Almost everyone got it wrong about China, including me.

How could so many smart people in America, especially in academia, in government, and in the private sector, get it so wrong about China? I know why I did. Let me share that story with you.

My favorite city in the entire world is Hong Kong, and it has been since I first visited Hong Kong in 1967 when I was a young Naval Officer serving in Taiwan. I have been back for short visits more than 75 times. The energy, the work ethic, and the business acumen of the Hong Kong Chinese always astounded me. When Deng Xiaoping returned to Mainland China after visiting Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore in 1978, he exclaimed that “Poverty is not socialism. To be rich is glorious.”

I remembered Deng’s statement, and I remembered my visits to Hong Kong in the late 70s and early 80s and all the talk about Shenzhen and what was happening there. After the 1997 Handover, I thought Hong Kong would be a “virtuous virus” that would infect China with a love of the free market, and, initially, it did.

However, I forgot Lord Acton’s dictum about power and its ability to corrupt.  I also forgot that communism has reigned supreme in China since 1949. And, that the thought of Chairman Mao or Maoism has held sway since the 1950s.

The tenets of collectivism are paramount in China, and they have pushed China to a position as an unwelcomed addition to the community of nations. I sincerely wish for the emergence of a second Deng Xiaoping.

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