Capitalism

EAI senior research fellow Lance Gore explains why the sudden reversal of globalisation, constant turbulence due to global developments and the fragmentation of international relations are some very real coordinates of China’s "new era". In response, apt and concrete policies along the socialism axis can be devised to meet the challenges.

Commentator Lew Mon-hung explores seven contradictions that he observes in the “one country, two systems” policy for Hong Kong, including the stand on the private sector, governance issues, and the dynamic zero-Covid policy. All of these factors have had an impact on Hong Kong, and it remains to be seen how these points will be addressed to ensure the special administrative region’s growth.

China has great motivation to achieve its China Dream of catching up with and surpassing the US. Not only would this wipe away its century of humiliation but also prove the superiority of socialism. However, its actions could make achieving its dream that much harder.

The Chinese Communist Party has yet to resolve in theory and in practice two great issues: the ever widening rich-poor divide and the question of capitalists’ place in a socialist market economy. This is why the slogan "common prosperity" caused widespread panic across the private sector when it was first put forth. How will the authorities prove that “the rich will never be robbed in order to help the poor”?

East Asian Institute senior research fellow Lance Gore argues that two contexts made Xi’s resurrection of ideological orthodoxy almost inevitable — Leninist party rule and China’s rise on the global stage. But Xi’s return to ideology may be to China’s detriment, as it could reverse achievements of the reform and opening up era, and also set China on a collision course with Western liberal democracies.

While China’s market-based socialism with Chinese characteristics has lifted many out of poverty, creating the Chinese miracle, the ills of abiding by the “laws of the market” should be tackled and reined in. In the ever-evolving model of new socialism, a mechanism needs to be established that can raise and maintain a good standard of living in the absence of economic growth. This is so that people can transcend the pursuit of the material and live their lives with meaning and purpose.

Amid a changing global order, Russian academic Artyom Lukin analyses the different ideologies of the US, China and Russia and explains why it would be hasty to lump Russia and China in one camp or to dismiss the similarities between the US and Russia. In the end, the ideology that rules the emerging new world may not even be that of any of the three countries.

The US capital market has been the main source of large-scale funding for Chinese tech companies, even as they compete for a slice of their home market. However, with the ongoing US-China trade war and Russia-Ukraine war, US capital is not flowing as readily into China as before, while China’s anti-monopoly crackdown has narrowed down tech companies’ growth prospects. Tech expert Yin Ruizhi explores the issue.

Chinese academic Deng Qingbo believes that the US has never been ambiguous about its policy towards the Taiwan Strait. Theirs has always been a clear policy dictated by the US’s national interests, in particular those of the financial and military-industrial capitalists. The US’s stance in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis supports this view. Are debates about whether the US policy should move from “strategic ambiguity” to "strategic clarity" moot?