- Behind The Scenes With Warren Buffett
- 'Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What'
- When You And Your Company Face a 'Crisis of Character'
- The Dollar Meltdown: The New Greek Tragedy?
- 'Blood and Business Don't Mix' — A Family Business Survival Guide
- Meet The Leaders of the New Retail Revolution
- Bear Stearns Fund Manager - Before His Day in Court
- Could Going Solo Ruin Your Career?
- If Mickey Mouse Has to Change—What Does That Say About You?
- Your Next Move: Thriving and Managing in Limbo
MOST SHARED
- No Thanksgiving Rest for Retailers in Sales Race
- Finding the Holiday's Best Buys
- Banks Play Down Dubai Exposure, Investors Still Wary
- More Asia Executives Resigned to Economy Flights: Survey
- UK's Darling to Downgrade 2009 Growth Forecast
- Attraction of Switzerland to Businesses
- San Miguel Sells $1.36 Billion Stake to Ally
- Farrell: What's Different On This Black Friday
- 10 Dividend Picks For Your Portfolio: Chief Investors
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- US Markets Bracing for Selloff on Dubai Debt Worries
- Dubai's Debt Woes Signal New Era for Creditors
- US Dollar Rises Against Most Currencies—Except Yen
- Shoppers Hit Black Friday Sales, Budgets Pared
- Fantasy Christmas Gifts 2009
- Car Insurance Scofflaws Raise Health Reform Doubt
- ING Prices Share Issue at Hefty Discount
- Cheap Robotic Hamsters Are Holiday's Unlikely Craze
- EU Names New Leadership Team to Boost Economy
RSS FEED
Bullish On Books
Text Size 
 |
Yes China is indeed making a lot of dreams come true for athletes, big businesses, entrepreneurs and Chinese leaders. And all these dreams are the rewards of a meticulous, calculated plan.
Philip P. Pan has just written "OUT OF MAO’s SHADOWS: The Struggle For The Soul of a New China" and wrote in an email to me, “China wants to use these Games to reintroduce itself to the world, to celebrate its return to the ranks of world powers and its remarkable economic success over the past three decades. But the Chinese government's primary objective is to use the Olympics to boost its popularity at home. Communism as an ideology is dead, but the ruling Communist Party wants to use these Games to help make the case to the Chinese people that the one-party political system is still justified -- that an authoritarian government can be even more effective than a democratic one, and that it can be accepted by the rest of the world.
Pan – the former Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post spent seven years in China - says there is a huge tug of war battle underway for the soul of China and says that the Olympics may bring more to China than what the Party Leaders had planned.
In the same email he wrote, “ … the Olympics might bring about changes that could make the party nervous. The international focus on China has prompted discussion across the country on a wide range of issues -- from the government's policies in Tibet and Darfur to environmental protection and human rights. There's also a national debate going on about the disclosure that the cute little girl at the center of the Opening Ceremonies was lip-syncing -- that the girl who actually sang the song so beautifully was kept off the program because she had crooked teeth and wasn't "cute" enough. So I think it's also possible that the Olympics will usher in a period of greater openness and national self-examination, and perhaps greater engagement with the rest of the world. We’ll have to wait and see”.
Pan’s book details the momentous tug-o-war battle underway now in China for the soul of the country – a battle that will decide the future of the world’s most populous and perhaps, most promising nation.
Questions, comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes