Chinese Industrialization, a view from within China

https://chinaopensourceobservatory.org/articles/a-study-of-the-industrial-party-and-the-sentimental-party
Authored in 2011, translated by the incredible Center for Strategic Translation in 2023. Thought I would post it here for discussion, as it is both ambitious and remarkably clear and laid out in its vision. It is also emblematic of the industrial nationalism that became more prominent under Xi. It devotes a lot of thought to “universal values” and tries to argue against the particularist view common in traditional confucianism (“the sentimental party”), and in favor of “industrialization” as a universal value that China can spread to the whole world. I found this interesting because it is not immediately clear to me that universal values are at all necessary, even for a hegemon or prospective superpower. Chinese dominance does not seem at all predicated upon spreading industrialization as a universal value. And the author acknowledges this, saying China does not need vassal allies like America in order to be dominant. But regardless, industrialization is a way better value to universalize than democracy, if you’re going to insist on universal values. You can build a factory in Iraq or Kenya, but you can’t build a functional liberal democracy. And it’s probably less harmful to fake as well, if it turns out you can’t build a factory either.

I suppose the irony is intentional—a nakedly sentimental appeal against sentimentalism. So, maybe Wang Xiaodong, writing in 2011, realized the coming importance of affective governance 情感治理 (qínggǎn 情感, here, and the qínghuái 情怀 for the Sentimental Party 情怀党 are not exactly synonyms, but the same English words could crudely cover them both). He conceived of it differently, it seems. The agents of the Sentimental Party rarely needed to be subverted and sidelined, but could be disciplined. They just wanted jobs, like everyone else. That's one of the reasons that technical feats still have to be commemorated with moving songs and TV miniseries. Not everyone can be an engineer, as he points out. (Affective governance and industrialization is the Works Progress Administration. Don't let your Sentimental Party work for the enemy.)

But, yes, it seems that industrialization was at least less destructive as a universal value for export. It was probably cheaper. Laotians don't really need trains, ports, factories, and mines. They might become spectacular ruins over the next century, if the Chinese aren't going to finance their upkeep. Those things are unlikely, in and of themselves, to touch off critical unrest.