Essay No. 01 · 11 Aug 2026

After Treating a Country Like a Company, I Began to Understand China Differently

A long conversation between a Chinese person living in the Philippines and AI—about BGC, the Philippines, the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, and Apple

Start reading →5 PARTS · 7,000 words

Bird’s-eye view of the boundary between BGC and South Cembo — IMAGE / 图像The bird’s-eye view shows the contrasting urban fabrics of BGC and South Cembo; the ground view shows BGC Butas (Lagusan), the gate through the wall. Satellite screen grab and photo: Rappler / Google Maps ↗

IMAGE / 图像The bird’s-eye view shows the contrasting urban fabrics of BGC and South Cembo; the ground view shows BGC Butas (Lagusan), the gate through the wall. Satellite screen grab and photo: Rappler / Google Maps ↗

CONTENTS / 目录

Full contents

A complete English translation of the Chinese original, presented in five parts for comfortable reading.

01
State Capacity, Seen from BGC1,253 words
02
Modernization Does Not Happen by Itself821 words
03
Centralization, Correction, and Feedback1,640 words
04
A Strong State and Ordinary Lives2,250 words
05
Apple, Microsoft, and the Final Answer1,036 words

SOURCE / 来源English edition

A complete English translation of the Chinese original, presented in five parts for comfortable reading.