China's Capitalism

Robert Reilly, reviewing Constantine Menges' China: The Gathering Threat in this month's Crisis (this link takes you to the magazine site, not the article, which isn't available on-line), says:

Menges points out . . . that there is no necessary connection between a modified form of state capitalism, such as China has, and political freedom, and there never has been.

I've pointed this out before, though I don't know where (possibly at the Hillcrest Lounge with my Dad, but heck if I can remember). What makes everyone think that the embrace of capitalism automatically means China will be our friend, especially when all other indicators show otherwise? There are people out there that I call "market mystics": they think everything will be alright if we just let the market take over. It's simply not true. The market will be alright if the market takes over, but the rest of society needs other things in order to be truly healthy, like freedom of expression, a moral base, a sense of purpose. And a sound foreign policy that resists the lure of market mysticism.

There's simply no reason China can't use the capitalist profits and enterprises to increase their military strength and keep its autocratic form of government. We should be careful about feeding this monster in the name of opening up markets for our Fortune 500s.