By Philip Yeung
These two experiments in communism, one in the Eastern, the other in the Western hemisphere, have vastly different outcomes. China is the down-to-earth, hyper-achieving realist, Cuba the incurable romanticist, forever living in the ether of ideology. Not all communist cousins are alike. Cuba is an acquired taste like stinky tofu. China is a mouthwatering spring roll.
China never seeks to indoctrinate its neighbors. Cuba has been a thorn at the side of the US, spreading the religious fervor of its revolutionary rhetoric to its neighbors in bringing a "pink tide" to Latin America and even stretches its ideological long arm to Africa, sending doctors there with its political doctrines.
But now, with Trump threatening "Cuba is next" after the abduction of Venezuela's Maduro, Cuba has lost the largess of the "Cubazuela" brotherhood and finds itself in America's deadly chokehold. It is becoming geopolitically marginalized and drowning in economic misery. Cuba is stuck in a rut, and existing in a time warp. The system, while Marxist-pure, is calcified and unalive.
But China is a different story. It is a classic case of epic Darwinian success in self-evolution. No longer trapped in its ideological straitjacket, the country has been reborn as an economic juggernaut that has cast a giant shadow across the globe. Its alternative governance model teaches the world how to swing with Darwin.
Those who feel threatened by China's over-sized clout refuse to see past its ideological label. They traffic in the groundless "China threat" for their own political agenda. They are drowning in their own falsehoods about this country.
It is time the world dived deep into this unique experiment in governance. The China miracle has no parallel in history, having leap-frogged from abject poverty to tech superpower in barely over a generation.
In the turbulence of the Trump era, China has become the indispensable country, whose partnership is sought after by countries big and small, near and far, east and west. Their leaders are making pilgrimages to Beijing in search of the holy grail of good governance or co-prosperity.
While other superpowers exhaust themselves from endless military conflicts, China has not fired a single shot for over half a century, while soaking up the dividends of peace at home and abroad.
China is famous for its iron discipline. Laser-focused on long-term growth and far-sighted development, China spells out its blueprint in a series of 5-year plans, now in its 15th edition. Super-success has made China ultra-rational in its domestic and foreign policies, jealously protecting its hard-won achievements like a responsible corporation.
China is no loose cannon. This prosperous and pacificist country acts and reacts with restraint in the face of extreme provocations from those who behave with envy and reckless abandon. With zero imperial ambitions, the China threat is one big, fabricated lie.
Its achievements are jaw-dropping. Untroubled by short-term distractions of the US system hijacked by the super-rich, China charts a cool-headed course for its people who enjoy cheap energy and universal digital services, where streets are clean and midnight-safe. Gone are the pickpockets, burglars and purse-snatchers, for there is no cash to steal from in a cashless society. Of what good is electoral democracy if you fear for your life in dangerous neighborhoods?
China exhibits a near-Spartan discipline in training its athletes who shine in Olympic stadiums. Its students frequently outshine their peers in Olympic math competitions.
This year, the unthinkable happened, when its dancers waltzed away with the championship in Latin ballroom dance competition, with its synchronized athletic improvisations, side-to-side hip movement and gyrating muscles, blending African, European and indigenous styles. China has arrived as a sophisticated, respected member of the international community, a far cry from the misery, isolation and humiliations of the old days. It sits atop the totem pole of nationhood.
Yes, the China miracle has even turned bone-dry deserts into lush green fields. Its citizens enjoy the convenience of an online shopping service unequalled in the world. It boasts the best-built energy grid that guarantees households cheap and uninterrupted electricity supply, while poor Cuba is roasting in unbearable extreme heat.
Quality of life in China outranks many developed countries, from affordable groceries to public transit and healthcare services. Mainlanders used to cross the border into Hong Kong and Macau for their shopping sprees. Now the traffic flow has been reversed.
I am not saying that China is perfect. No country is. But its utter transformation from a dirt-poor country into a hi-tech superpower calls for celebration, not demonization.
Those who persist in peddling China as a dirty word are either willfully blind or morally retarded.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | Is Britain a basket case?
Opinion | Another crazy China spy case, another gross miscarriage of justice
Opinion | The subtext of Trump's China visit
Opinion | From 'whiff whaff' to 'ping pong'---how China table tennis conquers the world
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