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sabang

East does not meet West on China's self-image

CHINESE people are overwhelmingly satisfied with the direction of their country, a Pew Centre survey published yesterday shows.

The survey results, which rank China first among 24 nations, point to an enormous gulf between domestic and Western perceptions of China that has widened in the aftermath of the Tibet riots and troubled Olympic torch relay. China's country satisfaction rating soared to 86 per cent from 48 per cent in 2002.

Analysts said the results should not be dismissed merely as Chinese people saying what the Government wanted them to say.

"Even if you take away 10, 15 per cent for that kind of bias you still have a very strong result," said Susan Shirk, a professor of political science at the University of California and a former deputy assistant secretary for China in the US State Department.

The results are a vote of confidence in the administration of the President, Hu Jintao, and the Premier, Wen Jiabao.

The Pew survey is an important source of political information because China does not have democratic elections, opinion poll surveys or free media reporting on political issues.

It was conducted after the Tibet riots in March but before the Sichuan earthquake in May - both of which generated an increase in patriotism across mainstream China.

The survey shows China is not without its political and economic problems.
Inflation topped the list of national concerns, with 96 per cent of people identifying prices as a big or moderately big problem, followed by China's enormous rich-poor gap, official corruption and air pollution and unemployment.

People in the poor areas of central and western China were less satisfied than those in the richer eastern provinces. While seven in 10 respondents said they were better off in a free-market economy, six in 10 said they worried about a loss of tradition.

China's propaganda and security response to the Tibet riots has contributed to a sudden and significant loss of global goodwill this year. Extreme security measures surrounding the Olympics are exacerbating the international perception problem.
While many Western politicians and analysts believe next month's Olympic Games have been tarnished, 96 per cent of Chinese people said they thought the Olympics would be a success.

Remarkably, 93 per cent of Chinese people said they thought the Olympics would help China's image around the world.

Only 3 per cent of Chinese said China is hurting other countries.

The survey found that Chinese consider Australia to be the best migration destination to lead a good life - preferred by 22 per cent of people - well ahead of Canada and the US.

When questioned about their personal lives, Chinese people said they were less satisfied than respondents in most other other countries.

East does not meet West on China's self-image - World - smh.com.au

Very happy with their government and the direction of their country, but not happy with their personal lives. Life in China is not so bad maybe.

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East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Texpat

China is so massive most non-Chinese can't fathom it, with the possible exception of India.

Unlike most TD posters, I admire the steps China is taking to become a world leader. The lilly-left is fast to denounce China's human rights. The rigid-right slams their trade and currency policies.

I think China is the new world order within 20-30 years. Get used to it.

Their government has traveled the hard road and will increasingly be in a position to call the shots as they continue to develop.

Those that wish to stand on the sidelines wringing their hands (we know who they are) will be swept aside.

Loy Toy

The Chinese business tenticles have been spreading throughout the western world for the past 40-50 years.
No surprise to me that they are now trying to clean up their own shop floor and so as to consolidate the tactical global business gains made already and outside of the mainland.
20-30 years? The yellow peril is already upon us.

If you can't beat em, join em!

AntRobertson

All sounds rather ominous! Can't see it myself, the article highlights one of the main issues that China is facing and one that will only continue; a gap between the haves and have nots. Similar scenario that lead to the Cultural Revolution in the first place actually.

I don't, who are "they"?

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'The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone'

ItsRobsLife

Under Mao the Chinese people were amongst the poorest and most desperate people on earth. Within 30 years the prospects of the majority have increased dramatically and now the future looks brighter than ever. I'm not surprised by this survey.

Butterfly

We can only hope you are wrong again,

EU is more likely,

Milkman

I respect China and the Chinese also. I've become interested in China over the last couple of years.

And possibly, sooner.

IMO, China is on the up-and-up, and the US may be heading in the opposite direction because of governmental overspending and per capita (many individuals) overspending and high debt.

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Bugs

While I would agree that the prospects of many have increased dramatically. The situations for many have also decreased rather dramatically. And IMHO the prospects of the majority are probably worse now than before.

With the influx of a more capitalistic market it has become easier for those with power/ money to wield their influence over those with little/no power/money. The vast majority of the agricultural community have seen little to no benefit, and much of them have been given the shaft. Additionally much of the changes taking place are pushing China into a more and more urbanized society and drastically increased the number of migrant workers that are continuously taken advantage of.

The changes in China are rapidly creating a multi-tiered society in which those in the lowest casts (the majority) suffer at the whims of those in the upper casts. And at this stage there is very little protection to prevent the abuse of those in the lower casts by those in the upper casts. Not only that but in many cases the government seems to favor keeping the lower casts down and placing economic gains above social changes.

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"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion" - Steven Weinberg

Norton

China has made great improvement over the last several years in raising the living standard of it's citizens. Not surprising a survey would show satisfaction. By contrast, moving from the sad state of affairs during the cultural revolution to the present day situation certainly makes things look quite rosy. Most western nation survey's show people are dissatisfied with the direction of their countries. The level of satisfaction one has is based on where one was to where they are now. There can be no denying the lives of most Chinese citizens are much better than in the recent past and are perceived as improving in the future.

As with all surveys, the mix of those participating is often a determining factor in the outcome. Found another link that indicates the survey did not include many Chinese who would be less than satisfied.

"In the survey, conducted over the last 10 days of May in major Chinese mainland cities,"

To Chinese people, future looks bright

Had the survey covered people from the rural communities, the result would likely show a lesser level of satisfaction and hope for the future.

China still has many challenges they need to address but I believe China will make improvements needed to become a major world player in more areas than just economics in the near future. If their many thousand year history is any indicator, with the right leadership, China can lead the world in innovation, economics, culture and societal advancement.

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Eat right, exercise daily, live clean, die anyway.

floorpotato

Being satisfied with the direction of a country like China speaks volumes about the docility and stupidity of its inhabitants. Today's China is an antfarm, a police state overseeing grinding rural poverty and sweatshop industrial serfdom at its worst. Would anyone on this forum prefer to be born an average Chinese as opposed to an average Westerner or even a Thai? A population that can't think for itself and happily accepts such oppression will never lead the world in anything except making cheap plastic crap for Walmart.

Accidental Ajarn

China’s success should be celebrated, the country’s recent economic policies have helped raise hundreds of millions of Chinese out of extreme poverty ($1 a day, well actually $1.08 is used for the actual World Bank measurement). Considering where China’s economy was under Mao (30 million starved to death in the Great Leap Forward), it is easy to see why most Chinese are pleased with the direction their country is going. However, China’s success needs to be put in perspective and those of us who remember the hyperbole about Japan in the 1980s have reason for caution.

There continues to be a significant number of the population living in extreme poverty.

While the population is huge making China’s economy huge, the strength of China’s economy compared to its size is small; the average GDP per capita in China is roughly 50% of what it is in Thailand.

Demographics are working in China’s favour now but in the future they will work against the country. China’s one child policy has resulted in decreasing the percentage of the population taking up non-productive roles and of course (just like when the Baby Boom generation in the USA came of age) has resulted in increased economic growth, however in about 20 years the generation before the one child policy will be retiring resulting in an increasing percentage of people in non productive roles. Studies indicate that an aging population has been a key reason Japan’s economy has stagnated and has played a role in slower growth in Western Europe, and China’s problem with an aging population will be more severe than either Japan or Western Europe has faced.

China’s government has now ruled over about two decades of fast economic growth, however no economy is history has been able sustain high growth rates indefinitely. China’s economy will have some down turns; how well the government responds to these downturns will probably determine how long Communist Party rule will last in China.

China has done well recently, but the country has a LONG way to go before anyone could realistically consider the Country’s economic model one that should be exported to other nations of the world.

The concept of a developed economy controlled by a dictatorship called the Communist Party while using market-based economics is still an unproven theory.

Theoretically, and practically, there are many doubts about the how far China can develop economically without further reforms.

Anyone considering investing huge in China should be cautious.

Texpat

^^That's what people said about Japan in 1940.

Sir Burr

A year ago I worked on a Chinese owned and manned vessel. All the crew were Northern Chinese.
The boss was a young fella in his thirties who spoke English reasonably well.
I asked him whether it was true that when they executed criminals with a shot to the back of the head, that they charged the person's family the equivalent of US$1 for the bullet.

He said that, yes, this was true, but, if it took a second bullet to finish the job, that one was free. He regarded this as a sign that his government was fair and generous.

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panama hat

China . . . a place everyone wants to go and see, and no-one wants to see a second time. (within reason)

Another crucial element missing here is that China is regarded as a united country . . . it isn't.

The potential for implosion is definitely there, be it on racial, social or economic grounds - and I'm not just talking about Tibet which is sadly really no longer able to call itself a separate entity.

Norton again makes a good point by comparing the 'successful soaring' of wealth . . . in cities . . . the income and wealth gap between the city and country/have and have nots is huge and cannot be bridged.

Sir Burr

Many reported and unreported protests by the people against corrupt party officials.

Texpat

With 1.3 billion people, you should expect more reports of corruption, no?

More people in jail, more protests, more crime, more everything.

cujo

Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it's not going on.

panama hat

Exactly, with a tightly controlled media anything is possible. My brother and his wife (both diplomats) were in Beijing for four years - many, many things going on which never make it to the media.

The place is ripe for a whole can of trouble.

sabang

Governing China is no easy task-

- 1.3 bn people, many clannish and parochial. Chinese tend to place a high emphasis on their regionality- Cantonese, Mandarin etc- while remaining very aware of their 'Chineseness'. Then you have a significant minority that are not Han Chinese- ethnically diverse. Tibetans, uighurs, mongols etc.
- A growing rich/