Politics with Chinese Characteristics: Politics without Lobbyist Purchased Political Prostitutes

By Richard Roskell

Geopolitical insight and wisdom is no more correctly shown than when someone says more westerners should visit China in order to understand the country and its people. This becomes especially evident when we hear people who have never been to China, “knowingly” discuss matters such as genocide, population policy, state surveillance and so on, based only on knowledge about China gained from reading mainstream media propaganda outlets such as The Washington Post or The New York Times or by listening to cable news networks. Just to illustrate the degree of western ignorance, most believe the government of China is a dictatorship. That couldn’t be more wrong.

China’s national elections are held more often than in the west – every three years. Every adult has the right to vote, and they do.

The PRC is a democracy with Chinese characteristics. Citizens directly elect their representatives at the local level, and then those officials elect the representatives at the regional level, and then those officials elect the representatives at the national level. And then those officials elect the country’s president – who they may remove from office by a simple majority vote on 24 hours notice. It’s a system of democratic filtration, where successful candidates must pass through layers of electoral scrutiny rather than a winner take all approach as in the west.

Nor is China a Communist country, despite that word being in its government’s name. China is a socialist country, and it’s how they describe themselves: “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Most importantly, does the Chinese governance and economic system work? Yes it does, spectacularly. They have gone from being among the poorest nations of the world to the richest in terms of PPP GDP (purchasing power parity gross domestic product) in just a few decades. It’s unprecedented in history. Westerners who cling to their ignorance about China are only hurting themselves.

Resources: https://x.com/cheguwera/status/1801206475085217937