–

I used to be a big fan of coinDesk. The website is neat, full of high-definition pictures, informative and always up-to-date. But until recently, I realise that their narrative about China’s stance on Bitcoin and blockchain is somewhat confusing to the greater audience.

For example, there are multiple posts recently on coinDesk that suggests that the People’s Bank of China is working on blockchain projects. This is not entirely wrong, but this doesn’t give an accurate picture to the worldwide audience.

A person who hasn’t lived under communist China would then think, oh wow, isn’t this great news? The second largest economy on planet Earth is now backing cryptos. Isn’t this where Bitcoin and all cryptos alike will moon?

But this way of reporting by coinDesk can only lead us down a path of serious confusion. Because, hold on a minute. Didn’t China just say last week they’re banning all crypto-related news altogether? So are they pro-crypto, or anti-crypto now?

If You Have Read My Previous Article “Analysis: Why China Is Anti-Bitcoin”, You Will Notice that China Cannot Let Crypto Bloom In Its Territory

If you have read my previous article “Analysis: Why China Is Anti-Bitcoin”, you will notice that China cannot let cryptos bloom in its country. The reason is simple. Because if cryptos bloom in China, the ruling party will lose control over their acquired interests.

A free flow of money means all money originally in the control of the ruling party is now flooding outwards. This can be because of two reasons.

One:- in situations like recent trade wars between the USA and China, it would mean Chinese citizens are losing confidence in the Renminbi, because they see multiple factories leaving the country in face of USA’s heavy tariffs of any products produced in China. And they would rather sell their Renminbi and hold onto foreign currencies like the US dollars.

Two:- people generally don’t trust the system in China. Recall that China’s rule of law ranking is 87 out of 102 studied countries. This means everything is tightly gripped by the higher officials than through a law that everyone, even the officials, has to follow. In this setting, citizens’ assets can easily be confiscated without having to go through proper legal procedures. So a Chinese citizen would rather keep their assets in overseas currencies or assets abroad. That way, their own money is free from the claws of the party.

–

Both situations above entail an exacerbating out-flux of money as the outcome. If the ruling party doesn’t have any money left in their reserves, they can’t manipulate, bribe, sway, monitor (or whatever way you want to put it) their way through to retain the control that they originally have had over their own people (Read Analysis: Why China Is Anti-Bitcoin to understand more).

This means they can’t safeguard their share of the pie in the country any more as opposing voices raise to a level beyond their curbing. Interests in these state-run corporations that they rig, and in these big tax money that they legally or illegally collected from their own exploited people, can no longer be secured. Because they will be on the edge of being overthrown, after losing their control. (Read Analysis: Why China Is Anti-Bitcoin to understand more.)

Those are the money enough to secure them for the next ten generations to come. They would never want to see that happen — after their years of struggle to get into this ruling position of the country, although it’s one big corrupted one.

Make no mistake. China’s stance on Bitcoin or cryptos is always on the no-no. A freedom of money? Power back to the people? These are the last thing, the party would ever want to see in their entire lives.

–

So What’s Up With The Articles By CoinDesk?

The problem is, if you read their latest articles that touch upon China, it easily leads the uneducated audience (particularly in relation to China) to draw an inference that China may be pro-crypto, and China would bring about the next surge in cryptos.

For Example

Recently, a post is talking about a blockchain project in China backed by the People’e Bank of China. It says these blockchain financial initiatives are extending to an area called the Bay Area in the Shenzhen region of China. It further says that Hong Kong’s central bank is joining in on the blockchain initiative somehow to be in this Bay Area inside China, and to be backed by a bank called the Ping’An Bank.

But with all due respect, since my up-bringing in Hong Kong as a toddler up until today, I have never heard of a Ping’An Bank. I am highly doubtful if this bank even has a licence to practise in Hong Kong.

In our country, people stick to banks such as the Citibank, HSBC, ANZ, DBS and perhaps a few other local banks. We have not heard of a Ping’An Bank. At least not the people around me. So this so called blockchain initiative is nothing that our people know of. In other words, it’s not a thing, really.

Secondly, this so called Bay Area economic zone, is like any other washed up project the Chinese randomly ramped up with. In Hong Kong, everyone is disregarding this “giant project”, despite China’s desperate invitation to have some Hong Kong people join them just so they could add legitimacy and/or an international touch to their “project”.

The Chinese officials travelled all the way to our country and tried very hard to sell their thing. They bluffed that this Bay Area project is going to be the “greatest project of the decade” and that it will “surpass the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States in just under a decade”.

Well, guys. These Chinese officials grew up in China. They are watching mostly state-run, filtered, propaganda-like news as they grow up. Some of what they think are really just an extension of the ruling party’s narrative, and often times without regards to factual support.

The people I know in my own country are overall sensible enough not to trust that kind of puff. We aren’t taking these so called “projects” all that seriously to be honest. I think it’s prudent to say, the Hong Kong people I know don’t believe castles can be built on sand.

If you ask 10 people here in my country, 9 people will tell you that this Bay Area project from China up north is only going to end up as a laugh. (I know. Excuse my somewhat scornful tone. I have my justifications below).

Because (a) there’s no genuinely invented technology in China. So far, all are either copied (be it legally or illegally) or at best adapted from the US or other developed nations. (We all know how prevalent I.P. theft is in China.)

And (b) freedom of information doesn’t exist in China. Youtube is blocked. Facebook is blocked. Google is blocked. When you don’t have the latest knowledge/access to info, you simply don’t and can’t invent the latest. It’s really that straight-forward.

So, if you as the worldwide audience, understand what these blockchain news regarding China is all about like us Hongkongnese do, you would notice such news are not even worth the mentioning. Less to paint a glossy picture over it. Why bother to bring in big bracket China central bank’s name and other commercial banks’ names to make it look like it’s all that biggie, and to imprint the false impression that China might be pro-crypto, and that it could help with the adoption of cryptos?

My Advice to Everyone Reading News on CoinDesk Related to China, Is That They Should Read It with An Extra Grain of Salt

First off, I will remind myself China isn’t pro-crypto and news from China will not help pump Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency for that matter.

And secondly, I will remind myself that even if China were doing something related to the blockchain, they are not doing it just so the decentralised infant currency could prosper. They might be doing it to facilitate their daily banking run-downs (or worse, to tighten their grip over their own people), but by absolutely no means, they would be doing it to let crypto grow while its still under their watch. At least, not in the way that we as part of the free world envisioned.

(These are just my views. This article doesn’t represent the views of the website‘s host.)