Still going.....just like the Energizer bunny.
Didn't Bill Clinton have something to do with creating the trade imbalance? The Free Trade agreement etc. Who knows that whole story. I heard he sold us out.
I haven't spent years in China only a few weeks at a time. I loved the people, open and friendly everywhere I went. I needed treatment for an infection on my leg, and went to a hospital in Guangzhou. No problem, take a number and wait your turn. No one cared that I was American. Again very nice. In approx. 30 minutes I saw a skin specialist. He examined me and wrote out a prescription. I went downstairs to the pharmacy, located on the ground floor of the hospital. I was given the medicine I needed and paid approx. $15 for the visit to the doctor and the medicine. Guess what, infection cured within three days.
I saw prosperity and poverty every where as well. Just like in the good ole USA. I never have seen so many giant cranes erecting structures all across the skyline of every major city I visited. Buildings were going up right and left all across the horizon. In each city is a neighborhood for the wealthy, with expensive condos, Mercedes and Rolls Royce dealerships and high end retailers of all kinds. Gucci, Armani, it was all there. Prices were on a par with U.S stores. And yes, the best products from the USA were being sold there too. Estee Lauder for the women and Nike for the men. Etc Etc.
And a few miles away entire families were living in little corrugated tin roof huts. But if you walked down the alleyways, there was a thriving marketplace with many food stands and other businesses. Everyone was selling something, from little girls selling gum to old women selling bananas.
Their are large malls there teeming with people, and they do love anything American. Many young people wanted to converse with me. And others just greeted me with a smile. I can tell why John likes it so much over there.
I played pool in a giant recreation stadium, featuring bowling, billiards, ping pong and video games. There was a restaurant and bar there also. It was a huge complex, maybe forty to fifty thousand square feet. And business was good, very good. I inquired whether the government owned this lucrative business, and was told no. It was owned by three young men. WOW! Capitalism at its best. I did find out later that they had to pay a hefty tariff to the local government every month. We call it taxes. I don't know what they call it.
I saw soldiers everywhere also. The communist forces make their presence felt. One night I went for a walk with a lady friend and we were strolling through a shopping district. She went into a store and I waited outside. There was a commotion across the street. Two soldiers were harassing an old women with a vendors cart. One soldier was holding onto it and she was trying to wrench it from his grasp.
She was screaming out and many people stopped to watch. The soldiers appeared quite angry with her. NO ONE intervened. My friend came out to see what was going on. I asked her what all the yelling was about. She said the soldiers wanted a "tax" from her and she didn't want to pay. I walked across the street close to the dispute. She was trying mightily to get away, with her cart. Finally the soldiers took all her goods off the cart and set them on the ground. She was crying and screaming now.
I couldn't stand it anymore. I asked my friend how much money they wanted from her. She told me 100 Chinese dollars, about $14 U.S. I had over 2,000 Chinese dollars in my pocket. I took out a 100 dollar bill to give to them, but she grabbed my hand. DO NOT GET INVOLVED she told me! DON'T! DON'T!
She pulled me away. She said they will put me in jail if I try to help. I was angry but a little fearful as well. I knew at that moment I had no "rights" there. My stature and contacts in the USA could not help me now.
I'm sad now as I remember this incident. My heart goes out to that poor women. They took her cart and all her possessions away as I stood idly by. I'll never forget that moment. I asked my friend what this is all about. She said EVERYONE must pay a tariff to the government, usually once a week. I asked her if that included the stores along the street where she was shopping. She said yes, them too. I asked what if they can't or won't pay. Their business will be closed she said.
It reminds me of the mob and the "protection" money they take from legitimate businesses. It didn't leave me with a good feeling about China. The Communists are definitely still in charge. The people have only what "rights" the Communists will allow.
