Reading this post at One Free Korea makes me wish the author would start a blog called One Free China (or perhaps One Free China, Two Free Systems… whatever).:

Thanks to Dan at tdaxp for forwarding the link. Draw your own conclusions; I think that China’s transformation to a capitalist economy will mean, on balance, that fewer people live in these conditions. You need only think of North Korea to see that. Regrettable as these scenes are, they will disappear sooner if China continues to industrialize. The problem is that China’s transformation to capitalism is warped by the strangling tentacles of a corrupt state.
This scene, of police confiscating a sweet potato-seller’s bicycle for the sake of creating a "modern" appearance, was the one that incensed me. From some of my other readings, I suspect scenes like these are emblematic of the broader corruption in China, and the real flaw in its economic transformation–the fact that China’s ruling party controls its businesses and thus won’t use its legal system as a fair arbiter between the people and the state.Draw your own conclusions; I think that China’s transformation to a capitalist economy will mean, on balance, that fewer people live in these conditions. You need only think of North Korea to see that. Regrettable as these scenes are, they will disappear sooner if China continues to industrialize. The problem is that China’s transformation to capitalism is warped by the strangling tentacles of a corrupt state.
This scene, of police confiscating a sweet potato-seller’s bicycle for the sake of creating a "modern" appearance, was the one that incensed me. From some of my other readings, I suspect scenes like these are emblematic of the broader corruption in China, and the real flaw in its economic transformation–the fact that China’s ruling party controls its businesses and thus won’t use its legal system as a fair arbiter between the people and the state.