TripDingo

I’m going to take some time to dissect and respond to a recent opinion/commentary article published recently on China Daily by a certain Huang Qing, whose authority comes from being a “council member of China Foundation of International Studies.” Titled “The world warms to China’s peaceful rise,” it is already thick with the suggestive rhetoric that is common with most headlines and narrative reeking of propogandic origins. What really ruffles my feathers isn’t just the language, but also the manipulation of information presented throughout the article. The piece is reprinted in full below with my comments should you not want to jump to the original article:

It is a media tradition to look back at what has happened in the past year and how things will go in the year ahead. For Western media in general, a popular topic in the recent year-ender and prediction season is China.

The Independent (daily newspaper) of Great Britain, for example, ran a series of articles about China on its online edition earlier this month. The authors described China as the world’s newest superpower, the third largest economy in the world, the leading consumer society and an engine of economic growth. They said China’s contribution to the world economy surpassed that of the US, that “Owned by China” will one day be as common as “Made in China” and that China’s culture of innovation will spread to the rest of the world, and so on.

Uh….

1. It wasn’t a series of articles. At best, it was two articles and two authors in a sea of articles about the circumstances surrounding the death of Pakiston’s former Prime Minister Bhutto.
2. Only one article discussed China as an emerging superpower while the other focused on arts and culture.
3. Despite the glowing summary given above, it isn’t too difficult to read the actual Independent article itself in context, which leads us to…
4. “Hungriest (and most polluting) consumer” does not mean “leading consumer society” and…
5. There is not a single mention of “China’s culture of innovation” much less it spreading to the rest of the world…”and so on.”

…so, not exactly.

The US-based bi-monthly Foreign Affairs carried in its January-February issue an article titled “The Rise of China and the Future of the West”, with a summary that begins by saying “China’s rise will inevitably bring the United States’ unipolar moment to an end”. And the author (G John Ikenberry) lays out this view in the first paragraph: “The rise of China will undoubtedly be one of the great dramas of the twenty-first century. China’s extraordinary economic growth and active diplomacy are already transforming East Asia, and future decades will see even greater increases in Chinese power and influence.” The author holds that America’s “unipolar” era is bound to expire, but the international system it heads is now more vital thanks to its “openness” and “freedom”. He says conflicts and war can be avoided by embracing China.

There are others with somewhat different views, including those who describe China as “rich and poor” and “strong yet vulnerable superpower”.

Taken in whole, the Western media’s discussion of China this year really reflects a wide range of opinions, some which are not as sentimentalized and morally conceited as we are used to hearing. Instead, they are more focused on assessing China as it is in reality. Be it praise or sneer, people are better off not reading too much into such babbling anyway. And by saying so I include my fellow Chinese as well: just respond to comments by the foreign press by saying: “So what?”

…and that’s the call for all Chinese to start adopting the arrogant conceited attitude widely attributed to Americans: “Fuck what everyone else says!”

Really, let’s not follow the path of the Americans in this regard…. 

But to be fair, it continues with:

China is a reality and that is that. We do not soar or fall according to what others say. As Chinese citizens we feel the progress our nation has made and the shortcomings it has, like a fish knows if the water is warm or cold, and we know only too well that we will never reach the top unless we keep climbing step by step.

In economics, the values of commodities are not always reflected by their prices because prices are determined by the ever-changing relationship between supply and demand, but in the end value matters. In a virtual economy the values and prices of commodities such as stocks tend to vary by bigger margins and are affected more strongly by psychological factors.

For a nation its real value lies in the all-round quality of its citizenry, the development of its society, the inherent vitality of its economy and its capability to make correct strategic decisions. And those are what our efforts should be focused on.

Outsider’s assessments of a country are reminiscent of a market analysis, which can change in tone from ultra-high to super-low in a heartbeat. For those concerned it is best not to think too much about what others say.

Yes, having some self-confidence and not letting other people affect your self-esteem is important. Knowing when to listen and when not to is even more so. Unfortunately, the seeming thrust of this article is not so much to encourage or empower Chinese readers to carefully evaluate what other people (especially those evil critics, foreigner or otherwise, who’re obviously all trying to keep China down) say as it is to just advise Chinese people to not listen, not care, and–better yet–not cause any trouble.

History is full of bloody lessons about overblown prices, such as what Japan experienced in the 1980s, when the value of its currency rose to record highs and property prices sky-rocketed. The economic bubble back then was so enormous that when it burst and people realized the degree to which prices did not reflect values, the country’s economy sank into a coma for more than a decade. The same “money game” has taken its toll on other Asian economies in the recent past.

Is he talking about Shanghai real estate prices? 

People should think clearly when dealing with symbols, be they money or superlatives. China is under similar pressure these days and we need to remind ourselves of what would happen if we lost control.

Wait…lose control of what? 

China adopted the policy of reform and opening to the outside world 30 years ago. The move symbolized the nation’s desire to participate in the international system on its own free will. It also means the suggestion by Western countries that “China should integrate itself into the international system” is really too late. To a certain extent such talk by some Western countries is a kind of self-psychotherapy.

Whoa, “self-psychotherapy” sounds fancy…but I don’t think Huang Qing really understands (or wants to acknowledge) what “China should integrate itself into the international system” acutally encompasses.

In the past some Westerners refused to treat China as an equal member of the international community or a partner in international cooperation. They saw China as one of “the others”. Now China’s economy is growing more important to the world economy by the day, as it contributes more to global growth and becomes more closely linked with other economies. Some of the China-bashers have realized that their views about China no longer make sense and that it is time to ditch them. Late or not, it counts as progress.

Hello, “poisoning the well” fallacy, nice to meet you again.   

And amid the contemporary enthusiastic assessments of China there are also voices of suspicion and even fear. It was a kind of law in the era of international power politics that the emergence of a major power always required a redistribution of power and interests, which inevitably led to war and drastic changes of the global status quo.

Today, against the backdrop of economic globalization, the game is played differently and the rules have changed. In the theater of history, one day’s tragedy is another day’s comedy.

It is China’s policy to never seek hegemony. We desire a harmonious world. China’s development contributes to world peace and stability.

I’m really curious as to Huang Qing means by “one day’s tragedy is another day’s comedy.” I do agree, though, that the multitudes fearing that China is somehow waging a secret war against the West should get a clue about “economic globalizaton.” I’ll say this again: China is not intentionally poisoning your pets or children so they can one day rule the world. 

However, I do not agree with the superlatives of China never seeking hegemony. China desiring a harmonious world and contributing to world peace and stability all sounds great but it is intellectually dishonest at best and complete fluff at worst. The power structure that governs China is a hegemony. China’s growing political and economic influence in the international arena is a hegemony. I mean, please.

Is it at 19th century British levels or 20th century American levels? No, probably not yet. Can it  get there? Definitely. There is no reason to believe it is not in the interests of the Chinese just as it was in the interests of the British and Americans. Deng Xiaoping didn’t advise the Chinese to drop some of the old Communist dogma, begin opening up, adopting capitalism, and all get rich 30 years ago for no reason. This isn’t to say the Chinese want to wage war, but it does mean it is completely ridiculous to suggest the Chinese have zero interest in having the power or influence to protect or project its interests.

But don’t listen to my “babbling” or “think too much,” especially if you’re Chinese.

Tags: , article, china daily, commentary, criticism, deng xiaoping, government, hegemony, influence, opinion, power, propaganda

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 10:31 pm and is filed under China. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.