Grok "what is happening in China?"
Based on the information available up to September 7, 2024, several notable events and conditions are occurring in China:
- Economic Challenges: There's a growing narrative around economic difficulties, including a housing market crisis, high unemployment rates among the youth, and an overall slowdown in economic growth. Reports suggest that China might be facing a "lost decade" with investors pulling out billions and economic growth falling below expectations.
- Social Credit System: The social credit system continues to impact individuals, where a low social credit score can lead to severe restrictions like job bans and financial account locks, pushing people towards low-paying, manual labor jobs.
- Public Unrest and Looting: Instances of public unrest have been noted, particularly in response to economic hardships. For example, a grocery store was looted in Henan Province, which hasn't been able to pay salaries for several months, indicating significant financial stress among public institutions.
- Natural Disasters: Southern China, particularly the Pearl River Delta, experienced severe flooding due to heavy rains, affecting millions and highlighting ongoing issues with climate change impacts in the region.
- Foreign Relations and Policies: There's mention of China imposing selective embargoes on components to Europe, affecting manufacturing supply chains. Additionally, discussions around China's nuclear capabilities and U.S. strategic responses indicate ongoing geopolitical tensions.
- Internal Policies and Public Sentiment: There's a sentiment of dissatisfaction with current policies, especially those related to economic management and social freedoms, as reflected in various social media posts and public reactions.
- Technological and Trade Restrictions: The U.S. has tightened export controls affecting China, which could further complicate China's technological advancements and trade relations.
These points paint a picture of China dealing with a confluence of economic, social, and environmental challenges, alongside geopolitical maneuvers, which together contribute to a complex internal and external situation for the country. Public sentiment, as reflected through social media like X, shows a mix of frustration over economic conditions, governance, and the impacts of policy decisions on everyday life.
I got bored and wanted a weekend laugh. So I did an AI search above. In the last few months, I regularly used Grok, ChatGPT-4o, Claude and Gemini. On balance, I like Grok over others. Yet in a simple inquiry like above, the answer is so brainwashed or censored. Nonetheless, it gave a good laugh anyway.
On "Economic Challenges" due to the housing market struggle, every grownup Chinese knows that the housing and the local land-oriented fiscal model have been a time bomb for more than 10 years. It was Chinese central government that is proactively diffusing that time bomb in the past few years. Almost all other major economic challengers China has been facing in the last few years are direct results or collateral damages of this housing market struggle. The good news is that this housing time bomb is no longer an active bomb. In this context, talking of China "lost decade" is yet another western "joke", particularly when China is exporting millions of cars on a global scale.
On "Social Credit System", it has already been debunked by many in X as a western MSM made-up.
On "Public Unrest and Looting", I cannot help but thinking of San Francisco etc. Social acrimony shall be compared on apple-to-apple basis in time dimension as well as spacial dimension. Isolated incidents in major countries like China or US are just that, isolated and local.
On "Natural Disasters", I know there are so many "Natural Disasters" occurrences in China every year. What else can I say?
On "Foreign Relations and Policies", last US-related event was Sullivan's visit.
On "Internal Policies and Public Sentiment", LOL, really, is this what US LLM wonder transformers could come up in top 10?
On "Technological and Trade Restrictions", this should be at the top with serious analysis and projection, for its consequences will have direct impact for decades to come. And Grok still thinks "US is winning while China is losing"?
Last but not the least, I am using new AI tools like Grok quite often nowadays. Yet for as much as X is claimed to be uncensored, this Grok answer is really LLLOL