China is Isolating Itself From the World

 

China has experienced a meteoric rise in the past 40 years, becoming a global superpower in such a short space of time. Largely thanks to President Deng Xiaopengs policies in the 1980s, of opening up to foreign investment, China has become extremely rich. It has become the manufacturing hub of the world, and has wrapped its tentacles around developing countries around the globe. Then again, it does not stop there, with Chinese companies buying up a lot of Western real estate and businesses, no one can say they do not have clout.

The governance of China is unlike the Western world, which favours democracy, justice and liberty. It is a one party dictatorship – and has been since 1949, with no signs of this changing in the short term future. Its autocratic way of government has helped things get done and completely transformed the economy. Also, infrastructure like transport has experienced a major upgrade in the past few decades.

China has had an open policy with Western companies, but at the same time extremely controlled. The model was that the ruling party – the CCP would grant entrance to the largest market in the world for access to technology. This has happened with many foreign companies ranging from the car industry to electronics. However, at the moment everything seems to be changing, the current leader, Xi Jinping is an ultra-Chinese nationalist and sees foreign interference as something he wants to stop. It is no secret that China does not want foreign companies, and this has even extended to English language schools.

The question lies in why? What is the sudden change in policy and does China want to cut itself off from the world? Well for the latter, they can if they like, as it has 20% of the world’s population, the only thing China is reliant on, is innovation. The global leader when it comes to this field is the United States, which it proves with the number of technology companies that dominate the market. Nonetheless, this is an industry whereby the Chinese are trying to get a foothold. With its video app, TikTok, which is one of the most downloaded apps in the world, the CCP covertly controls the algorithm for Western audiences.

Many countries that have previously had excellent ties with China are slowly moving away. For example, nations such as Australia, are looking to the United States and Europe for solutions, to get out from under the Chinese grip, on the other hand, their neighbor – New Zealand still remains close to China, with the PM Jacinda Arden wanting to work with an assertive China.

Nonetheless, free democratic nations like New Zealand share very little in common at all with the CCP except financial interests. China performs the most executions per capita per year and has an iron grip on censorship. Many things are banned in China, from video games to even gambling. Whereas in the Kiwi nation, these things are permitted and part of society. For New Zealand players, they can play table games like roulette and blackjack whenever they like online, and to help them, there are comparison sites. These platforms help players with solid, honest reviews of online operators from big household names. One example of this is a LeoVegas casino review, that rates the operator on a whole host of conditions. Moreover, players can claim a welcome bonus, and see which games are available to play and what payment methods are accepted. In China, this is not the case. Everything is tightly controlled with the “Great Chinese Firewall”.

Most of China’s policies are decided by its leader Xi Jinping, and power is concentrated in the hands of the Politburo. The dragon nation currently has a major PR issue, mainly because of the pandemic. China blames the US, but most of the world firmly puts the blame on the Chinese.

An isolated China, is a larger version of an isolated Russia, as the international community should have constant communications to help improve issues around the world. If China decides to cut itself off, and move closer to Russia, the US, UK, and EU will have a massive problem on their hands.