China Cocks Its Ear to Arab Freedom Cry

Measured by market-exchange rates, China’s economy is about 40 percent the size of the US economy. Measured by purchasing power, China is the world’s largest economy, writes Peter Hartcher for the Sydney Morning Herald. The nation’s products, services and labor are comparably inexpensive, often due to great sacrifices of the Chinese people. The government uses an iron hand to keep opposition under control, applying censorship on many topics, including protests and a toppled government in distant Egypt. Egyptian protests could unnerve the Chinese leadership who realize the communist party came close to losing power in 1989, after some authorities refused orders to shoot protesters in Tiananmen Square. “The most obvious difference between Egypt and China is that the Egyptian economy was underperforming,” notes Hartcher. A major challenge for China’s leaders: to thwart rising prices and wage inequality, while delivering a steady rise in standard of living and monitoring the world’s largest population for any sign of unrest. – YaleGlobal