China is dealing with the threat of the H1N1 or Swine Flu in typical, heavy-handed Centrally-planned fashion. More than just rumour has it that Mexicans are being rounded up and quarantined as they arrive in the country.

According to a number of media reports, such as the Wall Street Journal and the BBC for example, Mexican citizens in China are being confined to hotels although they have no signs of the H1N1 flu that has been claiming lives in Mexico and other countries.

Adopting Master Pu’s approach to the pig flu?

The response has been odd given that China was one of the first countries to offer financial support to Mexico to help fight the flu outbreak.  It has led to something of a diplomatic Mexican standoff between the two countries with both countries warning their respective citizens against the risks of travel to each others’ nations.

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Aimee Barnes has a very good post on her blog today about foreigners getting into hot water with Chinese authorities by following the old adage “when in Rome do as Romans do”.

Ironically it is an adage Chinese like to quote to foreigners when the latter seem reluctant to join in some of Chinese business’ seedier practices, from late night binge drinking to visits to karaoke bars that are more akin to bordellos, let alone actual bribery and corruption.

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The Chinese Government evidently thinks it has avoided a hard landing following the recent global financial crisis and is boasting about achieving a 6.1 percent economic growth rate for the first quarter of the year. But I didn’t need these figures to tell me this as I have been closely monitoring the McDonald’s Queue Index (MQI) and the KFC-entrails (the KFCe) for the past few weeks. And the signs in those two indexes have been pointing to strong and sustainable growth in the Chinese economy for the past three weeks.

Signs of economic activity

Readers unfamiliar with these important economic indicators may require  some explanation to understand the operation of the MQI and KFCe, particularly as the indicators operate differently in China than in developed economies such as in Europe, North America, Japan, and, indeed, even in South Korea.

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The other day, during lunch with a group of friends, one Chinese friend related how her attempts to add comments to blog posts on the Sanlu milk contamination case were being monitored and censored, live, in real time.

She told us that she was amazed and very concerned when her computer “advised” her to stop posting sensitive comments on a blog site and to “take a break”.

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