http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/8598998/Enter-the-dragon-to-save-the-euro.html

It is in the interest of cash-rich China to help resolve the eurozone debt crisis, but Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, who is visiting Britain and Continental Europe, will want a share of the West’s buying power in return .

As Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, stepped off his plane in Birmingham on Saturday, it was difficult to avoid the feeling that the UK, and Europe, have never looked weaker in Chinese eyes.

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I wonder how much they are offering for the Parthenon?

Melt the family silver ware. It's chopsticks from here on out.

China will be the next, if not already the super power of the world ! ...... and such an orginazied country as well

China will be the next, if not already the super power of the world ! ...... and such an orginazied country as well

Just historic cycles coming around again.

I can imagine that the Chinese are feeling quite smug and secure knowing full well that the growing shift of the last decade has fallen directly in their favour, less the world's understanding that today they have a firm control on just about everything.

They will buy up Euros just as they have been buying dollars for years... and then they can call the shots throughout the world's financial markets.

One of the (undeclared) reasons why they were so keen to resume Hong Kong was that they obtained thereby a firm footing in the world's financial markets.

Best start learning Mandarin.

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

"I wonder how much they are offering for the Parthenon? "

Too late. We've got the best bits.

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

I could read more simplified Chinese in one week there than I could Thai in over 2 years. Granted, it was only words like exit, Guangzhou, Clifford Estates and China but that's still 4 more than I know in Thai.

"I wonder how much they are offering for the Parthenon? "

Too late. We've got the best bits.

Why would they want the Parthenon? They can probably get the whole country.

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

I could read more simplified Chinese in one week there than I could Thai in over 2 years. Granted, it was only words like exit, Guangzhou, Clifford Estates and China but that's still 4 more than I know in Thai.

Yes, I can read words like that too, I know maybe a hundred characters. Nowhere near enough to read a simple letter. Thai, on the other hand, has 44 consonants and 12 vowels, that's a lot less than the average minium 3,000 (or so they say) of Chinese characters you need to claim to be basically literate.

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

I could read more simplified Chinese in one week there than I could Thai in over 2 years. Granted, it was only words like exit, Guangzhou, Clifford Estates and China but that's still 4 more than I know in Thai.

Yes, I can read words like that too, I know maybe a hundred characters. Nowhere near enough to read a simple letter. Thai, on the other hand, has 44 consonants and 12 vowels, that's a lot less than the average minium 3,000 (or so they say) of Chinese characters you need to claim to be basically literate.

What made the Thai alphabet so difficult for me is all the different fonts they use in signage. Some make it look like the alphabet has a small "a", backward "s", and a "g" to name a few. Looking at a newspaper, the letters look nothing like this. It's hard to believe they are the same language. The only thing I could recognize was the word for "shampoo". It's very short compared to the word for "conditioner".

Mandarin has only four tones, doesn't it? I learnt... correction, started to learn... Cantonese, which has six.

I am pretty sure on the language front, Thai will not be a significant language for a very, very long time. Mandarin, on the other hand.....

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

What was meant, on my part, that a greater Western circle has yet to pick up on any of this ever-present shift. The reality has been shoved aside for the continued illusion.

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

I could read more simplified Chinese in one week there than I could Thai in over 2 years. Granted, it was only words like exit, Guangzhou, Clifford Estates and China but that's still 4 more than I know in Thai.

Yes, I can read words like that too, I know maybe a hundred characters. Nowhere near enough to read a simple letter. Thai, on the other hand, has 44 consonants and 12 vowels, that's a lot less than the average minium 3,000 (or so they say) of Chinese characters you need to claim to be basically literate.

I've always wondered whether, because they need to learn several thousand characters off by heart rather than a small alphabet, that the thought processes/cleverness/whatever you want to call it of the Chinese are different from alphabet people like us.

I've always wondered whether, because they need to learn several thousand characters off by heart rather than a small alphabet, that the thought processes/cleverness/whatever you want to call it of the Chinese are different from alphabet people like us.

....now you're getting it!

I've always wondered whether, because they need to learn several thousand characters off by heart rather than a small alphabet, that the thought processes/cleverness/whatever you want to call it of the Chinese are different from alphabet people like us.

....now you're getting it!

He didn't say "better", he said "different".

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

What was meant, on my part, that a greater Western circle has yet to pick up on any of this ever-present shift. The reality has been shoved aside for the continued illusion.

I don't believe that's true. The shift was enabled by the West. It's just business.

I've always wondered whether, because they need to learn several thousand characters off by heart rather than a small alphabet, that the thought processes/cleverness/whatever you want to call it of the Chinese are different from alphabet people like us.

....now you're getting it!

He didn't say "better", he said "different".

From my experience of living in a Chinese country, it is true that they think differently. And they are clever. They (not all of them but many) are very successful, in science and in business.

Already during the Cold War, China was described as a sleeping dragon. The dragon has woken up my friends, and what we are seeing (China now being the biggest exporter in the world, having overtaken long-time champion Germany) is only just the beginning. China will soon become a superpower, I am sure of that, I am only not sure how soon "soon" is.

Best start learning Mandarin.

What do you mean, "start"? This development has been known for at least ten years, that's when I started to learn Mandarin.

No joke, I'm serious. And actually, it's an easy language to learn (if you skip the writing). Both tones and grammar are easier than Thai.

What was meant, on my part, that a greater Western circle has yet to pick up on any of this ever-present shift. The reality has been shoved aside for the continued illusion.

The people in the engineering industries (for example trains and cars) have picked up on it. I know many Westeners who speak, read and write Mandarin fluently, and they are getting top jobs in China, working for Western firms.

Mandarin has only four tones, doesn't it? I learnt... correction, started to learn... Cantonese, which has six.

Mandarin has four tones, that's correct. I don't know about Cantonese, but they have more. Six or nine?

From my experience of living in a Chinese country, it is true that they think differently. And they are clever. They (not all of them but many) are very successful, in science and in business.

Already during the Cold War, China was described as a sleeping dragon. The dragon has woken up my friends, and what we are seeing (China now being the biggest exporter in the world, having overtaken long-time champion Germany) is only just the beginning. China will soon become a superpower, I am sure of that, I am only not sure how soon "soon" is.

They think very differently... they have no logic in a Western sense. Some are clever, some are unbelievably stupid (because they cannot see outside preconceived thought patterns which are themselves illogical). But above all, they work hard for what they want, and eschew all the unnecessary things in life until they have got what they want.

I agree with you, Tom, that China will become a superpower... I would have said THE superpower. Frankly I'm afraid of it, because they have no sense of compromise; there is only one way a Chinese will compromise, and that's in his favour.

As an expatriate of fifty years' standing, I worked with Chinese for the first thirty years of that, before I moved to Thailand in 1991... mainly because I didn't want to get stuck in a Chinese-ruled Hong Kong after 1997.

From my experience of living in a Chinese country, it is true that they think differently. And they are clever. They (not all of them but many) are very successful, in science and in business.

Already during the Cold War, China was described as a sleeping dragon. The dragon has woken up my friends, and what we are seeing (China now being the biggest exporter in the world, having overtaken long-time champion Germany) is only just the beginning. China will soon become a superpower, I am sure of that, I am only not sure how soon "soon" is.

They think very differently... they have no logic in a Western sense. Some are clever, some are unbelievably stupid (because they cannot see outside preconceived thought patterns which are themselves illogical). But above all, they work hard for what they want, and eschew all the unnecessary things in life until they have got what they want.

I agree with you, Tom, that China will become a superpower... I would have said THE superpower. Frankly I'm afraid of it, because they have no sense of compromise; there is only one way a Chinese will compromise, and that's in his favour.

As an expatriate of fifty years' standing, I worked with Chinese for the first thirty years of that, before I moved to Thailand in 1991... mainly because I didn't want to get stuck in a Chinese-ruled Hong Kong after 1997.

They have a logic, but I agree it is different from the Western logic.

People all over the world are clever or not, this is true for Chinese as well as European, Americans, Australians... I don't accept your point.

I am not afraid of the Chinese. Are you saying I should be? I think Corporate America and the EU should be, not us small guys doing business in Asia. Hong Kong has been doing fine since 1997, as you know by now.

Edit: Typo.

From my experience of living in a Chinese country, it is true that they think differently. And they are clever. They (not all of them but many) are very successful, in science and in business.

Already during the Cold War, China was described as a sleeping dragon. The dragon has woken up my friends, and what we are seeing (China now being the biggest exporter in the world, having overtaken long-time champion Germany) is only just the beginning. China will soon become a superpower, I am sure of that, I am only not sure how soon "soon" is.

They think very differently... they have no logic in a Western sense. Some are clever, some are unbelievably stupid (because they cannot see outside preconceived thought patterns which are themselves illogical). But above all, they work hard for what they want, and eschew all the unnecessary things in life until they have got what they want.

I agree with you, Tom, that China will become a superpower... I would have said THE superpower. Frankly I'm afraid of it, because they have no sense of compromise; there is only one way a Chinese will compromise, and that's in his favour.

As an expatriate of fifty years' standing, I worked with Chinese for the first thirty years of that, before I moved to Thailand in 1991... mainly because I didn't want to get stuck in a Chinese-ruled Hong Kong after 1997.

They have a logic, but I agree it is different from the Western logic.

People all over the world are clever or not, this is true for Chinese as well as European, Americans, Australians... I don't accept your point.

I am not afraid of the Chinese. Are you saying I should be? I think Corporate America and the EU should be, not us small guys doing business in Asia. Hong Kong has been doing fine since 1997, as you know by now.

Edit: Typo.

Which point do you not accept? That they are hard-working?

Yes, Hong Kong is doing great business; the Chinese are using it as a showcase for China. It has also preserved personal freedoms more than I expected. When I left, we did not know how China would treat Hong Kong... and I was not prepared to be forced to move at the age of 60 if I could do it in my own sweet way a few years earlier. My fears were groundless, I agree.

No, I don't think they will affect small businesses; I was thinking, and writing, more in terms of political control exercised through economic muscle. I suppose that is really the same as you are saying in different terms.

From my experience of living in a Chinese country, it is true that they think differently. And they are clever. They (not all of them but many) are very successful, in science and in business.

Already during the Cold War, China was described as a sleeping dragon. The dragon has woken up my friends, and what we are seeing (China now being the biggest exporter in the world, having overtaken long-time champion Germany) is only just the beginning. China will soon become a superpower, I am sure of that, I am only not sure how soon "soon" is.

They think very differently... they have no logic in a Western sense. Some are clever, some are unbelievably stupid (because they cannot see outside preconceived thought patterns which are themselves illogical). But above all, they work hard for what they want, and eschew all the unnecessary things in life until they have got what they want.

I agree with you, Tom, that China will become a superpower... I would have said THE superpower. Frankly I'm afraid of it, because they have no sense of compromise; there is only one way a Chinese will compromise, and that's in his favour.

As an expatriate of fifty years' standing, I worked with Chinese for the first thirty years of that, before I moved to Thailand in 1991... mainly because I didn't want to get stuck in a Chinese-ruled Hong Kong after 1997.

They have a logic, but I agree it is different from the Western logic.

People all over the world are clever or not, this is true for Chinese as well as European, Americans, Australians... I don't accept your point.

I am not afraid of the Chinese. Are you saying I should be? I think Corporate America and the EU should be, not us small guys doing business in Asia. Hong Kong has been doing fine since 1997, as you know by now.

Edit: Typo.

Which point do you not accept? That they are hard-working?

Yes, Hong Kong is doing great business; the Chinese are using it as a showcase for China. It has also preserved personal freedoms more than I expected. When I left, we did not know how China would treat Hong Kong... and I was not prepared to be forced to move at the age of 60 if I could do it in my own sweet way a few years earlier. My fears were groundless, I agree.

No, I don't think they will affect small businesses; I was thinking, and writing, more in terms of political control exercised through economic muscle. I suppose that is really the same as you are saying in different terms.

The point I don't accept is that they (the Chinese) are stupid. While there may be many that are, so will there be many in any given Western country that are. Calling the Chinese in general stupid just means you don't understand their way of thinking.

And the Chinese are certainly hard-working people (not all of them but so many that it makes a significant difference). I keep saying that a Chinese doesn't mind working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, if that means building up a business. I don't know many Westeners who share that work ethic.

Their diligence is what makes them a threat to Western businesses.

I hear there are strikes planned again in Europe. My message to European workers: Please do not be surprised if I move my business to China (or to Asia in general, for that matter).

Did somebody say the Chinese were stupid? I didn't. I said some were, though.

Yes, their work ethic is what is important; the West just doesn't have this any longer. Not only do they work hard, but they tend to save, thereby building up their assets faster than most Westerners. This is what makes China a danger in the long run.

When I was working in Hong Kong I spent eighteen months travelling daily from Kowloon Tong to Tai Po Market on the KCR. This was aout the hours that schoolkids were also on the train. Thousands of them. All in groups with their textbooks and exercise books open, discussing last night's homework and the lessons coming for the day. You don't see that with Western children - they are all concerned with last night's telly, they've not even looked at their homework (if any).

The Chinese have ambition, Western nations have unemployment benefits.

When I was working in Hong Kong I spent eighteen months travelling daily from Kowloon Tong to Tai Po Market on the KCR. This was aout the hours that schoolkids were also on the train. Thousands of them. All in groups with their textbooks and exercise books open, discussing last night's homework and the lessons coming for the day. You don't see that with Western children - they are all concerned with last night's telly, they've not even looked at their homework (if any).

The Chinese have ambition, Western nations have unemployment benefits.

I agree with both parts of this post, HB. I taught Chinese adults in Hong Kong for a number of years... and were they determined! This is why I think Chinese will be (or perhaps already is) THE superpower.

When I was working in Hong Kong I spent eighteen months travelling daily from Kowloon Tong to Tai Po Market on the KCR. This was aout the hours that schoolkids were also on the train. Thousands of them. All in groups with their textbooks and exercise books open, discussing last night's homework and the lessons coming for the day. You don't see that with Western children - they are all concerned with last night's telly, they've not even looked at their homework (if any).

The Chinese have ambition, Western nations have unemployment benefits.

LOL! I love that last sentence. Simply because I agree with it from my personal (anecdotal) experience rather than for academic reasons.