Today is National Day in China. In light of that, and the fact that the rise of China is likely to be the biggest geopolitical challenge we will face in the first half of the 21st Century, today will be the first of several posts on the workings of the Chinese system and what it means for the rest of the world.
Visiting China for three weeks a few years ago and reading some books obviously doesn’t make me an expert on such a complex subject, but the following observations are just common sense:
- China is a very vibrant and colorful country. People who grew up during the Mao years and became accustomed to seeing pictures of hordes of indistinguishable people wearing the same clothes frequently have the wrong impression. The Chinese are nearly as gregarious as the Italians, have the same pride in their culture as the French, and are as pragmatic as Americans.
- The Chinese are extremely proud of their accomplishments as a civilization. Why wouldn’t they be? The record speaks for itself.
- The Chinese don’t love their government–they tolerate it as long as it works. National pride revolves primarily around their culture, not their government.
- The Chinese people don’t claim any right to rule themselves on a day-to-day basis, but have no reluctance to complain when things go wrong. Given the strength of the apparatus of repression, you have to be brave to take your complaints public, but they do when necessary.
- China is a very resilient nation. World War II, the Civil War and its aftermath, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution–the list of disasters just in the last 80 years goes on and on, but the people are optimistic about the future, and they don’t dwell on the past. The reasons for this will be the subject of a future posting.