When China Rules the World - Essay Example

When China Rules the World Order No. 441473 May’10 When China Rules the World When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order by the British news columnist Martin Jacques, is a forceful and provocative analysis of a global trend that goes against the common Western belief that a country has to become democratic, be financially transparent and legally accountable to be fully modern.. According to the author, “The West has, for the most part, become imprisoned within its own assumptions. Progress is invariably defined in terms of degrees of Westernization, with the consequence that the West must always occupy the summit of human development." (Jacques) In this book Jacques argues that China when it becomes the world’s most dominant power, it will do so on its own terms and by making its own rules. China is growing at a stupendous rate without following the Western model which lays emphasis on genuine and fair elections, a judiciary that is independent and a currency that is freely convertible. According to Jacques, China may even create a new international model, which the Americans are not able to foresee just as the British, a century ago, did not foresee their decline. The book has two parts, The End of the Western World and the Age of China. The End of the Western World is short and describes the history of US hegemony and the success of the West. Jacques gives the example of Japan as a country which has modernized but has succeeded in remaining conspicuously different from the West. The book then gives an account of Chinas history from the Opium Wars, the rise of Asia and the differences between the growth pattern of the Western World and Asia. The Age of China delves deeply into the background of China. It explores issues like racism and the consequences of Confucianism. According to Jacques, Chinas rise as an economic superpower will change the cultural, political, social, and ethnic balance of global power. China will unseat the West and will create a whole new world. However he feels that the repercussions Chinas ascendancy will bring for the rest of the world have not been explained or understood fully by most people. In this book through extensive investigation, Jacques provides us with provocative answers to the questions raised about Chinas position in the world. He explains this by detailing three historical truths. One, how China will try to shape the world in its own image, two, how the Chinese have a rich and long history of their own, and third, the tributary system China followed. Jacques refutes the belief that China has to follow the Western model to become a global power. Here he says, "There is still a widespread view in the West that China will eventually conform, by a process of natural and inevitable development, to the Western paradigm. This is wishful thinking." (Jacques) Jacques in his book points out to the fact that China’s rapid economic growth does not mean that the country is following Western values. He further asserts that it is unlikely that this progress will lead to a Western type of democracy. The growing Chinese middle class seems to have accepted China’s one-party state and the limitations that this imposes. Jacques while discussing China and modernity says that we are entering an era of ‘contested modernity’. By this he means that we have reached a stage where our assumptions of modernity will be tested. In his opinion, the widespread assumption that China will tow Western lines is fundamentally wrong. Also the belief that China will eventually become democratic may be proved wrong. For over 200 years, in the world dominated by the West, being modern meant being Western. Now it will be different. Modernity will not be defined as being exclusively Western. In this new world China will be the central player. Although China is certainly influenced by the West, its size and history will make it distinctly different from the West. In the long term he expects China "to operate both within and outside the existing international system, seeking to transform that system while at the same time, in effect, sponsoring a new China-centric international system which will exist alongside the present system and probably slowly begin to usurp it". (Jacques) According to him China will follow an alternative model which will most likely bring to an end the dominance of the West in all spheres, economic, political and cultural. Jacques is absolutely right when he says that American confidence is misplaced when they say, "the Chinese are inevitably becoming more like us”. (Jacques) Martin Jacques in this book has set out to challenge the belief that the rise of China will be benign. And this he does with meticulous detail. Here he warns that the West should not be under a false sense of security. That China will gain global dominance is inevitable, and the West has much to fear from this. Jacques’s book is a wake-up call. According to him the West which along has been setting world standards, is not prepared for the shocks that China’s rise will bring and these shocks, Jacques asserts, will not be pleasant In When China Rules the World Jacques makes some bold but at the same time credible predictions. Jacques believes that Beijing will emerge as the de facto capital of the world. He foresees Mandarin gaining international prominence. Also according to him Macao will replace Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world. The dollar will continue to decline with America finding it increasingly difficult to finance its overseas military bases. China’s anti-ship missiles will make the U.S. Navy obsolete and Taiwan may once again come under China’s jurisdiction. Some recent events support some of Jacques’s predictions. China more strongly than any other nation, bounced back from the worldwide financial meltdown. It has overtaken Germany as the world’s No. 1 exporter and is now second in the world in car production. Jacques will always be remembered for his insight. Jacques also believes that China is not aspiring to rule the world. Here he says, "In an important sense, China does not aspire to run the world because it already believes itself to be the centre of the world, this being its natural role and position”.(Jacques) He further argues that China is essentially a "civilisation state" and not a western-style nation state and that, "The term civilisation normally suggests a rather distant and indirect influence and an inert and passive presence." (Jacques) In the book, Jacques also writes about Chinas unwillingness or inability to accept outsiders. He calls this mentality "the Middle Kingdom mentality." His painful experience when his wife of Indian-Malaysian origin died, made him aware of the fact there was racial prejudice in China. According to him, his wife died because the medical staff at the hospital treated her like a third- class citizen because of her dark skin. Many books have been written about the rise of China. However, Martin Jacques book provides us with a new insight into a now clichéd subject. Jacques’ book differs from most other books on this subject in that he does not write only about the economic growth of China and the economic implications. Instead he has made every effort to convey to the readers what impact China’s ascendancy will have, culturally, philosophically and geopolitically on the rest of the world. As mentioned earlier, there have been innumerable books on China’s rise in the past, but most of them are either pessimistic or gloomy. This book is different in that it is thought-provoking and is not based on preconceived assumptions. Jacques in this book gives a vivid account of history and economics with deep insight and skill. The book is a well-informed analysis of Chinese history and culture When China Rules the World is good reading material. It is a comprehensive and a genuinely thought-provoking book and addresses almost every aspect of one of the most amazing phenomena of our time. According to some critics, Jacques is not a China expert. His main sources have come from reading and from Western financial experts and educated Chinese. He does not write from his experiences or interactions with the common people even though he has traveled widely in China. The book consists of about 435 pages and is far too long. A lengthy book with a wide range of topics is bound to have flaws and this is inevitable. It includes some historical inaccuracies which could have been avoided. For instance, he says that in the 1930s it was the Nationalist Chinese under Chiang Kai-shek who did most of the fighting against the Japanese and not the Communists. Japan annexed north-east, not north-west China in 1931 as Jacques has mentioned. Again Shanghainese is not a dialect of Mandarin. Also some of the statistics cited by the author appear to be dubious statistics. For instance in one place he states that 100 million Chinese tourists will visit Africa annually in the near future. This is hard to believe. This takes away some of the credibility of the book. However despite such inaccuracies this book is extremely impressive. In conclusion it can be said that Jacques in his book puts forth his view with conviction that the rise of China will bring about what may be one of the largest shifts in global power in history. He writes about the consequences of this rise and concludes that the result will be different from what most expect it will be. According to him, since China occupies a unique position, both in terms of size and culture, its priorities will be very different from that of the priorities of the West. One cannot disagree with him when he argues that Chinas rise will continue but it will be different from the Western growth model. He predicts that China will become the major global power by 2050 if it continues to grow at the rate at which it is growing now. Chinese companies are going to become the biggest companies in the world and so will China’s banks and stock exchanges. He argues convincingly when he argues that the West has misjudged China based on the assumption that modern financial and political systems to be successful have to be democratic, open and follow rules. But China has proved them wrong. China in its path towards its remarkable economic progress has not followed the Western pattern and thereby has challenged the assumptions of the West. Jacques even believes that China may create a new international order. However he does not describe fully what a new international order led by China will look like. But he is convinced that this alternative model will bring to an end the dominance of the West. References 1. Jacques Martin, When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order, Penguin Press HC, 2009 Read More