In which China tells Cuba that it should stop being so communist if it wants to succeed:
China publicly supports Cuba’s right to choose its own path to economic development “in line with its national conditions”, but privately Chinese officials have long urged the Cuban leadership to shift from its vertically planned economy to something closer to the Chinese model, according to economists and diplomats briefed on the situation.
Chinese officials have been perplexed and frustrated at the Cuban leadership’s unwillingness to decisively implement a market-oriented reform programme despite the glaring dysfunction of the status quo, the people said.
It just baffles me that China still gets away with the “we’re communist” narrative. They’re clearly not. They’re authoritarian, and rather socialist, but they’re also quite capitalistic at this point.