<p>Interesting article from an Australian newspaper: </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22614110-28737,00.html[/url]”>http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22614110-28737,00.html</a></p>
<p>Very interesting article. I have recently been exposed to 3 very different sides of China: 1) friend traveled through rural China teaching English to poor peasants; 2) friend is a US corporate exec working in Shanghai; 3) D has Chinese roommate whose mother is a member of the Party. So much about the country is difficult for me to comprehend, and while people are inherently the same … the environment in which they are raised gives rise to some differences that can be hard to understand. I definitely see a nation at a crossroads, but I think that given its size & history, change will be very slow. I do think that our corporations and our government need to be careful how they deal with the Chinese government in the coming years.</p>
<p>One of the arguments in favor of trade with China was that free markets will lead to democracy. That hasn’t happened yet and I would be surprised if it did. The Chinese Communits Party has many members and it seems like the people are able to communicate with leadership even though it may be difficult to do so. I read last year that China had 70,000 protests per year. We have protests all the time, but we call them elections. Many parts of China are suffering from extreme pollution. I wonder if pollution will be the source of major change in Chinese politics?</p>