Some Thoughts on China

It is fascinating to see at the moment how much China is flexing its power. And maybe as importantly how little the world is pushing back. Certainly on the commercial side we are finding that companies such as Apple which are beholden to China for their supply chain and others, such as the NBA, which see China as a big market have rolled over. Now the House has passed a bill supporting the Hong Kong protestors and China has threatened retaliation should the bill make it into law via the Senate and the President.

All of this of course comes in the middle of a major trade war and after a long period of China building up its military and a more recent reasserting of party dominance over civil affairs under Xi Jinping, as well as a dramatic ratcheting up of the suppression of the Uighurs. I have traveled in China and also talked to Chinese entrepreneurs about the buildup of power. My takeaway from that is that there is broad based pride in what has been accomplished and an absence of fear among the younger people that it might go too far. It is a lot less clear to me whether the older actual leadership and the young people I have interacted with inhabit the same reality. Much like there has been a major generational breakdown in the West between political leaderships goals and the up and coming generations. 

The generational gap, which has proven so pernicious in Brexit, and has been delaying action on the climate crisis, is where I see the real danger with regard to China also.