"Keith G" wrote

We need more factual information and a lot less 'probably' and 'I
suspect' on these issues....

For what purpose?

I would like to know if the Chinese are generally 'happy' - the
torrent of cheap Chinese stuff is handy to have and very
liberating for us poor Westerners, but I would hate to think
schoolkids are still going blind 'handweaving carpets', as it
were...!!

AFAIK there are no good grounds for particular concern for the
Chinese people. If you are prepared to buy gas or tolerate tantalum
(for just two examples of products tainted with blood), you may as
well enjoy the fruits of China too even if you believe the people
are being over-exploited.

FWIW, when I was a member of the Communist Party, the policy was
that assistance to the people of foreign states should only be given
at the request of bona fide representatives of a majority of the
people. Consequently the only boycott we supported was that
requested by the ANC. We never supported a boycott, for example,
against Israel, because the PLO has never requested one. They would
be cutting off their nose to spite their face...something Hamas
seems quite keen on. AFAIK this remains the policy of the CP of
China, and therefore of the majority of its people.

There won't be any neo-capitalist 'Utopia', that's for sure...

There will never be such thing as a neo-capitalist Utopia, but it is
not yet certain that China will ever be a neo-capitalist state.
There is some chance it could become a communist state.

Just to remind folk of the story. The Communist Party was set up to
create a socialist state, and pave the way to Communism, at which
point the Party and the State would "wither away" and the Communist
revolution would be complete. Only then would a Communist state
exist. The Politburo of the Soviet Union regularly reported failure
in this respect, as has its equivalents elsewhere.

The exact nature of this withering was the big mystery. Why everyone
assumes that is not what is happening now I am not sure. There are
so many signs pointing so many ways, and no formula for calculating
the odds. The key for me is whether the Chinese soviets can hold out
against the emerging Barons.

I have to admit it appears unlikely but, as Lenin said, "One step
backwards, two steps forward":-)

cheers, Ian
, but I would
like to know things are not as dire as some would have us
believe - for audio kit assemblers, if at all possible??

cheers, Ian