Should Taiwan declare itself independent from China?
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Long Beach
i'll put it in a simple term. Commerce dictates politics. The countries will not go to war. To argue about who would win, is like arguing who would win if rubber man or that stretchy guy from from fantastic 4 fought.
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Bethesda
Adelaide,
China has made countless policy changes in its own government in order to ensure that little damage was to be done to HK's thriving economy. This is uncharacteristic of a communist government, and I for one, recognize this is as a huge leap in political science.
As far as civil liberties goes, I'm not a poly-sci major so I'm not reading HK papers everyday. However, I can say that compared to mainland China, HK has gotten as much play as possible. What did you expect? China is still a communist country, and must enforce its policies in order to govern HK.
When the government took over, alot of the Triads took their british passports and left HK for England. This is one of the somewhat overlooked benefits. A communist country has certain advantages to a democractic system, that we Americans do not know about. For example, 20-30 years ago when communism was at its peak, there was 0 homelessness, 0 prostitution, 0 drug use, and very little crime. Today things are a little different of course, due to the fact that China has adopted many western ways of thinking. However, there is still very little to no white collar crime. An embezzlement of over a certain amount of money carries with it, the death penalty. When compared with the luxurious treatment that white collar crimminals in the US get- I'd say that it is quite a +.
Consider the alternative. Great Britain violates the treaty, keeps HK for another 100 years. Not good for anyone really.
Considering what has been done, and what could have been done, the current state of HK deserves nothing but praise. China could have assimilated HK into its system, ruined the economy, and violated the people's way of life.
Sure British occupation was seemingly better, but at what cost? HK will always be the pearl of the orient due to its excellent location. As far as Shanghai goes, it has always been a trade captial. 20/20 did a story about it a while ago. It was considered by them to be a "captialists dream, in a communist land...the number one city in the world" or something of that nature. I might be biased because I'm from Shanghai
but consider the 1920s when Shanghai was in fact, one of the greatest cities of that time. Shanghai needs no 'pushing', it will remain as the main conduit of free trade to the mainland.
China has made countless policy changes in its own government in order to ensure that little damage was to be done to HK's thriving economy. This is uncharacteristic of a communist government, and I for one, recognize this is as a huge leap in political science.
As far as civil liberties goes, I'm not a poly-sci major so I'm not reading HK papers everyday. However, I can say that compared to mainland China, HK has gotten as much play as possible. What did you expect? China is still a communist country, and must enforce its policies in order to govern HK.
When the government took over, alot of the Triads took their british passports and left HK for England. This is one of the somewhat overlooked benefits. A communist country has certain advantages to a democractic system, that we Americans do not know about. For example, 20-30 years ago when communism was at its peak, there was 0 homelessness, 0 prostitution, 0 drug use, and very little crime. Today things are a little different of course, due to the fact that China has adopted many western ways of thinking. However, there is still very little to no white collar crime. An embezzlement of over a certain amount of money carries with it, the death penalty. When compared with the luxurious treatment that white collar crimminals in the US get- I'd say that it is quite a +.
Consider the alternative. Great Britain violates the treaty, keeps HK for another 100 years. Not good for anyone really.
Considering what has been done, and what could have been done, the current state of HK deserves nothing but praise. China could have assimilated HK into its system, ruined the economy, and violated the people's way of life.
Sure British occupation was seemingly better, but at what cost? HK will always be the pearl of the orient due to its excellent location. As far as Shanghai goes, it has always been a trade captial. 20/20 did a story about it a while ago. It was considered by them to be a "captialists dream, in a communist land...the number one city in the world" or something of that nature. I might be biased because I'm from Shanghai
but consider the 1920s when Shanghai was in fact, one of the greatest cities of that time. Shanghai needs no 'pushing', it will remain as the main conduit of free trade to the mainland.
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mingster
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May 3, 2001 05:34 AM