're culturally and poltiically ill equipped to deal with our interdependency with the rest of the world.

The Iraq fiasco may be a blessing in disguise. When we talk about "victory", what we're talking about is the ability to impose our preferred outcomes -- unless there is a new definition of military victory. But we are so over our heads there that even the administration has abandoned its utter contempt of diplomacy. In the end we're either leaving with our tails between our legs or we're going to the rest of the world for help with a humbled attitude. Maybe both. And maybe we'll find out humble pie isn't so hard to swallow now and then.

One of the natural roles for the US in the global economy is as a major center of scientific and technological innovation. But we aren't going to be only such center, and we can't expect to continue as driver of innovation if we pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist or doesn't matter. One thing we can learn from the Japanese is to embrace the alien and learn from it.

Hooray

[stratjakt]

America needs more propoganda like this.

They got any plans to start respecting human rights?

this is all well and nice but

[xlurker]

it would be nicer if they also started investing more interest in human rights, democratic ideals, freedom of speech, free press, no censorship, political pluralism, open competition of ideas and on and on and on.

Science is a system and culture based on open discourse, accountability and merit. A culture that strives for good science should also honour these values in itself.

Re:this is all well and nice but

[192939495969798999]

Forget China, I'd like to see the USA start "investing more interest in human rights, democratic ideals, freedom of speech, free press, no censorship, political pluralism, open competition of ideas and on and on and on!"

Re:this is all well and nice but

[Brandybuck]

Yes. Once they get those, then the progress will follow. Science and technology doesn't happen in a vacumn, it happens in an environment where men are free to engage in intellectual curiosity.

This program recalls to mind China's earlier experiment with statist progress. "The Great Leap Forward" was an unmitigated disaster.

Re:this is all well and nice but

[hax4bux]

Some science leadership would also be nice

Re:this is all well and nice but

[lawpoop]

"We, in the USA, lock up our criminals, not our politically undesireable."

Every society defines its own crime. The "political undesirable" were criminals, in Soviet Russia. What is wrong with American society that we have so many criminals? Are there more criminals, or more *crimes* -- behaviors that in the past did not result in imprisonment, but now do?

Are things really getting worse on the street, or are three-strikes laws and 0-tolerance drug policies for non-violent offenders locking up people who are otherwise productive members of society?

This CS Monitor article says that we now lead the world in incarceration: "More than 5.6 million Americans are in prison or have served time there, according to a new report by the Justice Department released Sunday. That's 1 in 37 adults living in the United States, the highest incarceration level in the world."

" We don't send entire families to gulags. We don't execute or exile our Jews, gays, and minorities. Were exiles (internal) counted in your prison figures? I bet not."

You know what? You might be right. We might not actually have worse incarceration rates than Soviet Russia. But I'm sick of not being the worst. I believe that America is the greatest country on Earth. I think we should have the lowest incarceration rate in the world, right now, not just lower than Soviet Russia.

This ABC article says that "The United States has incarcerated 726 people per 100,000 of its population, seven to 10 times as many as most other democracies. The rate for England is 142 per 100,000, for France 91 and for Japan 58. " Why are we getting beaten by Japan, France, and England? Why aren't we on top?

stealth technology

[cyfer2000]

Apparently. But most people simply couldn't see it.

We can all breathe easier

[Volatile_Memory]

If you can't trust the Red Chinese, who can you trust? Besides, they don't plan to crush us for 100 years! That's like 700 in dog-years.

v.m

The fifth one gets revealed next season

[wiredog]

After the Dylan song finishes playing.

You can't impose liberty. You grow it.

[Colin Smith]

human rights, democratic ideals, freedom of speech, free press, no censorship, political pluralism, open competition of ideas and on and on and on. These things will all come with a middle class who demand them. You have to build that middle class up first. This is what a lot of people don't get. It's the middle class, who are financially independent, not the working class who demand change. Funnily enough, it's money which allows freedom to flourish.

Re:You can't impose liberty. You grow it.

[tempestdata]

I disagree. I'm not saying you're wrong, but from what I've seen (yes its my subjective view point) financial wealth breeds apathy. I've seen this in more than one country and more than one society. The middle class and the rich by definition have something to loose. They are the last people to want any kind of uncertainty and change always brings uncertainty. The middle class and the rich would only throw their weight in to help the poor if they themselves had something to loose by not doing so. America is a great example of apathy due to financial wealth. I read this somewhere, (I cant remember where, so cant attribute it correctly, but I wont take credit for it) "The Chinese government has basically made a deal with its people, let it retain its place of power and in return it will bring them financial wealth". That is exactly what has been happening in China. People have been trading freedom for prosperity. There are thousands of protests in China each year, but its not the middle class and the rich protesting.. it's the poor who haven't benefited from China's prosperity.

Re:You can't impose liberty. You grow it.

[meringuoid]

The middle class and the rich by definition have something to loose. They are the last people to want any kind of uncertainty and change always brings uncertainty. The middle class and the rich would only throw their weight in to help the poor if they themselves had something to loose by not doing so.

"Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!"

Maybe, but the leaders of the revolution are usually comfortable middle-class intellectuals and student cadres, people freed from the daily necessity of earning their bread and with the leisure time to, say, debate ideology and distribute progressive literature.

The workers do have a great deal to lose. The British miners in the 1980s were highly motivated, politically informed and highly idealistic, but enough of them were prepared to scab once they saw their families suffering because of the strike; in the end Thatcher won. A 25% drop in the rich man's pay means he drives a smaller car and goes on holiday only once a year, or only within his home continent. A 25% drop in the worker's pay means his children go hungry. Not to mention that the rich man's wealth gives him substantially greater resources which he can use to make a difference.

Re:You can't impose liberty. You grow it.

[be-fan]

The poor have never contributed anything to any society, and they never will. The poor are the biggest danger to democracy, precisely because they have nothing to lose. They are easily appeased by corrupt governments that will give them temporary handouts by taking away from more productive elements of society. I don't disagree that the upper classes in wealthy countries can get apathetic, but at the same time there are very few examples of truely free societies which are not dominated by the interests of the middle and upper class.

Name a single society in history where the lower classes were the driving force for democracy? The democratic revolutions in the West (the United States, Britain, France) were driven by the interests of the commercial elite. Now, list the countries where corrupt governments came to power by making empty promises to the poor, who were only too happy to believe whatever they heard? Latin America, South-East Asia, and Africa are full of examples.

Watch out USA!

[bogaboga]

Like it or not, believe it or not, at the present pace, the Peoples' Republic of China will wield more power and influence as compared to all other major powers including the USA within two decades.

Let's look at some of the facts here:

1: They, (the Chinese), are responsible for keeping our currency (the dollar) afloat since they are holding a good chunk of our debt.

2: They are the world's greatest manufacturer now and are not about to stop.

3: They produce most scientists and engineers than all major powers combined.

4: Because of the above, they managed to shoot a satellite from orbit. The US and Russia thought they were the only ones capable of this.

5: They keep low, just like the Russians, and are planning to manufacture their own [wide body] passenger planes.

6: The USA is helping China in a way because its leaders and government are running massive deficits and on top of this, spending huge amounts of cash on munitions, creating no value at all.

Guys, the red dragon is rising and we cannot stop it!

Re:Watch out USA!

[NeutronCowboy]

1: Check, though a bit oversimplified. The Chinese can't just dump their reserves out, because the impact on the world will be too drastic. They're in a better position than the US, but can't really take advantage of it.
2: If by greatest, you mean largest by volume, then check.
3: No. And please define "all major powers". If you say it's the US and a smattering of European countries, I'd be tempted to agree. Though that's like bragging that the US got more gold medals at the Olympics than Luxembourg - misleading, not to mention irrelevant.
4: Wrong. They shot down a satellite to demonstrate they were able and willing to do so. Any country with ICBMs can achieve this, it's just that most are a bit more concerned than China about creating a huge mass of space junk.
5: China keeps low? That's news to Taiwan, the US, Japan, Tibet, and pretty much the whole world. I'd also assume that China would take offense to being compared in any way to Russia. Russia is a two-bit thug on the world stage, while China plans on being the super-power. And since when is a wide-body passenger plane anything to brag about? Airbus would love to forget its latest venture in that area.
6: Wrong. Military expenditures by China: 4.6%. Military expenditures by the US: 4.06%. And this is from heavily understated official figures.

China will be the world power by the time the second half of this century rolls around, but only one of your reasons will have even remotely something to do with it.

Re:Watch out USA!

[DerekLyons]

1: They, (the Chinese), are responsible for keeping our currency (the dollar) afloat since they are holding a good chunk of our debt.

Check, though a bit oversimplified. The Chinese can't just dump their reserves out, because the impact on the world will be too drastic. They're in a better position than the US, but can't really take advantage of it.

No need to worry about the rest of the world - the impact on their own economy and currency from dumping their reserves will be devastating to them. There is no way to dump those reserves fast enough to cause real damage to the US, but slowly enough to avoid having to take massive losses. The two are simply mutually incompatible.

no wonder

[AlgorithMan]

The plans cover five main areas
1. geology
2. mechanical engineering
3. metallurgical engineering
4. and aeronautical engineering.

No wonder China has major gaps in science and technology - if they can't even count to 5...

Wait...

[sepharious]

are you talking about our government or theirs? I get confused these days...

The ??? step

[novus ordo]

Importing technology by exporting artificially cheap goods made with that technology?

Just what the doctor ordered

[oldwindways]

Honestly, a more competitive China is the best thing that could happen to American science. We need the impetus of a threatening adversary to not only motivate the practitioners of science, but also to open the floodgates of private/corporate/government funding.

And on a related note, people need to stop dismissing China simply because of their political system. I hate communists just as much as the next red blooded American, but saying they can't do science in a one party government with a control economy is simply short sighted and naive. Doesn't anyone remember the cold war? I seem to recall the Soviets putting the first satellite in orbit, and the first man (and woman) in space. Just because we beat them to the moon doesn't mean they were inept. If anything, history should remind us how effective the concentrated efforts of the government, the economy, the military and civilians of a nation can be. Political freedom does not by default lead to progress, nor does a lack of it guarantee regress.

Definition

[Marxist Hacker 42]

These things will all come with a middle class who demand them. You have to build that middle class up first. This is what a lot of people don't get. It's the middle class, who are financially independent, not the working class who demand change. Funnily enough, it's money which allows freedom to flourish.

This must be some strange meaning of the words "middle class" of which I have not previously been aware. Last I saw, "Middle Class" in the United States was defined as having incomes in the $36,000-$120,000 range; which while certainly comfortable and able to afford a few luxuries and assets, is certainly NOT what I'd call "financially independant" or "not working class".

Other than that I agree with you- as did George Orwell. The working poor can't afford to revolt- 100% of their time is spent just trying to survive. The rich are profiting from the status quo, they aren't going to change anything. Only with a middle class, who suffer due to worker conditions and prosper with a robust economy, can these changes be made.

hm

[JeanBaptiste]

good thing they're doing it systematically. wouldn't want it to be all haphazard and shit.

Mathematics

[Elad Alon]

The fourth (fifth) area is apparently mathematics.

Kennedy dreams

[sepharious]

I find it interesting that the submitter brings up Kennedy and long range goals and visions. I've been pondering on this subject for some time now and it seems that America has lost its vision. We're trapped in a day-to-day shitfest wondering what celebrities are doing while waiting on our next paycheck to go buy some other piece of junk manufactured in said Red Country. What happened to dreaming of putting men in places they've never been and returning alive to tell the tale? Our government of today has paid the due lip service of "man on Mars....eventually", but where is the far vision? Why have we not heard something of this ilk: "First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of reducing the percentage of energy we import and continuing that trend until such time as we are energy independent"? Or "First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of balancing our budget and wisely investing surpluses in areas to maximize American potential in perpetuity." Werner von Braun thought we could have gone to Mars in the Eighties. Instead we're mucking around on planet Earth fighting a combat technique as if it were a thinking, independent entity. I want something to work towards, a dream to live. I don't want to go nine to five for forty years so I can plop my fat ass on the couch and watch the Britneys and Paris' of the future on my SuperTivo(tm). I want a country that's worth living in and living for. But maybe that's too much to ask...

Good Thing I Married One

[DumbSwede]

My wife is a Chinese National and an Economist. I don't know where to start on how naïve most of today's comments are on this topic. I myself have been to China four times. It is a vibrant growing area. Disparaging their accomplishments is far from productive.

What amazes my wife most is how much America cares about what are internal Chinese matters, while we, Americans, meddle in every affair across the globe. I can attest that the average Chinese is non too concerned about internet censorship nor political activism. They all assume (rightly or wrongly) they will all have more rights and freedoms as their wealth increases. Modern Chinese care about wealth and security. Obtaining an education is almost a mantra for them.

While the majority of rural Chinese live in property, it will not take too many more decades of double-digit GDP growth to correct this.

While I prefer living in America and believe in Capitalism and Democracy the current Chinese brand of socialism is working well. It is a hybrid system of Capitalism and Central Control that for now is working. It may breakdown in the future, but not necessarily. Communist dogma is not allowed to get in the way of economic planning. That they can plan for the long run should be envied. Chinese patience is an amazing thing.

I am not prepared to say China will eclipse America and the West soon, but am also disinclined to say they could not be the major Super Power in the world 30-50 years from now.

Of course I've hedged my bets by having a Chinese wife ;-)

Where's Intelligent Design?

[NFN_NLN]

If they want to keep on par with the US they better not omit the important areas like "Intelligent Design". Clearly, the US will dominate in this field in the coming years! :)

+5 flamebait, +5 sad but true

Funny that you say that

[WindBourne]

The American autoworkers in the Japanese plants ARE unionized. In fact, they are making as much as the folks up north. Personally, I have always thought that if a company such as GM or Ford or United Airlines is heading downwards, it is the management that should the blame. But like our politicians, those at the top try hard to shift the blame to those below them. I would guess that it is the lack of personal responsibility that is costing America. I wonder if we introduce Seppuku for our top leaders in Gov. and Business that fail, if that would help.

Space Technology

[DerekLyons]

"Plans" == "Powerpoints" != "Accomplishments" Thus, TFA (which I might point out is unsourced [1]) is incorrect in treating plans as if they were accomplished facts.

I should also point out that various functionaries in the Chinese space progam have been shopping around grand plans for China in space for a couple of years now. One who is familiar with the history of space exploration might note that NASA functionaries did the same thing in the 60's (as well as off and on since then), shopping around grandiose plans far in excess of the political goals of the national leadership. Russia's space officials have been doing the same thing since a little after the fall of the USSR. The results of all three agencies propoganda and planning are noticeable by their absence.

The only concrete results of these (Chinese) "plans" has been a heap of fearmongering FUD on Slashdot and in the blogosphere. All available evidence points towards the Chinese continuing their space program at it's current glacial pace. (Though the term 'glacial' is perhaps inappropriate - as it implies that glaciers have the same blazing speed normally associated with continental drift.) They have just enough of a program to convince the world that they are a Great Nation - and not a Yuan more. (Which is pretty much true of all nations space programs.)

[1] And the "100 Year Vision of Greatness" cited by the submitter only appears on the same website, by the same author as the "Technology Development Plans" article. This seems fairly suspicious.

Strip-mining and militarizing of Tibet is set to..

[Anonymous Bullard]

Chinese strip-mining and colonization of Tibet and the militarization of the historically "new border areas" facing India (since the 1950 invasion of Tibet by Mao's communist army) are all set to become that much more "ruthlessly efficient" once the "gaps" identified in geology, mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering and aeronautical engineering by the junta in Beijing have been addressed. The massive Tibetan mineral deposits already scouted and mapped by the Chinese geologists will make sure that the occupying regime will no show mercy for the Tibetan nation as long as 1) the resources are there to be stolen and 2) the regime remains in absolute power.

Thank your lucky stars right now if you weren't born as a Tibetan, or if you did, that you've never heard about the vague terms of "the UN declaration of human rights" or "solidarity"... although sometimes what you don't know can still hurt you badly.

Luckily, or "double-luckily", for the expansionist Chinese junta, the territories of East Turkestan they grabbed from the turkic muslim Uygur people across the vast Taklamakan desert were far easier to exploit for oil, gas, minerals and even uranium since unlike Tibet (aka The Roof of the World) the Uygur homeland lies at or even below sea level.

And for some reason the islamic world is too busy hating the "West" to pay attention to their Uyghur brothers being wiped off the map in actual fact.

Re:Read as...

[A beautiful mind]

You can't fucking steal knowledge! Your post is not only ignorant and racist, but is characteristically showing what is wrong with the direction the USA is heading towards.

Eric Idle

[pipingguy]

I Like Chinese

The world today seems absolutely crackers,
With nuclear bombs to blow us all sky high.
There's fools and idiots sitting on the trigger.
It's depressing and it's senseless, and that's why...
I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
They only come up to your knees,
Yet they're always friendly, and they're ready to please.

I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
There's nine hundred million of them in the world today.
You'd better learn to like them; that's what I say.

I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
They come from a long way overseas,
But they're cute and they're cuddly, and they're ready to please.

I like Chinese food.
The waiters never are rude.
Think of the many things they've done to impress.
There's Maoism, Taoism, I Ching, and Chess.

So I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
I like their tiny little trees,
Their Zen, their ping-pong, their yin, and yang-ese.

I like Chinese thought,
The wisdom that Confucious taught.
If Darwin is anything to shout about,
The Chinese will survive us all without any doubt.

So, I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
They only come up to your knees,
Yet they're wise and they're witty, and they're ready to please.

All together.

Wo ai zhongguo ren. (I like Chinese.)
Wo ai zhongguo ren. (I like Chinese.)
Wo ai zhongguo ren. (I like Chinese.)
Ni hao ma; ni hao ma; ni hao ma; zaijien! (How are you; how are you; how are you; goodbye!)

I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
Their food is guaranteed to please,
A fourteen, a seven, a nine, and lychees.

I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
I like their tiny little trees,
Their Zen, their ping-pong, their yin, and yang-ese.

I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
They only come up to your knees...

Re:Why is that a troll?

[OldeTimeGeek]

It's a Friday and I'm bored, so I'll bite.

Let's say that it's around 1915, your name is Thomas J. Watson and you've just been been hired to help out a company called Computing- Tabulating- Recording Company. Your job is to come up with a hundred-year plan to help the company sell their tabulating and time-recording devices to businesses. Please account for technologies that haven't been invented yet, materials that haven't been discovered or invented, a couple of wars, advances in travel and communications, a depression that wiped out most of the valuation of the country, radical changes in culture and a space program. What's your plan?

Too tough? Ok, let's try for 50 years. Please account for multiple "police actions" with other countries, a revolution in electronics, two wars, the creation of global communication infrastructure based upon technology that doesn't yet exist and a revolution in miniaturization, satellites and an attempt at a landing on the Moon.

Wanna try for a twenty-five-year plan? Add computers that are cheap enough to be bought by normal people. You get the point.

BTW, if the name isn't a hint as to what that company became, here's another: who has the most patents?

China is not a planned economy!

[ordovician.cenozoic]

Alternately, China could stop dicking around with piecemeal reform and institute capitalism, democracy, and the rule of law. If China had half the per-capita GNP of Tiawan, they could easily surpass the United States economically. But as long as they cling to the vestiges of a totalitarian command economy, they won't do it. China can hardly be called a communist country anymore. That would only be on paper. China is just another capitalist dictatorship. I don't know were you got the idea they they still have a command economy? Right now China could probably not have done any better economically than they do. Citing Taiwans GDP is futile. China started going down the capitalist path much later. They have much more catching up to do. But at +10% growth a year I don't see how a radical reform like you suggest could do any better. I mean, you don't think they are doing any good until they have +20% growth? However what western style democracy and capitalism could bring is a more sustainable and healthy growth. A growth that doesn't destroy the environment as much as current Chinese growth and that doesn't stomp on reqular people, and doesn't cause dangerous buildups of structural weakness in the economy. But as Iraq showed, you can't introduce Democracy over night. American way of thinking about Democracy is inherently broken. Because the US was made a democracy after one war of independence, they think the same can be done elsewhere. Forgetting that the US was a export of European liberal ideas and institutions that had matured in Europe over centuries. These ideas and institutions have to mature in China too.