Asia-Pacific Watch - May 4, 2013
In 1793 a British envoy, Lord Macartney, arrived at the court of the
Chinese emperor, hoping to open an embassy. He brought with him a
selection of gifts from his newly industrialising nation. The Qianlong
emperor, whose country then accounted for about a third of global GDP,
swatted him away: “Your sincere humility and obedience can clearly be
seen,” he wrote to King George III, but we do not have “the slightest
need for your country’s manufactures”. The British returned in the 1830s
with gunboats to force trade open, and China’s attempts at reform ended
in collapse, humiliation and, eventually, Maoism.
China has made an extraordinary journey along the road back to
greatness. Hundreds of millions have lifted themselves out of poverty,
hundreds of millions more have joined the new middle class. It is on the
verge of reclaiming what it sees as its rightful position in the world.
China’s global influence is expanding and within a decade its economy
is expected to overtake America’s. In his first weeks in power, the new
head of the ruling Communist Party, Xi Jinping, has evoked that rise
with a new slogan which he is using, as belief in Marxism dies, to unite
an increasingly diverse nation. He calls his new doctrine the “Chinese
dream” evoking its American equivalent. Such slogans matter enormously
in China . News bulletins are full of his dream. Schools organise
speaking competitions about it. A talent show on television is looking
for “The Voice of the Chinese Dream”.
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