Understanding China is a Challenge but also a Necessity

China wants mutual respect for any trade deal with the U.S. and demands that trade deal needs to be “balanced” to ensure the “dignity” of both nations, indicating that this quest for respect is a significant motivation for its policy.

At the time, it is apparent President Trump did not like the word “equality”, “This can’t be like an even deal, because we’re starting off on the floor and you’re already at the ceiling. So we have to have a much better deal.”

In some sense, both sides have points to make, mostly for respective domestic audiences. However, what they keep talking pass each other is their reference points, possibly intentional but likely genuine difference in perspective as well.

From China perspective, through the hard work of its people and generations of struggle, China, now with the world second largest economy, is again gaining its rightful place in the world. It is a long march towards the vision symbolized by the twin centennial goal. By 2021, to celebrate the CPC's centenary, the goal is to "build a moderately prosperous society in all respects". By 2049, the centenary of the People's Republic of China, the goal is to "build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious". This is the foundation for much of the domestic policy being pushed in recent years aims to prevent and control major risks, alleviate poverty, curb pollution, and deepen reform to push forward sustainable economic and social development.

While it is portrayed in Micheal Pillsbury’s recent book as China’s secret plan to challenge the supremacy of the United States by 2050, the twin centennial goals are more viewed in China as a redemption for its rightful place in the world. Chinese government is doing its best to project the twin centennial goals as a forward looking vision. At the same time, one should also recognize the unmistaken mirror image of the 100 year before 1949, the so-called one hundred year of humiliation ingrained in the minds of Chinese people.

Although the humiliation occurred over 100 years ago was mostly in the hands of European empires, China conveniently lumps them together as the Western power. When Chinese government uses the words such as “respect” and “dignity”, everyone in China knows what images the government is trying to invoke.

From the US perspective, what happened in China over a century ago is none of its business. For most historians, the US-China relationship started in 1972 when Nixon made his historical visit to China. For most politicians and voters, US China relationship started even later with China’s WTO accession in 2001 or soon afterwards when people started to experience the decline of US manufacturing jobs coincided with the economic booming in China. Although the economic relationship overall benefited both countries and the world, it is obvious that China, taking full advantage of the WTO platform, dramatically transformed its economy while US during the same period was more mired in the messy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The world has observed a major transformation of the Chinese society, economy and political position on the world stage. China has become an indispensable global player. Past United States administrations, from both parties, erroneously assumed China’s economy and society were not stable and would always need constant support from the United States. They believed that China would eventually embrace Western values and that increasing engagement with China would result in the westernization of China.

The West has failed to understand that the Chinese system has produced China's stable development and is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. The dominant narrative in the West has also failed to understand that economic development does not mean that China has become Westernized. China is creating an alternative model to the West. 

At the same time, China probably also misjudged or underestimated how deep the resentment in the US population was building up with China’s unbalanced economic advantage from WTO as a developing country, and how the current US administration was able to quickly leverage that resentment against China to initiate not just the trade war but also broad reassessment of the bilateral relationship, which by all measures, has gained some broad support in the US.

The failure in understanding each other between China and the West over a century ago led to the eventual downfall of the Chinese Qing Dynasty. Today, the world is much more intertwined and lack of cooperation between the world two largest economies is simply much more consequential to the world. The inability or lack of desire to constructively understand each other will only exacerbate the situation for both but likely create a disadvantage for the West, due to the difference in how the two systems operate.

As former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson pointed out in a recent speech, less cooperation between Washington and Beijing would make it more difficult to tackle another financial crisis like the one he was forced to manage in 2008. “When the next crisis comes -- and a crisis will come, because financial crises are inevitable -- we will regret it if we lack mechanisms for the world’s first and second-largest economies to coordinate”.

Related Articles

Understand China Through Historical Lens (2/25/2019)

China US Relations: What’s Next? (1/18/2019)

What is at stake in the US China Trade War? (12/2/2018)

Wharton Dean on China Economic Development (10/15/2018)

Don’t Mess with …… Beijing (8/13/2017)

(If you find my article informative, please subscribe to my series by click the subscribe button on the top of the article to be notified of my new articles. Better yet, please join the conversation by leaving a comment or share the post with your network. Thanks and as always I appreciate your feedbacks.)