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Re China

The recent burst of locking up critics, artists and minor trouble makers is a sign of a ruling clique that is feeling decidedly nervous.

And why wouldn’t they be – their massive make work schemes are being financed by a rigged banking system and stealing money and property from households.

While the ‘big picture’ crowd get turned on by massive infrastructure projects, there are lot of little people who get squished in the process.

300 million mobile phones are hard to silence

…and this

850M!

Thanks for the freedom house link – the obsessive attention to ‘control’ in China is fascinating but only confirms that the authorities clearly perceive they face a huge threat.

Despite the enormous economic growth over the last 30 years the government clearly understands that it is highly vulnerable to questions concerning its legitimacy.

The China Story in the medium to long term depends on whether China can develop a model of governance that doesn’t involve a paranoid suspicion of its own people.

That may prove hard and possibly very disruptive to the economic growth story.