THE ORIENT'S RED DEMOCRACY

A couple of pieces the Herald ran about my trip to the Huawei campus in Shenzhen, China have been published. The first is a look at the staggering scale of the campus itself, the other an interview with Huawei executive Rio Zhang, who used to head up the Australian Huawei operation and is now the head of global sales accounts for the company. Aged just 32 and female, Zhang is a real anomaly in a major Chinese company - she's obviously done much to impress.

*Also check out my report tomorrow in The Business magazine (comes with the Herald) about the movie industry's anti-piracy campaign in Asia.*

A lot was going on in China the week I was there, namely a series of high level Beijing meetings that assembled every facit of the Communist Party. I'm always fascinated at the TV pictures of the Chinese Government's assembly hall, which seems to be bigger than the UN's though similarly decorated in retro wood panelling. A Chinese friend said the annual talkfests produce nothing but propoganda and are just an excuse for old party cronies to catch up.

Still, a couple of interesting things were bubbling away during the gatherings. The Chinese are going to move ahead and formally legalise the ownership of private land in China, giving better protection for home and business owners who have in the past had their land taken off them for projects in the national interest. Many see this as a very progressive step forward for China, while others are outraged that the long-held socialist policy of property being held in common state ownership has been pushed aside.

The proposed law passed, just as Premier Wen Jiabao gave a very interesting sppech about introducing democracy to China. He basically said that the democratisation of China will take place at a necessary slow rate, so as to give the "underdeveloped socalism" the country runs on, a chance to adapt.

Finally, an interesting report about the growing social unrest in China as the gap between the rich and poor in the country increases. I didn't read much about these types of incidents in the copy of China Daily delivered to my hotel room when I was in Shenzhen last week...