Comments on: Forget G-Zero, it’s China that’s leading the world

By: ExRA

ExRA — Sun, 06 May 2012 07:20:49 +0000

China may be developing into a world player in the near future but it is not going to be a dominating power or a “hegemon” like the US of today or the GB of yesterday. This is because as a continental nation (as opposed to an island nation like GB or Japan) with a long history of both good and bad times the people have settled into a set of values unlike that of the western nations. For a western scholar to think that China will behave like the US today is because few makes any attempt to understand the language and even less so to study Chinese history and culture.

China had a world class navy in the Ming dynasty long before GB ruled the waves. Even the all powerful emperor at that time found that effort not sustainable. China learned the lesson well after the emperor grounded all war ships and banned all adventure overseas.

China also learned that the many occurrences of bad times in its history were with a weak central government. Starvation and deaths were rampant at those sorry days. Thus it is the ingrained human values in Chinese culture to have sufficient food, clothing and lodging for all. This is fundamental and all else are secondary.

China has also learned that human nature as it is, the western election tools did not bring in democratic or even good government as the losers in the election would do everything in their power to bring down the government regardless of the urgent need to achieve those fundamental human values. Good governance (as opposed to good government) may be an ideal like communism that is impossible to achieve.

China understood it could not be a world cop nor a charity to all nations. Its primary target is to meet the fundamental values for its people. Unlike Christian religion of a “god” making “people” look like Him, China believe in good leadership to achieve those fundamental values by exploring different components of political systems that suit itself more. It is still “work-in-progress”. Thus China is no “god” and in no position to tell other nations what system they must adopt for their own development now or in the future as it is no doubt different for different nations. The Mao’s era has long gone.

Could China be a “hegemon” in the same manner as the US of today? The chance is less than 0.1%. Could China lead the world? History has shown that it has done that in the past and may well do so again in some respect but not in the way many western nations feared.

By: RichardLam

RichardLam — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:05:29 +0000

Andao. The difference between China and America is that America seeks to propagate its values and systems, and be imitated. It’s a missionary culture. China seeks no such thing. China’s values, systems, and development strategies are its own. They know that just because it is working for them so far, that doesn’t mean it’ll work for anyone else. Customized solutions for different cultures, peoples, and regions. Belief in Universal solutions is the symptom of intellectual laziness.

By: Andao

Andao — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:41:54 +0000

It’s all about soft power. Everyone wants Chinese money, sure. But no one says “I wish our country was more like China!” People in Africa are hardly clamoring for more state-run enterprises and media censorship.

By: MegaChan

MegaChan — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:40:41 +0000

There’s no doubt China is a global power and it’s action reverberates every corner of the globe. But to say China will become a hegemon is rather fantastical. Sure China will throw its weight around the world to enrich its country and people but so is every other nation. But the day when a global super power dictates major decision is over because I think the return on being a global leader is diminishing. With so many rival power around the world it no longer makes sense for one or two super power hence we now approach zero. Zero global power with super powers in their sphere of influence working with each other to better the world and their people.

Also I just don’t think China’s culture will become universally accepted. Sure the next Hollywood block buster will be produced and finance by China, but can you imagine the Chinese government condoning the kind of script and story lines in a Hollywood movie? Imagine a Harry Potter interpreted by the Chinese government and you can see why it will never work. And with no such soft power China will flame the perception of “they do not understand its objectives and values.”

By: KyleDexter

KyleDexter — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:59:23 +0000

This article states the truth, that China is taking over. It is now their time to rule…….

By: dwilliams3

dwilliams3 — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:31:43 +0000

Mr. Musacchio: Surely you jest! You seem to suggest that we install a communist country; the dictatorship of a nine-member Party, a known cheat in business dealings, an advocate of “state capitalism,” who is officially atheistic in terms of belief, to be the “hegemon” of the world. You could only believe that China is “the ideal candidate” for this role if you don’t know much about its government or you choose to have rosy ideas about some “China” that in reality these days, doesn’t exist. Your ideas about censorship are idiotic. Have you ever lived in China? I have, and I pray that you are wrong — or that someone will ride herd on your silly ideas, because you obviously don’t.

By: DifferentOne

DifferentOne — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:42:17 +0000

All this has been made possible by the artificially low value of the Yuan. Year after year, China continues to manipulate it’s currency to gain an unfair advantage in world trade.

Obama has done nothing about this. In contrast, Romney has at least *promised* to get tough on this issue. Too bad there is no viable third candidate.

By: savannah05

savannah05 — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:19:16 +0000

The CCB has power becasue it is running a huge surplus and using that money to buy debtor nations debt, thus leveraging it’s influence. I would suggest you look to the trajectory of that balance and think how much longer before China is asking other creditor nations to buy it’s debt, that is also close to the time that it’s currency will begin to be taken seriously as a global trade exchange. Without massive internal debt the Renmimbi will never be a global currency, regardless of the numerical value of China’s GDP. If you want in the cool kids club you have to put on the cool kids clothes. Regardless of public opinion, the G7 and the western powers are not democracies, just more free in publicated opinion.

By: Alistair2

Alistair2 — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:55:24 +0000

I think China has its own problems eg the difficulty of setting up independent companies. Government influence can cause them to make decisions that are detrimental to them.

Has anyone read will Hutton’s book “The Writing On The Wall: China And The West In The 21St Century”