The post-Tiananmen decade: Prices paid for China’s economic growth

Abstract

This chapter introduces the revitalization of China’s open door policy in the 1990s, using Guangdong as a case study. The economic growth the province experienced was not without blood, sweat, and tears, as rates of prostitution, abduction, illegal drugs, smuggling, robbery, firearm-related crimes, corruption, and economic crimes were rampant. The infiltration of the Hong Kong triads gave rise to the trafficking of drugs, prostitution, and firearms. Smuggling of stolen luxury cars from Hong Kong became common in order to meet the demands of the mainland. Law and order were ineffective, as many officials were participating in criminal activity, both through action and inaction. Officials in charge of monitoring resources took advantage of insider information and opportunities for speculation and arbitrage. This chapter concludes that money became the people’s main life goal and they would procure it at all costs. If history is doomed to repeat itself, the same may appear in OBOR participating nations.