File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1996/96-10-18.130, message 37


From: "Rosser Jr, John Barkley" <rosserjb-AT-jmu.edu>
Subject: More on China
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 17:52:43 -0400 ()


     This continues a thread on this on this list as well 
as carrying over some items from the marxism list, on which 
I do not intend to post anymore (no more satires or 
sophomoric smirks, unless people get really badly behaved 
over here!, :-))
     1)  Louis Godena may be right that there was not a 
formal acceptance by the entire 14th CPC Congress of the 
designation of the PRC as a "socialist market economy."  
But it is certainly more than just a designation by "some 
local party branches."  Numerous official government 
spokesmen (not speaking as CPC reps) have used this 
designation to describe the economy, especially in dealings 
with international funding agencies.
     2)  Louis Proyect on M1 claimed that I have no concern 
about China's enviro crisis.  Sorry you have a headache, 
Lou, so I guess you have not been reading my China stuff 
carefully.  I have raised this issue and noted the book by 
Vaclav Smil, _China's Environmental Crisis: An Inquiry into 
the Limits of National Development_, 1993, Armonk, NY: M.E. 
Sharpe, as a valuable reference on this matter.  Yes, I 
think this is a very serious matter.  What does LG think?
     3)  I continue to argue that the most serious issue is 
"whither the TVEs?"  They are indeed the element of the PRC 
economy that is most different from the NEP, indeed 
absolutely unique to the PRC.  There is more variety among 
them than I stated in the previous posts on this, including 
great variation in the treatment of labor.  A new 
development since the privatization law of 1993 has been 
the emergence of so-called "collective collectives," also a 
unique form to the PRC, that has the elements of workers' 
ownership, something not seen in China before.  These 
continue to have complex relationships with local 
governments.
     4)  Another very big issue is going to be what happens 
with the absorption of Hong Kong.  There are a variety of 
possible outcomes and paths from this.
     5)  Finally, let me make a claim based on my own 
experiences there, as well as examining data and reading 
stuff.  There is the potential for a tremendous 
socio-political explosion growing there.  Anything can 
happen, and I emphasize, anything.  China has surprised the 
world before with sudden changes, and it can do so again.
     I look forward to the thoughtful and serious 
participation of others in this very important discussion 
on this new list.  To both of the Louises, I got my nasties 
off in my last couple of posts over on M1.  I am out of 
there, and I, for one, intend to play it straight over 
here.  Hope you guys do too.
Barkley Rosser

-- 
Rosser Jr, John Barkley
rosserjb-AT-jmu.edu




   

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