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Honestly, I think the communist mindset encourages fakery, for a variety of reasons that I'm too damned lazy to go into. The Soviets were great at it as well- they cheated and broke every rule they could, and if that didn't work the threat of violence would. Their people go along with it because they have no choice (generally speaking, of course) but in the end the rest of the world is just resigned to it happening. I'm not saying that other nations don't cheat, but the Chinese seem to be incapable of doing anything without adding that element to the equation. Their products are not only largely sub-par, they're frikking dangerous these days. It was the same in the Soviet Union- the only way people could get decent food, clothing and other material goods was on the black market. I'm really intrigued by the Chinese market- it's this weird moshing of capitalism and socialism, mixed up with the aforementioned mindset but trying to do business in a post-industrial revolution world that expects relatively safe products and honest dealings. I'm also intrigued by what can happen there politically- those young professionals in the big cities are getting mighty comfy living a Western lifestyle; if the ruling party decides to put the kabosh on the whole experiment it could get pretty messy.
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