Strange excerpt from article about Chinese space program.

[denverbill]

<snip>

China's leaders long ago replaced their leftist ideology with sweeping economic reform, and resort instead to flag-waving nationalistic appeals to bind their nation together - a strategy reflected in Beijing's successful campaign for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

<snip>

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031015/D7U6JFNO0.html

Now, I realize that China has been implementing gradual economic reform and is allowing more capitalism, but 'long ago', and 'replaced their leftist ideology'? It's practically Orwellian. I guess the idea is that China isn't Communist anymore, which is why it's acceptable to trade with China but not Castro.

[ixion]

1. it's never really been communist, it has been totalitarian

and in that regard, I don't think that much has changed. Actual communist/socialist countries are rare, and have never existed on a large scale, though some have been labeled as such.

just my two cents. ;-)

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Socialist examples?

Well, there's Scandinavia.

[htuttle]

2. Wasn't it Peng's 'Five Pillars' paper that renounced Communism?

I think that's when it was -- if not more recently. Their new economic model seems to be:

1) Attract the world's industry to China with cheap labor
2) Bury the West economically by exploiting step 1

We may have been happier when they were Communist...

[cspiguy]

4. well, we aren't building too many truck plants in Cuba

so I guess companies feel China is a more reliable (less likely to nationalize it and give us the finger) business partner.

[Brian Sweat]

5. For some reason, we care more about a country's

economic system, than their political system.