Here’s a great conversation going on between James Fallows of The Atlantic and his readers about the nature of China’s internet and how that might affect the nation’s future development. I recommend checking it in full, as well as the related articles.
As difficult as it is to discuss and speculate on something so uncertain, I think I’d agree with Fallows here:
As [one reader] says, “the question is whether or not China can build a world-class society while building a giant intranet that is China-specific.” By my lights, the answer to that question must be No. Everything I have learned about the world tells me that “world-class” powers must be open to the world.