What the Philippines Can Learn from China's History

Some people tend to think negatively of China due to the facts like a lot of drug dealers are from China or that China is a Communist country.  China has its own fair share of blame.  However the Philippines can learn from some of its history namely with how China emerged from a sleeping dragon to an awakened dragon.

China had the problems of rampant corruption and later economic protectionism thanks to the Maoist Regime as a foundation.  China suffered greatly under the corrupt leadership of Chiang Kai Shek (who later established Taiwan as a separate state from China) while Mao Zedong took over China.  Although China more or less was united under Mao Zedong but the Maoist regime had its own set of problems.  The Maoist Regime was a protectionist state that was driven into poverty.

Later on, Deng Xiaopeng in spite of the infamous Tiananmen Square Massacre opened up the economy of China.  Even if China is a Communist state, by opening up the economy the Chinese workforce was soon utilized.  Although China is not that ready to give you 100% ownership all the time (and it's within restricted economic zones), it has given flexible joint venture packages with a minimum of 50% ownership and it can be arranged higher with the local Chinese partner.  That would be better than the 40% only ownership for foreigners in the Philippines.

As of late, China has been alert with the problems it currently suffers from like pollution, narcotics (caused by a lot of its citizens who end up flying around the world and some living under illegal protection in the Philippines) and corrupt officials.  When it chose to pull out all the melamine infested products and executed the corrupt health minister, it acknowledged the fact that they were on a war against defective Chinese food products.  By choosing to respond to the problem, China itself has made itself a stronger economic power from the impoverished state that it was.

Now does the Philippines require a Communist government to be progressive?  Not at all while it must redefine its own current definition of democracy.  That is, the Philippines needs to adopt a more democratic economic policy and work towards the better.  The Philippines can also take its military training more seriously because it cannot depend on America forever.  It must learn to defend itself or be bullied.  One can think that the Philippines should try to learn from impoverished states that has emerged into economic powers.