If democracy is to become durable again in the 21st Century, its citizens will need some set of ideals to work towards. The work of Chinese sci-fi author Cixin Liu is rich with the sense of civilization and purpose that is lacking in the culture in open democracies today.
The takeaway is this: “Nations that can’t effectively tell their own story risk having it told by another country” – that’s a conclusion by Jed Willard, global engagement director at Harvard’s FDR Foundation.
Australia’s story is not about one specific unfavourable news item related to alleged war crimes but about the much bigger, recurring themes of the rule of law, sovereignty, and trade fairness. These are the focal points of Australia’s story in regard to the Chinese Communist Party.
More detail in my story.
A little more background on the trolling, here.
A lower level Chinese Communist Party spokesman is helping to distort a discussion about Australian news on global social media. What has the CCP learned about antagonizing democracies from their post-revolutionary friends linked to the Kremlin?
Social media platforms have helped break down the information order of the world. Now, by exploiting the possibilities of the digital domain, blockchain and cryptocurrency can potentially do the same to the financial order.
Within that shift, there is tangible political power to be gained.
Recent reports about China’s ambitions suggest its digital currency and payments systems could challenge and one day supplant the Western-led financial order that has dominated since the 19th Century.
But China’s technological challenge to Western power is more complex and varied than 5G and payments.
Blockchain-Based Service Network would allow China to create the platforms and standards on which a new class of networked technology is built, according to blockchain expert Yaya Fanusie.
The Chinese Communist Party believes “blockchain technology offers a foundational infrastructure for future technological innovation and that China should set the global standards in that arena.”
“The BSN is … important because it accentuates China’s broader push toward an information-based economy and supports its strategy to dominate in financial technology and become a ‘cyber superpower.’ “, he has written in Lawfare.
The CCP is not so much in the business of supporting single apps for existing networks. It wants to help build the ground floor of new platforms for as yet undetermined technological possibilities that increase China’s global power.
“Blockchain experimentation, whether it has scaled up to wide use or not, is where researchers are working on many difficult computer science challenges associated with the internet ecosystems—such as digital identity management. Research and trials with distributed ledger technology will likely unlock technological insights and breakthroughs.”
Fanusie says its analogous to how during the space race the US benefited from the numerous spin off technology created by NASA.
The lesson is that if a country wants to guide development – and hence – technological destiny, it has to embrace both planning and uncertainty. In laying the groundwork, a nation must build in the standards that will support political and trade ambitions. At the same time, in order for technology to be adopted, it must genuinely be accepted by markets, which is something that takes time and can’t be engineered.
