Questioning China's real achievements (3)

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

"Many people here talk about soft power. Even in the Party congress report and the government work report, there is reference to soft power. China has many resources for soft power and they have to find a way to use these resources. "Chinese traditional culture, philosophy, even Chinese food, which is universal like Coca Cola or KFC, is a form of soft power."

Jacques, a former editor of Marxism Today and deputy editor of The Independent in the UK, does not believe that China should be unduly concerned with this type of power.

"I think Nye is a greatly over-estimated writer. If you want to be a political or military power on a regional or a global basis then you must have economic power but there is always a lag," he says.

"Britain developed a huge empire and became a great naval power because it had the first industrial revolution. US economic development for more than a century after the American Civil War led to it becoming a superpower after 1945 when it ended its isolationism. The Soviet Union collapsed like a pack of cards after 1990 because it didn't have economic power to underpin its military strength."

He insists that real influence is nothing to do with selling McDonald's everywhere or having an international audience for Hollywood films.

"India has Bollywood but it doesn't make it a great power. It will be China's economic strength that will lead to it having real power and influence in the world since that is what ultimately matters," he says.

Heimowitz says how a country is viewed abroad need not be a barrier to its commercial success, something proved to some extent by the acceptance of Japanese products in China.

"I would say that Japan faced far greater challenges than China because it had to overcome deep-seated animosities in Asia and particularly in the China market.

"People, however, trust Japanese brands to deliver quality and they are willing to overlook whatever feelings they have toward Japan," he says.

Niall Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard University and author of Civilization: the West and the Rest, believes that China is on the way back to shaping the world.

"I think China is going to become the biggest economy in the world in a matter of less than 10 years and that this is an almost unstoppable outcome," he says.

"I don't think we are going back to 1411 (the height of China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) supremacy) because that would imply a massive economic preponderance of China but I think we are going to be living in a time where there will be real parity for the first time since the early modern period."

The best-selling British historian insists there is a complacency in the US about the rise of China. "People in Washington say (about China) that they need us as much as we need them so there is no problem. I say they are wrong.

"China needs the Americans much less than it did 10 years ago. China has a plan and it is no secret because they publish it to shift away from a reliance on exports to the West and toward more domestic consumption. There is no guarantee the Chinese will continue to fund the federal deficit," he says.

Some believe the relative slowdown of the China economy will actually give the Chinese leadership the time to more clearly think about China's role in the world.

Odd Arne Westad, professor of international history at the London School of Economics and author of Restless Empire, China and the World since 1750, says it could avoid having such a heavy responsibility placed on it too soon.

We Recommend

• Helicopters, tanks seen during China-Russia joint drill
• Geopark in Guangxi sees tourism peak
• Parade held to mark Havana Carnival
• Serena Williams beats Poland's Rybarikova 2-0 at 2013 Rogers Cup
• 10 killed in E China expressway collision
• Visa window gives tourists a welcome view