Holy crap... Are you watching that Fareed Zakaria interview with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao?

Fareed Zakaria. Journalist of the year.

The premier squirmed during those Tiananmen and democracy questions.

While I'd like to think that Wen is being sincere about his country's progress (or lack thereof) towards democracy, he's more than likely just talking out of his ass.

Otherwise China would have degenerated into political and economic collapse like the Soviet Union.

Very brave of you.

In retrospect, China sure has become a power since then, and look where Russia is even with all their oil.

I'm not saying China was right, but I marvel at what they are putting together.

corporatism is a wonderful thing. Look at all the cheap stuff we can buy at Walmart.

I watched most of the interview and was so impressed I would like to encourage others to watch it.

I found the Premier to be very statesmanlike and credible. One site referred to him as "the Populist Premier." Tiananmen Square is a huge blot on the country. (Curious as to the comment that it was necessary for China to not end up like the Soviet Union - the rebellion or the government response?), but think we should look at the bigger picture of China's role in the world today. The Premier denies they are a superpower (or does not want to be?). And maybe his point is that no country should be a "superpower." I would very much agree with that.

I was heartened to hear that China feels they have been useful in dealing with North Korea. Wonder if others agree? It has always made sense to me that China would have a bigger influence in keeping N. Korea non-nuclear than would the U.S.

Are you an administrator?

Philosophical question, in response to your signature statement, have you figured out what we are yet?

DU'ers welcome newcomers. You will be welcomed here by others as you continue to post.

As for my sig line....I'm not sure anyone who walked the earth has provided the answer of what we are yet, but they all sure seem to know about what God is....go figure.

The putting down of the rebellion in Tianenmen Square decisively re-established government control. This allowed the Communist Party to continue to implement economic reforms in an orderly fashion, and to also implement some political reforms as well.

Had the rebellion succeeded, chaos would have ensued. In the Soviet Union theis resulted in regions breaking away and weak leaders presiding over economic systems that were geared to planning and control that no longer existed. In China, either the same thing would have happened, or the geopolitical disintigration would have been opposed by competing warlords, as in the period prior to the Japanese invasion.

But there is a logic to what you say, about the government response to Tianenmen Square. It sounds like you may know a lot about China. I completed a study course on 6,ooo years of Western Civilization but do not know much about Eastern civilization. Do you know how old it is?

There was a PBS? documentary on Tiananmen Square. It was even much worse than I knew of at the time. People were shot in the back running away, not just one day, but three days. About 3,000 dead total?