Xie Xie, Zai Jian Zhong Guo

By the time you read this piece, I would be back home in the only country I want to live in the world, never mind its challenges and drawbacks. From London I write, from Beijing I have just come. And don’t you cut your head off if you are illiterate in Chinese mandarin. The headline is just a show-off of my newly acquired linguistic muscles. It is a way of saying “thank you” and “good bye” to China.
It has been an eye-opener, visiting this country for the first time. Some perceptions such as it being a poor country struggling to look after itself have proved exaggerated at the very least or downrightly untrue. Other perceptions that it is a state ruled by fear buried in restrictions have been proved to be largely true.
China’s name, Zhong Guo, loosely means “the centre of the kingdom”. Legend has it that the belief was that the country was literally at the centre of the universe. Whatever the truth today, China’s new global power, influence and counterweight have put it at the centre of the world. Figuratively speaking. There is not a country in the world that does not wish to do business with this colossus of a country. If not for any reason its economic muscle brought about by its sheer size and capital.
A story goes that at a citizenship ceremony in the United States, not sure how factual, some newly naturalised American citizens were given the world’s most recognisable flag on which was inscribed “Made in China”. Made in China for new US citizens. It cannot be more than that, can it?
China Town in New York City is believed to be the largest pocket in the US commercial heartbeat. Such is China’s dominance of global trade that its traders seem to pirate at will and apparently go scot free. Who wants to hurt such a market. Despite all its frailties, the US has not removed China from its most-favoured nation (MFN) status. And this is not to say that US companies are having a field day in the country.
Just as I was preparing to leave the country last week, came news that Google was in trouble, again. Its licence had not only expired with the month of June without it being renewed but it had failed to be included in the initial list of companies that the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping plans to approve to provide online mapping services in the country. A birthright of Google you may think.
China is a country that has impressed me with its gigantic economic growth and prosperity for an ever-increasing number of its citizens as it has depressed me with its social and political restrictions. Responding to my question, a learned university professor told a group of Africans about the economic growth of this the world’s fastest-growing economy and the possible political fallout. The professor had given us a lecture on the socio-economic evolution of the world’s most populous country. How it has eschewed the socialism-modelled economic system and replaced it with a system he would not call capitalism. He calls it “Folk-lisation”.
Whatever that means, he presents a situation that reminds of the Glasnost theory as propounded by the then Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 80s to early 1990s. I had suggested to the professor that once Glasnost and Perestroika (reform) had held roots and the average Soviet national had begun seeing and feeling prosperity and the outside world, it became difficult for the USSR to continue existing as one country; hence more freedom and disintegration. The professor agreed that political change could not be stopped. Even though he was cautious  well for obvious reasons  he cave in and gave in that there would be a political evolution. “I think so and this is my view” he stressed.
But while that is being awaited, it is perhaps shocking to know that many Chinese I met live in constant fear. Some young folks I met at McDonalds’ seemed shackled and wanted to be unshackled. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are all banned. Google has at best been restricted. The people hardly have access to the outside world. So they almost certainly believe whatever they are told by the state-owned and state-run media. And that is effectively being run. But the restrictions seem to be being relaxed somewhat. China’s version of Facebook, I am told, is allowed. There is relative objectivity in some sections of the media. China Daily publishes some challenging articles and I am absolutely impressed by it.
The much-dreaded Communist Party of China, the world’s largest political grouping and the only one allowed in this country has started “opening up”. It recently introduced 11 spokespersons of its departments faced the press last week to answer to questions. And they promised it was a sign of more openness to come.
But as I say zai jian (goodbye) to China, I cannot stop but think over and over again about its huge infrastructure development and where the raw materials are coming to feed that massive appetite. Obviously the majority of the high rise buildings have only come up in the last decade or so. And more are still sprouting. More steel is needed to upkeep that growth. With more and more industries inundating the Chinese market, the country’s dependence on oil is set to surpass that of the United States. Africa has a whole lot of these resources and has been providing a lot of them. It is probably time for the continent’s leaders to rethink their strategy. Embrace China, yes. But embrace your own interest and that of your peoples the more. After all, China cares for its own people. I was able to see that quite clearly.
And it begs the question as to whether an authoritarian regime that provides such huge and monumental development is better than a democratically-elected one that does not. Whatever the answer, I believe all peoples around the world must have the right to freely vote for their leaders. And these leaders must answer to the call of their people and put them at the centre of whatever they do. If China gets democratic and respects the rights and freedoms of its people, it will be a very serious contender for the Number 1 slot in the world. I love China’s development and apparent prosperity; but I also love freedom and I am ready to die for it. Xie xie…zai jian…
By Umaru Fofana