What the U.S. Can Learn from China
I just returned from my first visit to China in 15 years, and I still can’t get over howaligned the Middle Kingdom remains around its core “mission statement” – and how misaligned we remain in the United States.
In China, the mission that directs the priorities of its private, public and social sectors is the one first laid out by former premier Deng Xiaoping back in 1984 –“building socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Deng’s vision was an unlikely pairing – on one hand, robust financial freedoms and a willingness to welcome foreign economic influences (like McDonald’s and Microsoft); on the other, sharply circumscribed social freedoms and a determination to forbid foreign cultural influences (like Facebook and Twitter).
Back in 1994, when I taught at a university in Beijing, this shared purpose was