Education, but not Demagogy: The Case of China
By Adolfo Laborde
Professor, Law and International Relations Department, Tec de Monterrey, Santa Fe Campus. Visiting researcher at the Institute of Development, Funda University, China.
Abstract
I walk among the chaos of a city with more than 24 million inhabitants. I watch out for bikes, motorcycles, cars, and pedestrians. Everything seems out of control, but compared to other Asian cities I have been in, there seems to be order. And there is. So far I haven’t seen a single pedestrian run over, a single crash, or a single fight break out from an accident or road rage. There may be some, but it’s not the norm. How can this be? How is it possible that with so many people, there are no deaths? I’m surprised, and even more so when the drivers of motorbikes zoom about (with no helmet). What about the motorcycle lanes? Everyone respects them and the cars put up with them with no problems whatsoever, even the taxis, public buses, and private cars (luckily, there are no “peseros” here). The “lords” and “ladies” so common in Latin American cities simply do not exist. Why? Perhaps for them, for the Chinese, that’s just the way it is.