Ged Carroll

Category: china | 中國 | 중국 | 中華

Ni hao – this category features any blog posts that relate to the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese communist party, Chinese citizens, consumer behaviour, business, and Chinese business abroad.

It is likely the post will also in other categories too.  For example a post about Tong Ren Tang might end up in the business section as well. Inevitably everything is inherently political in nature. At the moment, I don’t take suggestions for subject areas or comments on content for this category, it just isn’t worth the hassle.

Why have posts on China? I have been involved in projects there and had Chinese clients. China has some interesting things happening in art, advertising, architecture, design and manufacturing. I have managed to experience some great and not so great aspects of the country and its businesses.

Opinions have been managed by the omnipresent party and this has affected consumer behaviour. Lotte was boycotted and harassed out of the country. Toyota and Honda cars occasionally go through damage by consumer action during particularly high tensions with Japan.

I put stuff here to allow readers to make up their own  minds about the PRC. The size of the place makes things complicated and the only constants are change, death, taxes and the party. Things get even more complicated on the global stage.

The unique nature of the Chinese internet and sheltered business sectors means that interesting Galapagos syndrome type things happen.

I have separate sections for Taiwan and Hong Kong, for posts that are specific to them.

  • Lead the internet

    America historically has been the best position to lead the Internet. It deliberately set up multilateral open bodies that set many of the technology standards. It benefited from this approach and is now home to many of the main companies whose technology underpins and makes use of the Internet.

    That might be changing. A small geeky announcement on ChinaTechNews.com that caught my eye indicated that the balance is shifting. The announcement is significant. Think of it this way, how many extra phone lines could you have if you added an extra digit to the area code of a phone number? Well, imagine that jump but much, much bigger to understand the leap forward that the Chinese are making to lead the Internet with the adoption of IPv9.

    This also marks a profound future social, economic and information shift to the East; especially when considering how the most brutal and naked form of capitalism since the Robber Barons of the 19th century America is reshaping China. Behind this laissez faire capitalism is a regime with a very much ulitarian and mercantilist vision of power. The futures red, the future’s China; get ready for video on demand Shaw Brothers Classics. More related content here.