Page 70 - EducationWorld March 2022

Books

Mafia rule RED ROULETTE was for government to give
them a chance,” writes
exposé Desmond Shum Shum.

Simon & Schuster That chance was given
Rs.2000 to China’s entrepreneurs
HERE’S NO short- by Deng Xiaoping when he
age of admirers Pages 310 reinstituted full-throttle
Tof the Red China free enterprise after a brief
development model of interregnum following the
socio-economic growth in Tiananmen incident. How-
India and world over. Ad- unvarnished truth is that Crony capitalism so ever, an important lesson
mittedly, by any yardstick a new border war with repugnant to lefties the author learned during
the dizzying growth of our our belligerent northern and commies in his discovery of communist
unfriendly neighbour, the neighbour is likely to be India is the secret of China is that “the marriage
People’s Republic of China a repetition of the 1962 China's evolution into of know-how with political
(PRC) — with whom we battle in which India was the world's second backing became a template
share a 3,488 km and as humiliated. largest economy for China’s march into the
yet unsettled border, God Be that as it may, the future and a way for ambi-
help us, in the north and popular belief is that PRC tious men and women like
north-east — is impres- has grown into the world’s Kong and began his career me to make something of
sive. As recently as 1990, second wealthiest nation as a stockbroker with our lives,” writes Shum. In
the annual GDP of the because of the tight control Citibank Vickers, at a time short “crony capitalism”,
world’s two most populous and efficiency of the CCP. when following a lull in so repugnant to lefties and
countries was almost on a You need to read this auto- foreign investors’ interest commies in India, is the
par. According to reputed biography to learn that the in China after the Tianan- secret of China’s success.
economist-author Shank- evolution of PRC from a men Square crackdown on In 1997, ChinaVest
kar Aiyar, in that year poor strife ridden country pro-democracy students, transferred the author to
China’s GDP was $390 bil- into the world’s second Deng Xiaoping broke with Beijing. In Beijing while
lion, India’s $320 billion. largest economy whose conservatives of the CCP, exploring a merger with
At that time the sweep- PPP (purchasing power and stating that “to be rich a company named Great
ing liberal economic parity) per capita income is is glorious”, signalled the Ocean which sold hard-
reforms introduced by forecast to exceed Amer- resumption of market- ware to slow-to-pay state-
Chinese Communist Party ica’s by 2030, is despite oriented reforms in PRC. owned telecom companies,
(CCP) secretary-general CCP rather than because of Money from the US and the author met with its
Deng Xiaoping (the CCP the world’s largest political around the world poured chairperson Duan Zong,
secretary-general outranks party. into Hong Kong companies aka “The Lady Chairman
all public officials in PRC) Shanghai-born Des- investing in China. In 1994 Whitney Duan”. It proved
were 12 years old. India mond Shum’s ill-paid Shum landed a job with to be a life-changing en-
was yet to announce its school teacher parents ChinaVest, a company counter.
relatively lukewarm, but escaped desperately poor founded by a former CIA Together they formed
nevertheless historic liber- post Cultural Revolu- officer, Bob Theleen. a romantic-cum-business
alisation and deregulation tion China and moved to From Hong Kong the partnership that trans-
budget of 1991. That delay Hong Kong in 1978. His author began visiting the formed them into billion-
has proved very expensive. father prospered suffi- mainland to search for aires. Whitney’s expertise
Currently according ciently under British rule businesses for invest- was that she knew how
to IMF data, PRC’s GDP to send young Desmond ment. “China was so poor to work the CCP domi-
in the pre-pandemic year to an English-medium that none of its nascent nated system. Her rolodex
2019-20 was $16 trillion; school in Hong Kong and private businesses had included names of the
India’s $2.9 trillion and graduate with a business high enough revenue to be Red Aristocracy and she
China’s per capita income management degree from investment targets. Still knew the rules of guanxi
is 5.5 multiples of India’s. Wisconsin University in I could feel the energy, (connections and social
Moreover its industrial 1993. Passing up a chance suppressed for decades by networks). On the other
production and manufac- to acquire a Green Card for communism, waiting to be hand, Shum with his Hong
turing prowess outstrips fear of “hitting a glass ceil- unleashed. All that aspir- Kong and US education
India’s by miles. The plain ing”, he returned to Hong ing entrepreneurs needed brought formal business

70 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2022