[Editor’s Note: Nobel Laureate of Economic Science James Buchanan stated about Yang Xiaokai that his analysis of specialization was perhaps the most important economic research in the world. Yang was deemed the most promising Chinese candidate for the Nobel Prize in Economic Science.

Yang Xiaokai died last year, but not before granting an interview to New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV).

Yang Xiaokai was born in China in 1948 to high-ranking officials of the Communist Party. His father, Yang Dipu, was at one time Secretary-General of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and his mother, Chen Su, served as deputy head of the provincial trade union organization. At the age of just 19, he wrote a political tract entitled, “Whither China?” which, as well as advocating radical change in economic policy, openly denounced the powerful Communist Party elite. His book became famous but it landed him in prison for the next ten years of his life.

Once free, Yang studied at Hunan University and accepted a position at Wuhan University. He was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship and obtained his PhD in economics from Princeton University. He then took a postdoctoral position at Yale University before accepting the first of his appointments as a lecturer in economics at Monash University in Australia. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia in 1993. He was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University (1998-1999), Yale University (1987-1988), and at many other universities. His research papers appeared in American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Development Economics, the Journal of Organization and Economic Behavior, the Journal of Urban Economics, the Journal of Economics and in countless other publications. His own publications include Specialization and Economic Organization: A New Classical Microeconomic Framework, and Economics: New Classical Versus Neoclassical Frameworks.

The following interview with Yang Xiaokai took place shortly before his death in 2004.]

Continue reading →

After the Xinhua website reprinted the article “China in the Eyes of the World in 2004: The whole world suddenly wants to learn Chinese” published by Jingbao [1] on December 31, 2004, the Chinese version of the book Beijing Consensus is about to be published in China. The hot topic, “Beijing Consensus will replace Washington Consensus,” was widely circulated back in May of 2004, and is once again being brought to the Chinese public’s attention.

According to the official interpretation by the Chinese government, the Beijing Consensus covers, in addition to economic ideas, many other topics such as politics, quality of life, and the balance of power in the world. Taken as a whole, the theme of “Beijing Consensus will replace the Washington Consensus” is one political value system replacing another.

Continue reading →

Free information flow is a an integral part of the fabric of democracy, something that is currently unavailable in China. In an assessment of the Chinese media, the BBC wrote on its website,

“China’s media are tightly controlled by the country’s leadership. Beijing also attempts to restrict access to foreign news providers by jamming shortwave radio broadcasts, including those of the BBC, and blocking access to web sites.

“The Chinese press report on corruption and inefficiency among officials, but the media as a whole refrain from criticizing the Chinese Communist Party’s monopoly on power.”

In recent years, a number of private organizations have begun to pose a challenge to the Chinese government’s censorship. These organizations, often non-profit and staffed with volunteers, operate on a minimal budget. Surprisingly, they have managed to achieve significant results.

Continue reading →

Every March, representatives of the National People’s Congress and members of the Political Consultative Conferences gather in Beijing for the annual “Two Conferences.” The conferences are meant to be platforms for the delegates to voice their local citizens’ concerns to the central government and make policies to solve the country’s most pressing issues.

This year, it was widely hoped that the government would do something to buoy the stock market, which hit a new six-year low after a four-year slide. However, the government had a different agenda in mind. The People’s Congress unanimously passed an “anti-secession” law, which mandates the use of military force if Taiwan declares independence. The news caught many China observers by surprise and served as a reminder of China’s militant mindset.

Continue reading →