When China Rules the World - Book Report/Review Example

When China Rules the World When China Rules the World” is an academic and carefully researched book and a well written interesting piece of work. Martin Jacques himself is an academic and a journalist by profession and has spent ample amount of time working and travelling throughout the East Asia which is apparent from his writing and shows that he has an in-depth understanding of the Chinese culture and mentality.  He himself being a British news columnist became spellbound by the hyper transformation underway in China when he visited there in 1993. The future supremacy of China on the global level is now fairly well established and Jacques takes the reader back to where the European economies and China differ in the way they operate. The persistent focus of China’s government in recent years to grow as an economic power was set out clearly to put the future dominance in context. Thus the book portrays the very true picture of the global economy and where it will be heading towards in the future.  China's rise to become the “Economic Super Power” i.e. global dominance is virtually inevitable and the developed western world needs to be worried about this progress. In proclaiming the above notion, Jacques takes on an alarming global establishment and breaks off some typical stereotypes. Some of the major among them are for example the idea that Western civilization reflects the height of universal achievement i.e. they have been put as the benchmarks and that the success of all under developed individual countries will always be measured by how closely they are to that western model. In this book, Jacques has presented a convincing and thought-provoking analysis of the international trade and economic trends that defies the common fallacies of the West and their stereo-typed assumptions regarding development and growth, that to be fully modern and developed economy, a nation must become democratic, financially transparent and legally accountable and a pro-capitalist. He credibly states that China is on the path of taking over as the world's dominant economic power and eventually when it becomes, it will make the rules of the game, on its own terms, with little regard for what came before and what was set to be the world bench mark for centuries of rule over the world. However there are some mistakes as well that I noticed while reading the book. I guess the editors weren’t keen enough to correct them. A few small but representative examples are: The Chinese written language is not ‘pictographic’. Shanghainese is not a variant of Mandarin. China has not resisted alphabetization; there is a useful alphabetical form of the written language i.e. called ‘pinyin’, which most Chinese children and plenty of foreigners learn first while learning Chinese language. The influence of the Tiananmen killings was not limited; there were several uprisings and rebels, both on huge and small scale, all over China in different cities, and perhaps using the word ‘Tiananmen’ on the internet can dig out a huge amount of relevant content. The Olympic opening ceremony was not a total success rather it was marked by fakery and in fact the Games themselves were spoiled by the arrests of protesters and the prevention of any public criticism. One of the basic flaws of this book is the fact that Jacques didn’t clarify the Chinese self-image, available from taxi- drivers and the four students Jacques has quoted at length. As per the book, it is a matter of fact that China has existed more or less in its fundamental nature for around 5,000 years, and even foreign conquerors like the Mongols (the Yuan, 1280-1368) and Manchus (the Qing, 1644-1912) adopted Chinese ways. Though this is true that there are few Chinese people who still believe this but this is no longer the absolute concept of educated people inside or outside China. No one from the stream of present scholars on the Manchus, notably Pamela Crossley and Evelyn S. Rawski are listed in Jacques’ reference list. These historians actually emphasize how compliant the ‘alien’ rule was at that era. Sometimes ‘foreign’, sometimes ‘Chinese’, depending on what seemed appropriate to the context. One such example is of Manchu women who could not bind their feet Chinese-style and Chinese men were mandated to wear the Manchu ponytail. Manchu rule was versatile in ruling China within every part with respect to the part of China in which it was exercised using different languages suitable to issue commands and using different modes of administration. Even the Confucianism did not started during the Qin dynasty; several centuries after Confucius (Master Kong, the Chinese socio-economic and political expert and a known religious philosopher) and far from it being the state ideology as the author has continuously repeated what emerged during the era of the Qin dynasty was a very tough, controlling, disciplinary ideology that Confucius would not have acknowledged. Mao, who detested Confucianism, admired it. Nor, as Mr. Martin Jacques declares was the State uncontested in the traditional China. There were an increasing number of secret societies, faction and regional leaders were threatening the federal capital (ruling center) and the other provinces as well. Martin Jacques has stated in his book that no one wants Party rule to end or democracy. But actually people have witnessed hundreds of thousands in Tiananmen Square shouting ‘Down with the Party’ in May 1989. Most of them were murdered soon after the event. However, one of the founders of the Chinese Democratic Party ‘Xu Wenli’ recently completed his 16-year prison sentence. While on the other hand, the heirs of Mao have taken great care to counter resistance. The author Martin Jacques ridicules all of those who look upon ‘Communist regimes as the devil incarnate’. No doubt China is growing at a tremendous rate. However, it refuses to follow the model vested by the ‘Developed West’ of establishing genuine elections, setting up democracy, independent judiciary and a floating exchange rate with easily convertible currency. In fact, its restrictive currency regulations have made China the world's leading creditor while the United States has been sinking ever deeper into debts having the highest trade deficit with China. While United States is wasting its resources routing them on the wrong side by sacrificing its resource and the lives of its soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan in the aimless so-called ‘war against terrorism’ creating terror for the civilians of the occupied as well as an economic terror for its own economy, the Chinese make money in both countries without losing a drop of blood. Martin Jacques is no doubt an eloquent and superb narrator of history and economics, tracing and digging out trends with his insight and analytical skills. He does not shy away from the substantial challenges that as per his observation China is facing while moving towards becoming the world Power. He trips severely when trying to describe what a new Chinese-led international order of the global economy would actually be like, unbelievably imagining a return of the old tributary system where small neighboring states paid in gifts and gold to the ruling power of the region as a tax for their own safety and very existence. Martin’s theories about the implication of a Chinese "civilization" over a Chinese "nation" seem juvenile and mislaid. Analyst all over the world and economists agree with the fact that China’s economy appears very much likely to become the world’s largest economy within two decades or may be less. Even the author is adamant that within 50 years China will quite likely overwhelm United States as the world’s leading power. Recent world news and economic indicators tend to support Jacques’s assertions. China sprang up back on track from the recent worldwide financial crisis more strongly and quickly than any other major nation and has recently beaten Germany as the world’s No. 1 exporter of the world. Furthermore, it is currently is the second largest in automobiles production. However, Martin has overestimated China’s ability to innovate and may have swallowed the fact that the impact of China’s aging population could falter the country’s economic growth and development. According to several studies conducted, China’s elderly may constitute more than 30% of the total population by the year 2050. The credit goes to China’s one-child policy, a growing number of young people have to care for their two parents and not to forget 4 grandparents as well. This function is already acting as a downward pull to its economic growth. Despite all the factors taken into account, China’s recent entrance into the multi-state system and its influence on the rest of the World especially the developing countries and the underdeveloped economies of Asia and also on the west i.e. USA and the European Block, the recent loss of status both economically and in reputation via the recent financial crisis of ‘the West’ by which he usually means the US has brought ground breaking change to the thought process of economists from many schools of thought. If someone has little knowledge about these matters then they should really pick their way through Jacques’ assertions and judgments, I assure there is a lot to learn. Read More