7 korrents from this piece · 1 of them a turn
Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.
Their wordsAnd on balance I believe we should think of the Chinese state today as an autocratic regime that is occasionally capable of economic pragmatism rather than a technocratic regime that slips occasionally into Marxist faults.
Our reading
The Chinese state's famous capability is largely spent putting out fires it started itself.
Their wordsFirst, it increasingly resembles a crew of firefighters who bring extraordinary skill to dousing fires that they themselves ignited.
Their wordsSecond, China’s problem is usually not too little state capacity, but too much.
Their wordsBeijing decided to partner with Russia, an imperial aggressor, when it is the US and Europe that have markets and technology.
Their wordsWhereas the US has a track record of doing great science, China’s technology competitiveness is grounded in manufacturing capabilities.
Their wordsConsider the solar industry, for which the US laid the scientific groundwork, only for Chinese firms to make all the photovoltaic cells.
No longer holdsWhat I did not sufficiently appreciate is that a state that would so casually decapitate a sector like online tutoring would also have the will to visit catastrophe upon whole cities.
Their words nowI perceive a fading sense of enthusiasm among businesspeople and youths.