Martin Jacques says that although China is reaching out globally, it does not see itself as a model. “They don’t require other countries to be like them,” he says.
During the long years that Martin Jacques devoted to writing what became the international bestseller When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order (Penguin, 2009 and 2012), he never imagined the book would sell more than 350,000 copies, be translated into 15 languages, and have the tremendous global impact it has had.
The country helps Chinese overseas only when it is in its interest to do so, says Singaporean scholar Leo Suryadinata in his study of its policy in his new book
The British historian Martin Jacques, 72, who wrote the masterly 2009 monograph When China Rules The World, once told this writer that rising China will be judged by how it treats its neighbours.
Well, going by Singaporean scholar Leo Suryadinata’s new book, The Rise Of China And The Chinese Overseas, the jury is still out on that score, albeit leaning towards a glum verdict.
That is because, as he argues convincingly, China steps in to help the Chinese communities in its backyard only when it is in its interest to do so.
Is Pax Americana yielding to Pax Sinica? It’s a bit far-fetched now to think that China is ready to take up a global leadership role.
As presidential candidate, Mr Donald Trump had touted many radical anti-globalisation messages, from “America First” to building a wall on the border with Mexico.
Shortly after taking office, President Trump promptly followed up on his campaign pledges with measures against immigration and withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact. Most recently, Mr Trump said he was not the President of the world, but only the President of the United States. All these signal an American retreat from globalisation.
All eyes are on China’s two sessions, seeking clues about the future
Editor’s note: Each year in early March, China’s top legislature and political advisory body convene in Beijing for their annual meetings known as the two sessions. China Daily will present the highlights of the meetings, which run from March 3 to 15.
China’s big annual two sessions political meeting could be one of the most important in recent years, given the uncertain international backdrop, according to experts.
Some 5,000 participants from the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top political advisory body, will descend on Beijing for the event.
IN recent months, the rise of nationalism had been associated with the return of xenophobia, anti-immigration, populism and far-right neofascist conservatism.
Nationalism has been much maligned and made the scapegoat for Brexit, for the rise of Donald Trump, for Putinism and China’s intransigence on issues like Taiwan.
Putin’s expansion towards the East has been construed in certain media circles as a revival of Eurasianism, a policy advocated by Russian thinkers from Prince Nikolay Trubetskoy and Lev Gumilev, to Alexander Dugin.
Martin Jacques speaks about current Sino-European relations as a keynote speaker at the opening conference of the Leiden Asia Centre. According to Jacques, the way Western media and politics are approaching China is deeply flawed – and it is causing Europe to miss the boat while China is marching forwards.
