Professor Justin Yifu Lin, an extraordinary man (22/10/2021)

(22/10/2021)

Last year, I wrote a few articles about Taiwan, making bold predictions and wild suggestions*, and sharing them with a small circle of friends self-styled as China Writers Group. At the same time, I sent the articles to a few venues which I thought might be interested. Rather unexpectedly, I received a response from Professor Justin Yifu Lin (林毅夫), who is the Dean of Institute of New Structural Economics and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, and the Professor and Honorary Dean of the National School of Development at Peking University. This is an internationally respected economist who, for some reason, commented on an article from someone he has never heard of.

Since not everyone knows who Justin Yifu Lin is, here is a short introduction. Professor Lin was originally from Taiwan. He was a model ROC military officer and was posted to Kinmen (or Jinmen 金门) off the coast of Fujian in the late seventies. In May 1979, Lin was reported missing and was presumed dead. In fact, Lin had jumped into the sea and swum about two kilometers in the dark to the mainland. At that time, China's per capita income was about a third of the average income of people from sub-Saharan Africa. Lin wanted to help the Chinese people improve their lot. Even in those early days of China's reform, only a few months after the US and China established official diplomatic relations, Lin already could see far into the future. He believed Taiwan's reunification with the mainland was inevitable. He wanted to contribute to the Chinese renaissance rather than to engage in counterproductive internecine strife. He could not tell his pregnant wife, who was looking after their young son at home. He also had to risk his life, with no guarantee he would not drown or be caught. Captain Lin must have felt the full force of destiny when he took that fateful plunge. 

Lin crossed over safely and became a private citizen in China. At first, his story was kept a secret and few people knew his background. He got his Masters Degree in Economics from Peking University and, after receiving a recommendation from Professor Theodore Schutz, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, went on to obtain his doctorate from the University of Chicago, the breeding ground of Nobel Laureates in Economics. Lin was, in fact, one of the first Chinese citizens of the PRC to receive a PhD at the university. 

Lin's wife and children joined him in Chicago, and the family later settled in Beijing, teaching at his alma mater. In 2008, Professor Lin was appointed Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank for a four-year term. At the time, it was the highest position any private Chinese citizen had held in an international organization. Professor Lin is one of the most prolific contributors of academic papers on economics coming from China. In addition, he is a current member of the standing committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and the Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC, providing consultation to the Chinese Central Government on economic policies. In short, Professor Yifu Lin may have achieved much of what he had set out to do, although much work remains to be done.

Since making this connection, I have kept up a rather lively correspondence with Professor Lin for the past year. He has occasionally sent some of his translated articles and speeches to me and I would help with a bit of editing without being asked to do so. I explain apologetically to the professor, as an amateur writer, it has become a habit. Professor Lin good-naturedly approves.

​A couple of weeks ago, I read an article by David Goldman (Deputy Editor, well known financial analyst and true identity of conservative political pundit, Spengler) on Asia Times, titled "China Marches on Towards Fourth Industrial Revolution" quoting heavily from Justin Yifu Lin. It turns out the professor has recently published another book, and his publisher is probably getting some exposure for it. An excerpt for his book Justin Yifu Lin on China's Economy appeared several days later on Asia Times. I promptly and dutifully reported the sighting to the professor.

One week later, this was what I got in the mail.

* I predicted in August of 2020 Trump would lose the election. I predicted Biden would at least continue Trump's China policies if not redoubling the attack on China, including regularly stepping on or over the Taiwan red line. At the time, much talk went around in China about Biden being friendly to China. It was wishful thinking. I predicted Trump would not go quietly. I predicted Trump would try to subvert the result of the election. All of these came to pass. I was only wrong on the date of the Trump insurrection. I had expected his advisors to plan for disruptive action in December to block the legal processes, not the formality in January of 2021. I gave Trump's team too much credit. I did not have any insider information; all of my predictions were based on observation of facts available to the public, making use of simple logic and not believing in lies. 

(04/04/2022)
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​As a follow up to the above story, I have received an even better present from Professor Lin.

The title of my trilogy is "Planet of Perpetual Peace." The story will include an actual socioeconomic plan for making such a society possible. I condensed my theory in the form of a short thesis and asked Professor Lin to comment on it. I frankly did not expect the super busy professor to indulge me. I was wrong. This is his reply.

Here is Professor Lin's recent speech
New World Order to come amid China's growth

Caveat: links to Wikipedia are for casual reference only. One should be aware that Wikipedia articles are not always accurate or without bias. Readers who are interested in the subject should conduct more in-depth research.