What do Catholics/Christians from all around the world think about China?

[Brendan]

I am simply wondering…what do most of you think when you think about China?

Great food, lousy government.

 

[ValPal]

Great food, lousy government.

Most people in the western world haven’t begun to experience Chinese food. The vast majority westerners have had is from one particular region, and it’s typically not authentic. One of the places we went on our first trip was Hunan Province (Changsha), and the food there was simply unbelievable. I’ve never had anything in my own country that approaches that. In fact, I rarely get Chinese food here anymore. I typically make my own, since it tastes more authentic than anything I can get at a restaurant.

 

[Brendan]

Most people in the western world haven’t begun to experience Chinese food. The vast majority westerners have had is from one particular region, and it’s typically not authentic. One of the places we went on our first trip was Hunan Province (Changsha), and the food there was simply unbelievable. .

Yep, been to China several times ( Bejing, Nanjing). There is an ethinc Chinese district across the river from Detroit in Windsor ONT that has authentic Chinese food, all the ‘specials’ signs are in Chinese and we are often the only Causasians in the place.

Metro Detroit has better Vietnamese though

 

[TEPO]

It actually is counterproductive to demonize the “idols” of others. Even the Church doesn’t do that with respect to other religions it considers false. Doing so simply cuts off dialogue at the outset.

Mao came to power during a very turbulent time in Chinese history, uniting China and expelling foreigners, notably the Japanese, whose occupation was horrific in nature. Mao was the strong leader that was needed at that was at time.

Most westerners only focus on the bad of Mao, and simply have no knowledge of Mao’s uniting of the people and expelling foreigners that were slaughtering and raping them.

It is imperative that having dialogue at the ambassador level the party making the contact understand the culture and the people. Countries like China are very different and very much older than our own, and we can’t expect them to accept things the way we do. Long term and friendly dialogue is the only way to attempt understanding of our religious beliefs.

Mao wasn’t a religious idol, he was a politician and a man of the world. That’s the problem with politics, especially with communism -people worshipping other people. It’s not good. When we idolize other people our world becomes a darker place and it hinders our spiritual growth. It damages the soul… The first step in dialogue is acknowledging that we do not worship or idolize other people, and that it’s an unhealthy practice for all human beings no matter what nationality or political preference we prefer.

 

[XiWang717]

Mao wasn’t a religious idol, he was a politician and a man of the world. That’s the problem with politics, especially with communism -people worshipping other people. It’s not good. When we idolize other people our world becomes a darker place and it hinders our spiritual growth. It damages the soul… The first step in dialogue is acknowledging that we do not worship or idolize other people, and that it’s an unhealthy practice for all human beings no matter what nationality or political preference we prefer.

I quite agree. Politics and religion do not often mix well.

 

[Jerry_Westerby]

China is a very capitalist country, in spite of its formal communist ideology. Its capitalist in the 19th century robber baron sense, very free wheeling, unrestrained, with companies often run by communist party bosses as a personal fief.

Advice: do not, ever, deal with a chinese company without an arbitration clause in the contract, enforcing foreign court judgments in China is nearly impossible. they’re a huge fan of arbitration awards, though.

Westerby

 

[manualman]

You know, I am not necessarily saying that I support all aspects of communism, but it is to my belief that the doctrine originated in the West, not China. As I have said, the situation is difficult, and I am not trying to defend any ideology. But without communism, where would China be today?

Why would China be in any less position of development and progress without Mao? Is Hong Kong backwards and only recently catching up? See a lot of starvation and poverty in Taiwan? Nope. The end of WWII marked the end of western exploitation of China’s resources for their own gain instead of the betterment of the indigenous Chinese people. Mao’s legacy of oppression and control isn’t responsible for China’s emergence. If anything he was a brake on the process just like any other self interested oligarch.

I had a roomate in college from Hong Kong (early 1990’s). His family spent nearly every nickel they had to get him to succeed in a chemical engineering major so that he could get a US immigration priority status, prosper and then get his family out before the Chinese took over in 1999. That’s how Chinese NOT under control of the Party viewed the party.

I have friends that adopted a child from China. A girl, of course. With the oppressive “one child” policy, some Chinese families hide pregnancy and abandon the newborn baby if it is a girl (some simply abort). When my friends went to China to complete the adoption, it was with a group of 20 others. Every single adopted child was a girl.

Chinese culture is rich and beautiful and it’s people intelligent and hard working. It’s a shame that they are saddled with a leadership whose primary interest is self reward rather than the best interest of the wholistic flourishing of their people. Perhaps it’s just a characteristic of government. Ours is often the same way. At least we theoretically have the ability to throw the bums out.

 

[Giggly_Giraffe]

My favorite things about China are: the People, Panda Bears, Entrepreneurs, the 2008 Olympic opening show, silk, and the Great Wall of China.

I am dubious about products from China (regulation standards: lead paint in toys, poisoned pet food, dry wall that melts wires), environmental impact (pollution, great damn being built), social indifference (one-child policy, child labor, free labor, & lack of fraternal support programs), and currency manipulation.

The current conflict with Japan is also unsettling; I’m praying for peace

Lastly, I’m glad the Chinese welcome Catholic Church’s and hope they will stop appointing bishops (this is the Popes domain).

I have read several of the posts here and have become enlightened on many more areas and look forward to hearing more. I had no idea of who Mao was.

Question back at you, what do you think of the USA?

 

[Ridgerunner]

A potentially great country which is, unfortunately, governed by a fascist dictatorship.

And no, I do not think the Communists were good for China at all. What is Mao’s body count? 100 million? He found it impoverished and left it impoverished.

The current leaders are seemingly big on crony capitalism and cruelty. That is why I consider it fascist now, and not communist. But a lot of people live better under fascism than they did under communism.

 

[Auntie_A]

Most westerners only focus on the bad of Mao, and simply have no knowledge of Mao’s uniting of the people and expelling foreigners that were slaughtering and raping them.

I am aware of the awful treatment of the Chinese people under the Japanese invasions. However, I must go back to the fact of Mao being listed above Hitler as one of the top mass murderers of all time: If we were to say that most westerners only focus on the “bad” of Hitler and have no knowledge of how he united the German people…well, I hope you get my point. I really don’t accept that Mao and his tactics were the only alternative for the Chinese people.

Auntie A

 

[Dakota_Roberts]

snip

Oh yeah, I forgot. Don’t they own like most of our debt too? LIke a huge ammt of our debt? We are the most indebted country in the world, I think China might fall on the other end of the spectrum. Not sure what that means for our future, political or otherwise. When I’ve mentioned it in conversation, more than once I’ve gotten the reply “Yeah, but we have the strongest military with all the guns, etc”… not sure what to make of that…

China owns a small fraction of our debt.

It means we are indebted to them, so they have the right to demand things from us. But we have a strong military so we will not give them what they demand… In other words, we are crooks.

No they can’t, China is an investor, not the Mafia, they can cash the T-Bills, T-Notes and T-Bonds when they reach term, no more, no less.

When you say “China” I’m thinking about the regime in Beijing. Sneaky, evil, and out to get the United States.

Their totally unfair trade practices, lack of concern for human rights/life, and disregard of any environmental damage they might do; doesn’t paint a rosy picture in my mind.

ALSO… I have heard many stories of atrocities committed by Chinese troops against American soldiers in the Korean War - murder, starvation, and unspeakable torture. These stories have been confirmed by ex-POWs.

There are also rumors of Americans POWs from Korea and Vietnam being shipped to China for hideous experimentations - such as medical experimentation, and chemical & bio weapons testing. These rumors (of course) are denied by the US government, but I think there could be something to them.

My opinion of China is not good.

The PRC isn’t out to get the US

It’s an authoritarian state.

Abu Ghraib?

We’re talking about China not Japan.

snip

I heard that on 2012 September 18 the government barred students from leaving campus in case they were going to Protest (anniversary of Japanese invasion of Manchuria), is this true?

snip

Of course, I’m an American so I have no concept of what it means to be embraced by people who are all of similar culture and race. Here, we’re all mixed and multi-cultural. I hope I haven’t overstepped my boundaries here and I certainly mean no disrespect towards the Chinese people in general, I just don’t quite understand.

China actually has a lot of minority groups.

I think China is a wonderful country with an amazingly resilient people. They just unfortunately happen to be under the oppressive reigme of a Communist govt.

I think if China ever embraced some form of demoracy and started to really respect human rights, the balance of power, economically et cetera, would shift. They’d be the next world power. I’m not overly worried about that, but Mandarin is a hard language to learn!

In fact, I think its perfectly reasonable to expect in my life time the collaspe of that communist debacle and a demand for greater freedoms and more representation. China’s govt. can’t keep ahead of modern technology and the ideas coming in from the West regarding basic human rights and freedoms.

Of course, I find the one child policy and how they operate that is the most detestable and morally repugnant thing I’ve ever come across. Its a shameful blot on their society.

China IS the next world power. Mandarin isn’t that hard to learn (I studied it).

It probably wont collapse, more like a slow transition.

China is a very capitalist country, in spite of its formal communist ideology. Its capitalist in the 19th century robber baron sense, very free wheeling, unrestrained, with companies often run by communist party bosses as a personal fief.

Advice: do not, ever, deal with a chinese company without an arbitration clause in the contract, enforcing foreign court judgments in China is nearly impossible. they’re a huge fan of arbitration awards, though.

Westerby

That seems like a fundamental mischaracterization of the Chinese economy.

A potentially great country which is, unfortunately, governed by a fascist dictatorship.

And no, I do not think the Communists were good for China at all. What is Mao’s body count? 100 million? He found it impoverished and left it impoverished.

The current leaders are seemingly big on crony capitalism and cruelty. That is why I consider it fascist now, and not communist. But a lot of people live better under fascism than they did under communism.

People over look that there is a difference between civilian deaths due to miscalculations by planners and the methodically planned extermination of people.

 

[Cinette]

I am simply wondering…what do most of you think when you think about China? Is your opinion generally positive, negative, or neither?

*I think of the Chinese boast that they have aborted 450 000 000 and I shiver. Recently there was a news item that S Korea had purchased multi-vitamin capsules from China and when they did a test, found that the capsules contained DNA. I have to say that I have been racist regarding Chinese but then I say to myself that I must be reasonable, I must remember that Chinese people are human just like everybody else, that they have been through terrible times and influenced by the Cultural Revolution etc. Many do not know God.

So I look at them now with different eyes. I remember my Catholic Faith and God’s command to love everybody. *

 

[mab23]

Chinese I love

I don’t love the Chinese government or the way they treat their citizens

 

[TroVeCatBui]

I don’t like China government

But

God bless China

 

[edwest2]

I am simply wondering…what do most of you think when you think about China? Is your opinion generally positive, negative, or neither?

Generally positive. But my answer is based on research that goes beyond the few words you hear on TV, good or bad.

Peace,
Ed

 

[manualman]

China IS the next world power. Mandarin isn’t that hard to learn (I studied it).

It probably wont collapse, more like a slow transition.

This is classic “recent trends will continue indefinately” thinking. The same sort that brought us the dotcom and housing bubble collapses. China has been on a tear because they have successfully copied the recipe for industrialization of the West. Unfortunately, this wholesale adoption of Western approach to “success” is also going to lead to their premature collapse. China will follow the Japan model. What happened to Japan is almost exactly what will happen to China in the next 20 years. They will continue their rapid economic advance for as long as this generation is of working age. A much smaller young generation will grow up and the size imbalance compared to the generation ahead of them will lead to economic stagnation that will confound attempts to overcome it.

 

[Dakota_Roberts]

This is classic “recent trends will continue indefinately” thinking. The same sort that brought us the dotcom and housing bubble collapses. China has been on a tear because they have successfully copied the recipe for industrialization of the West. Unfortunately, this wholesale adoption of Western approach to “success” is also going to lead to their premature collapse. China will follow the Japan model. What happened to Japan is almost exactly what will happen to China in the next 20 years. They will continue their rapid economic advance for as long as this generation is of working age. A much smaller young generation will grow up and the size imbalance compared to the generation ahead of them will lead to economic stagnation that will confound attempts to overcome it.

I’d like to point out the One Child policy is made of holes, Urban Han get 1 child, Urban minority usually get 2, rural Han get two often (if first child is female then they can apply to get a second child) and rural minority frequently up to four. There is also an ewxception if parents are only siblings. Hong Kong and Macao as SARs are excluded from this policy. There is also talk on the national level of repealing it. Japan’s lost decade wasn’t caused by smaller younger generation, it was caused by easy credit causing an enormous bubble, in China the populous does not like the concept of credit and pays cash for everything.

PS much of China hasn’t boomed yet, two hours from Beijing are areas that seem unchanged from a century ago.

 

[manualman]

Sure, the policy of “full of holes.” China has a 1.55 total fertility rate currently. cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html

You need 2.1 to sustain a population long term. 1.55 is on par with the Euro suicidal fertility rate. Worse, China won’t yet be done building modern infrastructure nationally by the time their demographic pyramid becomes inverted and top heavy, so they’ll be even less able to sustain their momentum economically.

Demography often really is destiny.