China Wave, The¶
Metadata¶
- Author: Weiwei Zhang
- ASIN: B007T72B7C
- ISBN: 978-1938134005
- Reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007T72B7C
- Kindle link
Highlights¶
the rule of law and state supervision can hardly catch up with the fast expansion of wealth. — location: 220 ^ref-33268
once consensus is reached and the goals are set out, the China model acts far more efficiently than the Western model, as shown in the way China is moving ahead in developing renewable energy: in the space of a few years, China is now leading the world in wind and solar energy and in the electric car industry. — location: 235 ^ref-56713
nearly 70% of the world’s poverty reduction over the past 20 years was achieved in China. — location: 248 ^ref-13169
one should encourage innovative approaches to solve the housing issue as the Chinese have the world’s strongest tradition of home ownership. — location: 266 ^ref-16333
China will see, on a greater scale, the rise of the world’s largest property-owning class. — location: 270 ^ref-57468
The most impressive characteristic of China’s rise is its peaceful nature, with internal stability and unity, without resorting to wars against other countries as with the rise of Western powers in the past. — location: 279 ^ref-20611
the Civil War was also an American domestic war to end American dependence on Britain. — location: 292 ^ref-57989
The Chinese made up a third of Idaho’s population in 1870, and they helped build the cross-continental railways but, like the African Americans, they had neither land nor freedom. The freedom of the cowboys belonged to the white men who were mostly poor migrants from Europe. — location: 296 ^ref-65213
The rise of China is not the rise of another ordinary country but the rise of one fifth of the world’s population. — location: 304 ^ref-37510
its rise has bought far more tangible benefits to both China and the world at large, as the country has become the engine of the world’s economic growth. From this perspective, China’s success and the model underpinning its success are significant and invaluable. — location: 315 ^ref-7496
China is tackling the same type of problems which other powers had encountered in the past and resolved in the process of development. — location: 339 ^ref-59073
We should “keep a low profile” but it should be based on self-confidence, self-respect and self-strength, rather than on low-spirited passivity. — location: 341 ^ref-62289
Chinese have arguably the world’s strongest tradition of property ownership and hence one of the world’s highest rates of home ownership. — location: 357 ^ref-63762
After the defeat of China, Japan extorted an indemnity of 230 million taels of silver from China. What did 230 million taels of silver mean? It was roughly equivalent to three years of China’s state revenue then. Japan spent it on improving education, setting up factories, constructing cities and expanding the army. — location: 385 ^ref-16207
two wars launched by Japan abruptly ended China’s modernization drive and caused the Chinese economy to backslide by decades and tens of millions of lives to be lost. — location: 393 ^ref-48902
It became “rich” overnight from the oil reserves but this wealth did not bring running water, a sewage system, employment or the formation of a middle class to the people. The country’s wealth is controlled by a few people and its per capita GDP has nothing to do with the lives of the ordinary people. — location: 415 ^ref-48515
the spirit of “seeking truth from facts”, — location: 465 ^ref-61326
China does not simply try to catch up with the technology of the developed countries. Rather it bypasses three or four stages of technological development and reaches directly the level of the developed country. — location: 488 ^ref-57338
to overtake the United States is not only possible, but very necessary and obligatory. If we don’t, the Chinese nation will let the nations of the world down and we will not make much of a contribution to mankind. — location: 506 ^ref-27316
the developed countries have been a bit too complacent for too many years, believing that they represent the best of everything in the world, and history has come to an end with the Western political and economic model. — location: 588 ^ref-4025
the nature of China as a civilizational state determines that given its cultural traditions, China is not likely to be a country bent on confrontation. Rather, it is more likely to seek peaceful co-existence, mutual learning and win-win outcomes with other countries and other political systems, and this is indeed good for the rest of the world. — location: 880 ^ref-34800
the central government was nominally powerful, but weak in reality, and to a great extent, it did not have enough technical means to govern the country, and thus relied heavily on moral and ideological education. — location: 899 ^ref-18213
The Chinese state enjoys a very different kind of relationship with society compared with the Western state. It enjoys much greater natural authority, legitimacy and respect, even though not a single vote is cast for the government. — location: 944 ^ref-45243
today’s China is already a civilizational state, which amalgamates the nation-state and the civilization-state, and combines the strength of both. — location: 956 ^ref-32262
The Western countries as a whole represent only 14% of the world’s population, while China 19%. — location: 972 ^ref-57500
Chinese culture has not been weakened by its extensive exposure to Western culture. On the contrary, it has been enriched by this exposure. — location: 1041 ^ref-32460
China enjoys a significantly higher degree of cultural richness and diversity than most other countries. — location: 1052 ^ref-65162
The Communist Party of China (CPC) is not a party as the concept “party” is understood in the West. In essence, the CPC continues the long tradition of a unified Confucian ruling entity, which represents or tries to represent the interest of the whole society, rather than a Western-style political party which openly represents group interests. — location: 1092 ^ref-2198
The experience of China’s Republican Revolution of 1911 serves to illustrate this point. The Revolution copied the Western political model and the whole country immediately fell into chaos and disintegration, with warlords, each supported by one or a few foreign powers, fighting each other for their own interests, and this is a lesson that we should always bear in mind. — location: 1096 ^ref-50998
once encountered an American scholar questioning the legitimacy of the Chinese regime, and I suggested that he first question the legitimacy of the United States as a country: today’s United States came into being following colonialism, large-scale migration from Europe and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Indian population. — location: 1101 ^ref-32628
From the Chinese point of view or from the view of contemporary international law, neither colonialism nor ethnic cleansing can constitute legitimacy. — location: 1103 ^ref-31928
One could well apply the Chinese concept of “selection of talents based on meritocracy” to the Western society and question the Western concept of legitimacy. Without this legitimacy based on meritocracy, how could a regime be qualified to govern? — location: 1113 ^ref-19334
China’s political, economic and social systems are also more inclusive. Over China’s long history, multiple political, economic and social systems overlapped each other and co-existed, — location: 1117 ^ref-12819
on the surface, the Chinese political system represents a lot of concentration of power, but in reality, all reforms in China have their strong local flavors and different regions in China both compete and cooperate with each other, and that the Chinese system is much more dynamic and flexible than the Indian one. — location: 1128 ^ref-2523
China has learnt a lot from the West in order to create a powerful modern state. At the same time, China retains, intentionally or unintentionally, many of its political cultural traditions. This — location: 1133 ^ref-53814
challenges that the Western model is experiencing, such as simple-minded populism, short-termism and excessive legalism. — location: 1135 ^ref-4167
In contrast to the individual-based Western society, the Chinese one is far more family-based and group-oriented, — location: 1141 ^ref-19430
the Chinese concept of the “socialist market economy” today is in essence a mix of Western market economics and China’s traditional humanistic economics. — location: 1180 ^ref-39762
“macro regulation” is rooted in Chinese culture and it is the strength of China, and the West has not yet realized that it would serve its own interest to learn something from China in this regard. — location: 1193 ^ref-33977
an economy with only the competence of “numerical management”, not “macro regulation”, may not be as competitive as those with both competences. — location: 1196 ^ref-29736
if the Islamic world today made up of dozens of countries could become unified under one modern governing regime, it could also be a civilizational state with more than a billion people, but the chance for all these scenarios has long gone, — location: 1201 ^ref-53240
if China abandons its own model and adopts the Western model, then the greatest strengths of China as a civilizational state may turn out to be its greatest weaknesses. “Hundreds of states in one” may become “hundreds of states in conflict”; — location: 1218 ^ref-19854
The greatest wisdom of a civilizational state is perhaps its long tradition of “seeking common ground while reserving differences”, — location: 1240 ^ref-61413
If one shifts away from the China model of seeking commonalities to the Western model of stressing differences, it is more likely to lead to social instability and conflicts. — location: 1255 ^ref-9865
China’s population is four times that of the US, and it is not far-fetched to say, at least in theory, that it is only normal that there are four times more problems in China than in the US, although in fact, problems are perhaps fewer in China than in the US, as shown by the fact that the US’s prison population is larger than China’s. — location: 1266 ^ref-40813
If one compares the evolutions of the Chinese and Western civilizations, one will find that the rise of the West is not simply a process of industrialization, urbanization, globalization and democratization, but also a process of slavery, colonialism, fascism, ethnic cleansing, the outbreak of world wars, and bullying and exploiting many other nations. — location: 1278 ^ref-26354
The objective of the Chinese seems clear: they want to learn from others and eventually do better, and though such efforts may not always succeed, they never cease. — location: 1287 ^ref-43334
the essence of democracy is the will of the people and good governance of a country, rather than democracy for the sake of democracy, or election for the sake of election.” — location: 1300 ^ref-60702
family has proved resilient, cushioning life for the have-nots, offering a moral compass for the haves (rampant corruption notwithstanding). — location: 1390 ^ref-19306
it should continue to be a gradual reform. It is unrealistic to design a perfect master plan, and political romanticism is highly dangerous for a civilizational state like China characterized by “hundreds of states in one”. — location: 2028 ^ref-43492
A key reason for the failures of Western-style democratization in developing countries is democratization for the sake of democratization, and political reform for the sake of political reform, often on terms dictated by the West. — location: 2045 ^ref-46113
Are China’s human rights better or worse today than in the past? I think most Chinese will answer that it’s better now than anytime before. — location: 2060 ^ref-25477
No country in the world can realize all human rights simultaneously and there should be priorities in achieving human rights. China does not follow the Western preference and regards poverty eradication as a top-priority human right and hence has lifted over 400 million people out of poverty. — location: 2071 ^ref-65274
From the Chinese point of view, helping Africa get rid of poverty is a core human right, and no country should be allowed to violate this human right under whatever excuses. — location: 2077 ^ref-62614
Democracy is a universal value, but the Western democratic system is not. — location: 2082 ^ref-31040
To what extent has such a crisis undermined the human rights of the peoples of these countries and other countries? Why is the separation of power in the US political system unable to effectively prevent or tackle this crisis? — location: 2088 ^ref-60766
American democracy is still powerless in checking the overwhelming power of capital, the US may well encounter new crises in the years to come. — location: 2091 ^ref-22566
we should guard more against cultural absolutism in the world, rather than cultural relativism as mentioned by some of you earlier. — location: 2112 ^ref-36651
they expect a color revolution in China, but what kind of result has the color revolutions brought to Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan? — location: 2122 ^ref-7200
China has been striving hard to learn from others, including some practices of promoting human rights in the West, since 1978, yet China has not abandoned its own strong points. This is why China is making rapid progress, — location: 2132 ^ref-51824
If the US could tackle the issue of nearly 50 million Americans without medical insurance from a human rights perspective, it would be perhaps much easier for the US to solve the issue. — location: 2138 ^ref-9176
it makes better sense that, at least in non-Western countries, while promoting the rule of law, one should also adopt political means to promote human rights, and this is an important experience in China’s efforts to realize human rights. — location: 2147 ^ref-64187
The West tends to give top priority to promoting political rights, but often with disastrous results in developing countries. — location: 2161 ^ref-32968
Human rights debates should not be treated as something for scoring political points; rather they are about how to apply the collective wisdom of mankind to tackle the multiplying global challenges. — location: 2166 ^ref-26685
It is true that certain human rights belong to core rights and universal values which are the shared bottom lines of all human civilizations, such as prohibition of torture and slavery, the right to independent thinking, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. There is no difference between the Chinese and the mainstream Western views on these rights. This is why the international community is stunned by the acts of torture committed by the US in the Guantanamo Bay prison, as these acts have violated the bottom line of a civilized society. — location: 2172 ^ref-3428
universal values must be universally discussed, — location: 2176 ^ref-18524
the banning of Muslim headscarves in schools in France and other European countries is inconceivable in China. — location: 2182 ^ref-3354
the Western concept of human rights determines the belief that what the West has already enjoyed, including its lifestyle, is part of its inalienable human rights, and if other countries and peoples want to enjoy same rights and their corresponding share of resources, they will be subject to criticism and containment. — location: 2186 ^ref-1186
China has also become arguably the least “ideological” power in the world and is ready to draw on whatever is good in other countries, thus paving the way for China’s progress on virtually all fronts. — location: 2212 ^ref-48080
The idea reminds China and the rest of the world of the need to reject ideological dogmas, such as the dogma about liberal democracy being the end of history. — location: 2218 ^ref-14390
China may be arguably correcting a historical neglect in the range of human rights advocated by the West which has focused almost exclusively on civil and political rights since the Enlightenment. — location: 2225 ^ref-34869
no country should use any excuse, including that of promoting democracy or eradicating corruption, to derail efforts aimed at fighting poverty. — location: 2231 ^ref-13810
For developing countries, holistic thinking is perhaps more important, as they have far less resources than the developed countries, and without a sense of priorities, their chance of achieving modernization is very slim. — location: 2256 ^ref-51160
In the world today, where the rules of the game are mostly shaped by the West, it is difficult to imagine how, without a strong state, a developing country can develop and prosper. — location: 2279 ^ref-24989
China’s idea may eventually shape a paradigm shift from the dichotomy of democracy vs. autocracy to that of good governance vs. bad governance. — location: 2300 ^ref-33632
bad governance may take the form of the Western political system as in the case of Haiti, Iraq, Mongolia, Ukraine and the recently bankrupt Iceland and Greece, and it may also take the form of a non-Western political system as in the case of Burma. — location: 2304 ^ref-16552
The Communist Party of China (CPC) in many ways still continues this tradition of the mandate of heaven, which in today’s context is to revitalize the Chinese nation. — location: 2332 ^ref-64222
The Chinese generally value harmony over confrontation and moderation over extremism, and the Confucian idea of “harmony in diversity” is often the goal of an ideal society, — location: 2378 ^ref-46302
Over the past century and more, China has learnt so much from the West, and will continue to do so for its own benefit. But it is perhaps also time for the West to learn about China’s ideas and to see if the West can benefit from them. The Chinese ideas, especially those well tested as mentioned earlier, may indeed enrich mankind’s collective wisdom in how to better tackle the multiplying global challenges. — location: 2417 ^ref-11483
India has failed to carry out women’s liberation on the scale China has done, nor is India able, not only in words, but also in deeds, to abolish the caste system, which affects about 160 million untouchables in the country. — location: 2447 ^ref-12098
India’s “soft state” (in the words of Nobel laureate Karl Gunnar Myrdal) does not allow the country to carry out much-needed institutional reforms or execute with reasonable efficiency many needed reform programs. The state is easily hijacked by various vested interest groups, as shown by the repeated failures in its attempts to handle the problem of slums or implement family planning policies, which, in most cases, hurt India’s overall public interests. — location: 2460 ^ref-40521
India’s democracy is premised on the idea of opposition for the sake of opposition, ethnic, religious and communal infighting thrives to the degree of creating extensive schisms and disunity across the society. — location: 2467 ^ref-35660
if the people of Eastern Europe were allowed to have another chance for change, most of them would perhaps prefer a less radical and more gradual approach. — location: 2497 ^ref-4548
Eastern Europeans are saddened by the fact that their economies have become entirely dependent on the West. The process of radical privatization was immensely corrupt and people experienced enormous hardships. — location: 2499 ^ref-4355
the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward were also corrected by the Chinese system itself. — location: 2817 ^ref-21047
Mao must have done something right, and it is not fair to deny his main achievements, which include, first, unifying a country as large as China; second, women’s liberation; and third, land reform. — location: 2826 ^ref-12779
Two thousand and five hundred years ago, some Greek city-states like Athens practiced democracy among its male citizens, and later they were defeated by Sparta. From then on, for over 2,000 years, the word “democracy” basically carried a negative connotation in Europe, often equivalent to “mob politics”. — location: 2858 ^ref-51214
In 1793, King George III of the UK sent his envoy to China to open bilateral trade. But Emperor Qianlong of China was so arrogant that he believed China was the best country in the world. Therefore China did not need to learn anything from others. This is what defined the “end of history” then, and ever since then China began to decline. Now I observe a similar mindset in the West. — location: 2869 ^ref-9275
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