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>I'm frightened by how a seemingly pragmatic government has been able to spiral into dogmatic, protectionists policies so rapidly.

What makes you think that this is ideological rather than pragmatic? They look to America and they see the greatest power of all time being torn apart by internal cultural and political conflict. I don't like China's authoritarian system–not one bit–but I can see the logic motivating its leaders.

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An understandable misconception when the freedom of presses enables publicly airing anyone's dirty laundry. Not to mention that (god forbid) there is actual debate and conflict between our citizens on the best way to handle issues.

These differences are nonetheless not my biggest grief with China. The moment you restrict criticism of your institution, you have committed to sacrificing pragmatism for ideology. Pragmatism requires commitment to the truth, which can only come from the status quo being continually challenged.

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