Asia

Martin Jacques, author of the best-selling “When China Rules the World,” saidChina’s rise in becoming a global power may not tread the old and disputed paths of theUnited States and Britain.

In an interview during the 5th World Forum on China Studies that closed on Sunday, Jacquessaid as the world inquires about China’s path toward global power, he believes its style willdiffer from that of Britain and the United States.

“Historically, the expansion and influence of Britain and America were largely military andpolitical; in the case of China, it would be economic and cultural,” said Jacques, who is also acolumnist and visiting fellow at London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Martin Jacques, author of the best-selling “When China Rules the World,” said China’s rise in becoming a global power may not tread the old and disputed paths of the United States and Britain.

In an interview during the 5th World Forum on China Studies that closed on Sunday, Jacques said as the world inquires about China’s path toward global power, he believes its style will differ from that of Britain and the United States.

“Historically, the expansion and influence of Britain and America were largely military and political; in the case of China, it would be economic and cultural,” said Jacques, who is also a columnist and visiting fellow at London School of Economics and Political Science.

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I was pleasantly surprised to read that although Manila has filed its case in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) dispute in the UNCLOS, it remains open to joint development. This is wise way to go instead of getting stuck in verbal tussles through media.

If China needs the oil, so do we because of our burgeoning population. According to the Department of Energy the Philippines needs to be 60 percent self-sufficient in energy by 2024. That is why the Philippines needs to continue exploring for oil especially around the disputed area with China. While we have filed a case for arbitration, efforts must continue for a joint venture with China. The claim for ownership is separate from forging a joint venture. We should take advantage that China remains open to a joint venture solution.

I believe this is the basis for Manny V. Pangilinan’s pursuit for joint development through a commercial venture in SC72 that promises to be a big find — some 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas according to a Forum Energy report. Forum Energy in owned by Philex Petroleum. There are other promising oil and gas blocks in the area.

As PNOC said in its report, “The Philippines sits in the middle of the Asia Pacific region, surrounded by countries with substantial oil and gas assets, yet the Philippines has very low proven reserves. This either means the country is extremely unlucky or it has not yet begun to scratch the surface in terms of exploring its hydrocarbons potential.”

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But to be able to do more exploration, we would need the cooperation of China. That is a given. It makes sense therefore that finding solutions to the problem should be made in this direction because China is open to it. Criticize and analyze it if we must but always with the intention of finding a solution that will be acceptable to all.

Vietnamese Huy Danh Duong of the Southeast Asian Sea Research Foundation wrote “Taking into account the complexity of the South China Sea dispute and the absence of any solution, setting aside dispute and pursuing joint development may be acceptable, but only if it is done in a fair way.” So what is the fair way?

The task is to find a fair joint venture agreement within the parameters of the Deng Xiaoping and Manny V. Pangilinan formulas.

Another Vietnamese Professor Ji Guoxing echoed Duong. He suggested that first of all, all parties in the dispute have to agree to a common overall framework for exploiting the resources in the South China Sea.

To achieve this the dispute has to be depoliticized or as Philippine entrepreneur MV Pangilinan suggested it should be treated as a commercial venture. The exchanges that took place between the Chinese and Vietnamese also concerns the Philippines.

In the conference, Chinese Ambassador Tang Guó Qiáng to Vietnam:  “Once the right conditions come and the two sides are able to solve the dispute, it is assured that our relationship will grow better. In contrast, when the conditions are not right and prevent us from gaining a better relationship, what we should do is to set aside the dispute.

“More effort and co-operation is needed to improve the relationship between the two countries. While growing the bilateral relationship and waiting for the right conditions, both sides have more time to solve the dispute and may find a better solution.”

In his book, “When China rules the World” China expert Martin Jacques distinguishes between China’s tributary system and the West’s Westphalian approaches to sovereignty.

“The tributary system involving a hierarchical relationship and the latter based on relations of equality between sovereign state-nations. But in fact in the Westphalian system of the West “the great majority of countries in the world did not enjoy independence, let alone equality.”

It is possible for China to enter into joint venture with less powerful countries through their tributary system. This aspect should be explored to tackle the seeming contradiction with proceeding with joint venture without deciding on ownership.

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No one was discussing the South China sea (West Philippine sea) conflict in the joint venture between Manila Hotel and the Chan Lim family of painters. It may not be as momentous as a territorial dispute, but I found yet another example of people to people cooperation. Here was the key to finding solutions. People must know each other not just in politics but in all other aspects of life possible. People to people is the best diplomacy and I daresay should be cultivated whether in conflict or out of conflict.

It was the first time I would meet the family but apparently they have established a reputation as teachers of Chinese painting.

On the part of the Manila Hotel they provided a banquet of traditional food for Chinese New Year.

At the centerpiece of the hall was a fish shaped tikoy. Mabuhay Palace executive chef Sun Bing and his team created a special set menu that includes an appetizer-to-dessert-themed feast for luck and prosperity. The 10-course set menu includes seafood dishes like Deep Fried Minced Shrimp Balls with Shrimp Glazed Almonds, Steamed Live Flambeed Garoupa, and Slow-Cooked Assorted Seafood Hot Pot, to name a few. Dessert includes fish-shaped tikoy sliced and fried for serving.

Along the corridors were fans painted in Chinese brush style by the family and their students. The Chan Lims have been giving Chinese painting lessons to all nationalities including ambassadors and prominent members of society. I began my first lesson after the lunch. As one of the students showed me how to hold the brush she said, being a student means that once you have learned it there are two things you must do — one is to exhibit your work and second is to teach it to others.

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Elizabeth Medina’s Thru the Lens of Latin America: A Wide Angle View of the Philippines Colonial Experience comes to mind.

She says something very relevant to my weekend of reading on the South China sea problem and becoming a student of Chinese painting.

“The final and greatest actor of history is the human whole — but a human whole that is made up of a constellation of sub protagonists right down to the individuals. Great men and women do not make history by themselves, but represent, interpret and make visible the unexpressed collective wishes of the larger human groups to which they belong. Neither do societies and nations float around in the stratosphere they exist within the context of great civilizations which in turn continuously undergo dynamic processes of birth, development and decline.”

– Carmen N. Pedrosa

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On Nov. 19, I was privileged to join my husband, Vergel, at the lecture of journalist-historian Martin Jacques for his book “When China Rules the World.”

I have been able to read only a few of the 600-plus pages of it at a time, since Vergel seldom puts it down. And just as well, as the book’s main thesis scares me: It’s only a matter of time before China and its 1.3 billion people, with basic beliefs that run counter to those I hold, rule the world.

I’m still struggling to fit into any manner of acceptable culture the carnage at Tiananmen or the seemingly amoral push for market profit or the bullying of neighbors by a nation that claims to be more civilized than any other. In fact, Jacques attributes this last attitude, which it assumes over territorial disputes (with our country, for one) to a Chinese sense of racial superiority that regards all outsiders as barbarians.

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SHANGHAI – Whether and to what extent China will adjust its diplomatic policy under its new leadership has become a focus of attention for China watchers.

“China will continuously push for construction of a harmonious world with permanent peace and common prosperity,” Hong Lei, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told a journalist on November 15 in response to a question as to where the country’s foreign policy will move following this month’s 18th Party Congress. “China will unswervingly follow the road of peaceful development and firmly pursue the independent and peaceful foreign policy. China will unswervingly follow a win-win and open-up strategy. China will comprehensively develop the friendly cooperation with other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.”

His statement was reiterated by a foreign ministry spokeswoman four days later.

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UNIQUE CIVILISATION: There’s no point judging it by liberal norms

THIS month provided a beauty contest between the two most important powers on the planet right now: America and China. On Nov 6, the United States chose President Barack Obama for a second term in an exciting election that reverberated worldwide.

A week later, the 18th congress of the Communist Party in Beijing began a once-in-a-decade leadership change that lacked for nothing except suspense. Xi Jinping was inaugurated as general secretary on Nov 15. It had been known for some time that he would rise to that pinnacle and become China’s president.

Through narrow Western eyes, the comparison was made as invidious as possible. According to Dominique Moisi, founder of the French Institute of International Affairs, November brought “two victories: not just Obama’s over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the presidential election, but also the victory of America’s democratic system over China’s one-party authoritarianism”.

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While President Aquino was making waves in the summit of  Asean leaders and their dialogue partners in Cambodia with his statement urging the United States to speak up on the South China Sea conflict which was anathema to China, visiting journalist and China expert, Martin Jacques, was telling a rapt audience at the Manila Intercon, “I don’t think it would serve the Philippine well to think that the United States will help” in the  territorial conflict with China.

“I am not arguing that the Philippines give up its claims, but a way has to be found to deal with these questions, a way that does not involve derailing or poisoining its relationship with China because it will not get anywhere,” he said.

Jacques is the author of the  2009 bestseller, When China Rules the World, which asserts that “by 2027 China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy, and by 2050 its economy will be twice as large as that of the United States.”

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MARTIN Jacques, author of the bestseller “When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order,” was in Manila recently for a half-day lecture at the Hotel InterContinental Manila.

I know this personally, because I was his chaperone during his six-day stay, made possible through the very generous support of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. The lecture was a joint project of PILIPINAS 2020 (of which Senator Cayetano is a member) and the Center for Philippine Futuristics Studies and Management. National Book Store and the Philippine Star were sponsors, and Lyceum of the Philippines was also very supportive, with about 100 students acting as ushers and usherettes for the seminar.

Martin’s arrival – and the message he brought – may not have stirred a hornet’s nest, but surely came close to doing so and definitely caused a lot of those who heard him to take a second look at things. And by “things” I mean our foreign policy attitudes, specifically towards the United States of America and the Peoples’ Republic of China.

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Academician and former journalist Martin Jacques said in a lecture at the Hotel Intercon last Monday that the world will be less and less westernized and, instead, will be more influenced by China in the coming years.

Jacques is actually pursuing his main thesis in his best-selling book When China Rules the World that Chinese global hegemony is likely to grow over the next half-century.

Very few will contest Jacques’ prediction. It’s very evident that China’s economic growth has accelerated with the deepening of the West’s financial crisis, which is expected to last at least 10 more years. However, most Filipinos are admittedly among the very few that would not fall under Chinese influence. In this part of the globe, it’s the United States that continues to hold sway politically and culturally, the increasing aid from and bilateral trade with China notwithstanding.

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, the longest-serving senator today, once said the Philippines should study China’s policies which have contributed to its economy’s resilience and growth during the current global financial crisis.

”We should look to China as our model and partner in energizing the countryside and empowering the rural areas. Developing the countryside and opening it up to foreign investments is an important step in boosting our national economy,” he said.

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