China Concerned About Unrest
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While the USA is trying to get China to let its renminbi yuan to appreciate in value, Chinese leaders are meeting to put together their next “five-year plan” under growing concerns that civil unrest is a potential problem there:
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are concerned that rising income gaps in China threaten to spark more riots, strikes and other social unrest that might threaten the 61-year rule of the Communist Party…
Politics will also be high on the agenda at the closed-door plenum as leaders jockey to have their protégés promoted within the party and government. In the run-up to the plenum, Wen has called for a relaxation of state control of social and political affairs…
China’s next five-year plan, which will be enacted at a meeting of the country’s legislature in March, will be discussed at the plenum, Xinhua said. (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-15/china-s-communists-meet-in-beijing-as-xinhua-decries-widening-wealth-gap.html)
Amid the disagreements, holding the 78 million-member party together is likely to be the overriding concern at a time when China’s system is under stress at home and abroad.
Chinese are dissatisfied with rising inflation, high housing prices, employment woes among college graduates, the yawning wealth gap and corruption, while Tibetan and Muslim regions of western China are held in check by a smothering security presence. Abroad, China is facing criticism from the U.S. for its currency and trade practices and its support for North Korea and ties with Iran. (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jdrr_oSyg63AJmyClLVv04Av8NwwD9IRGID80?docId=D9IRGID80)
China will do anything to grow its economy, as the alternatives will lead to political unrest. A lot of peasants moved to the cities in search of higher-paying jobs during the go-go times. Because China lacks the social safety net of the developed world, unemployed people aren’t just inconvenienced by the loss of their jobs, they starve (this explains the high savings rate in China) and hungry people don’t complain, they riot. Once you look at what’s taking place in the Chinese economy through that lens, the decisions of its leaders start making sense, or at least become understandable. (Vitaliy N. Katsenelson. China: No Shortcut to Greatness. The Daily Reckoning, March 1, 2010)
We in the Living Church of God have long believed that China’s rise would be checked, to a degree, by internal problems that will prohibit it from truly being the leader of the world that some within China envision.
Here are some comments from LCG’s Presiding Evangelist, R.C. Meredith that he made years ago:
The next morning, we headed for China! While planning the trip to the Philippines, I had noted on the map that China appeared to be only a two-and-a-half or three-hour flight from Manila. Since I have for years wanted the Work to somehow get into China, I thought it would be worth the time and the effort on my part—even at the end of this strenuous trip—to visit that part of the world and get a “feel” for the people of China. Remember brethren, more than one-third of the world’s entire population lives in either China or India! These fellow human beings must be reached with the message of the soon-coming Kingdom of God (see Mark 16:15). So it is vital that we start making plans as to how we can best reach this one-third of all humanity.
…The Chinese people are very industrious and, on the surface, reasonably happy. But the poor air quality and the polluted water were obvious in the Chinese cities we visited. Especially in Beijing, the government is trying to put its “best face forward” in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. We found Beijing to be more pleasant than Shanghai, however, because there was a little less air pollution and somewhat less crowded conditions…
the tremendous pollution of the water, air and foodstuffs may bring about massive disease epidemics and other problems for the Chinese…
After seeing these various nations and seeing “God’s hand” in world affairs, I am impressed more than ever to pray fervently, “Thy Kingdom come!” (Meredith R.C. An Inspiring and Successful Trip. Living Church News. May-June 2007, p. 21).
In 2009, he later wrote:
…China will soon be the second-largest economy in the world—trailing only the United States of America…
Although China is becoming—and will increasingly continue to become—one of the most powerful and influential nations in the world, your Bible clearly reveals that it will not become the major threat to America. And our 21st century will not be “China’s century.”
Rather, God’s inspired word tells us that a powerful empire will arise in Europe—one that will, in fact, dominate the entire earth in economic and trading matters. And—if we let the Bible interpret the Bible—we do not need to “guess” who this power is, or where it might arise. (Meredith R.C. China’s Century? Tomorrow’s World, Nov-Dec 2009)
In 2010, China did pass Japan to become the second largest national economy in the world. As alluded to above, Dr. Meredith has stated that the 21st century will not belong to China, because of its problems and the fact that the power the Bible indicates will be the leading one for a while will come from Europe (until Christ comes and puts an end to that end time empire). China will be prohibited from leading the world. Those in the USA would do well do heed Dr. Meredith’s warnings about Europe, but because of the growing influence of China, USA military leaders seem to have decided, erroneously, that it is better to allow Europe to get stronger with the idea that China is the greater threat.
And although it has made tremendous economic strides, China is starting to notice that it has more and more internal problems and dissent.
With a jailed Chinese dissident winning China’s first Nobel Prize last week (the peace prize), this may embolden some in China to rise up and more unrest may be seen there.
Some articles of possibly related interest may include:
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Genesis and Chinese Characters Where did the Chinese people come from? This article provides information showing that the Chinese peoples must have known about various accounts in the Book of Genesis up until their dispersion after the Tower of Babel.
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 2: The Sabbath and Some of God’s Witness in China When did Christianity first come to China? And is there early evidence that they observed the seventh day sabbath?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, and others of Asia? China in prophecy, where? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon?
The Dramatic Story of Chinese Sabbathkeepers This reformatted Good News article from 1955 discusses Sabbath-keeping in China in the 1800s.
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