I was poring through the Youtube channel of Bloomberg, which features quite a few informative videos and this one was particularly interesting to me:
The video talks about a world of tech alternatives to what we are all familiar with: Facebook, Amazon, Youtube… Name one famous tech household name and there is a Chinese counterpart. Also, it shows a little bit of how QR codes and by extension, mobile payments are popular in the country. However, what is most interesting to me is the extent to which surveillance takes place in the world. In the video, a Western guy told a story of how his WeChat account’s money got deducted 20 seconds after he jaywalked in Shenzhen. That’s disturbingly fast. Plus, the government knows everything you do and ranks you based on your social behavior.
I have been of an opinion that an authoritarian leadership in China is a significant factor in its fast ascendency economically and politically in the world stage. Decisions are quickly made and there is singular focus as well as continuity due to the fact that there is one ruling party and for the foreseeable future, one ruler (aka Xi Jinping). On the other hand, decisions and policies take ages in the US and the pattern is, as I observe, that one president will undo all the work of the his predecessor, if the predecessor comes from the opposing party. The same may also be said to the ruling party in Congress.
On the other hand, it can be argued that privacy violations in the Western world are nowhere near as severe as they are in China. The NSA may have the same capabilities as the Chinese government in terms of surveillance, but we haven’t, thankfully, seen it do what the Chinese government is doing. Plus, the society we are living in allows us to practice freedom of speech more than the one in China. In the US, you can make fun of anyone in the government and Congress, though I don’t think you should do so in China.
If you think about it, we have speed of decision-making process due to one ruling party vs the lack of freedom, or convenience vs human right violations at the extremes. You can have one extreme at the expense of the other, but you can’t have both. It’s like the dilemma: does the means or the end matter more?
What works for this country will not likely work for another. I don’t know which one is inherently superior. I think it is just down to personal preference and perspective. Personally, I value freedom more.
Minh Quang Duong 