OK, this is different. Brad Luo at China Business Law Blog tells us of the recent trip to China by Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. For most of us, this gives us a glimpse into what folks in the U.S. South think of China. For Brad, who currently resides in Texas, Bredesen is just another dude from "up North". Well . . . I'm assuming that's what he thinks.
Moving on – Brad finds that China is referred to by so many names these days, it's hard to keep up:
For example, some call it “the country of contradictions” while others conventionally label it the “Asian Dragon.” Still others view it as “strategic competitor” or “the China Threat.” Meanwhile, the Chinese government calls its country “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
And then we have Bredesen's trip and the comments he wrote afterwards. Interesting stuff. The Gov says that the Chinese think big, and that Americans need to start doing that again with respect to transportation, infrastructure, health care, etc. Sounds like a Democrat to me.
China is having its coming-out party.
"Coming out"? Yeah, he must be a Democrat.
Brad's favorite line – the Gov. says that China is: "A one-party capitalist country with no Bill of Rights." Nifty. And then he goes on to actually make some sense:
We can compete economically just fine with that system, but only with very clear-eyed study of how it really works and not through some ideological prism.
Sounds great, Gov., but can you pass that message along to your friends on the far Left (and anyone you know on the far Right) that demonizing China isn't very productive? Thanks much.
This might be the first and last post I ever write on the topic of Tennessee and China. It's been fun.