美 Mei - Zhong 中 關 Guan - Xi 系

Who Is Actually Exaggerating the Rise of China (究竟谁在夸大中国的崛起)

By Wang Long (王龙)

Original Publication:

China Net (中国网）

Link to Original Article

Translated by Anton Lee Wishik II for Mei-Zhong Guanxi

The successful holding of the Beijing Olympics is causing Westerners, in their wonderment, to begin to reflect.  On August 27th, the New York Times published the article ‘Compared to China, the US is a Third World Country’ in which the author gasped with admiration that China “is unrivaled.”  The basis for this was that “China did not build the magnificent $43 billion infrastructure for these games, or put on the unparalleled opening and closing ceremonies, simply by the dumb luck of discovering oil. No, it was the culmination of seven years of national investment, planning, concentrated state power, national mobilization and hard work….compare arriving at La Guardia’s dumpy terminal in New York City and…the crumbling infrastructure in Manhattan with…Shanghai’s sleek airport and…the magnetic levitation train.”(1)  This makes it impossible for them not to ask themselves: In the end, “who is living in a third world country?”

This American’s reflection is almost like a blind person feeling around for something.  It only touches on China’s flourishing side and could easily produce misconceptions among readers, like the article’s description that the “China presented through the Olympics was enormously powerful.”  Of course, this illustrates China’s fast rise, but what cannot be avoided is that there are still some sentiments which Westerners can only sense and cannot explain in words.  Since he states that “by driving a car for one hour you can see China’s other kind of scenery”, the so-called ‘unrivaledness’ is undoubtedly self-contradictory.  From a theory standpoint, these kinds of fawning statements are no different from malicious ‘destruction through excessive praise.’

It should be said that the tricks used by some Westerners involving ‘destruction through excessive praise’ on China are not at all clever.  If one is not ignorant, they certainly could not take them seriously.  For example, Britain’s former Prime Minister Mr. Blair recently called into question the phenomenon in which some, under the pretext of the Olympics, used ‘destruction through excessive praise’ on China.  He feels that China is in the middle of a journey and is quickly going forward yet it is very clear that the journey is not over.  He warns that observers should try to think of a way to point out that the trip is unfinished, but should also acknowledge the distance they have already traveled.  What’s interesting is that this article’s original title was ‘Perhaps China’s Rise Has Been Exaggerated,’ but upon its publishing by the Wall Street Journal the title became ‘We Can Help China Embrace the Future’ and was then translated as ‘We Must Eliminate Historical Arrogance Towards China’ upon its publishing in China.  That the title of the same article would be labeled with a different title in different countries is not at all novel.  The main point is that the alternating tension and release going on between what is being expressed mentally causes a long-lasting impression.

Speaking practically and realistically, regardless of which viewpoint is taken, China’s rapid rise is an indisputable fact.  Recently, the Chinese economy’s rate of growth has been the fastest in the world, China holds the world’s second largest foreign currency reserves, and is already the principal new force in the international economic arena.  However, economic development does not signify that the cultural ability to bring forth new ideas has been improved, it only illustrates that China is a rapidly developing economic power.  Overall national strength is still definitely a ways away from that of developed countries.  From this angle, Mr. Blair was not shooting at random.  While China’s rise has been exaggerated, it is also an indisputable fact.

Firstly, the vanity inherent in traditional Chinese culture is, in effect, enlargened.  With the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony as an example, everyone knew that everything it showed was China’s best posture.  However, this kind of ‘best posture’ only represents the Beijing Olympics.  If you choose this one point to represent the totality, it certainly was not a normal posture.  Secondly, the West has been troubled by China’s rise for a long while.  After going through the torch relay, they understood that a forceful ‘anti-China’ stance could only run counter to their interests.  Consequently, on many issues they deliberately catered to Chinese preferences.  It was almost as if whatever the popular sentiment of the Chinese preferred, they would follow along and say the same thing.  Although on the surface the two sides are not mutually exclusive, it’s essentially a public opinion trap.  While they exaggerate China’s rise, at the same time, they also exaggerate the ‘China threat.’

Of course, intelligent Chinese people are not necessarily in the dark on some of the ulterior motives behind ‘praise’(2), it’s just that vanity makes them feel it would be a pity to give it up.  The article ‘Perhaps China’s Rise Has Been Exaggerated’ became ‘We Must Eliminate Historical Arrogance Towards China.’  This kind of ‘thinking graft’ technique is indeed ‘unrivaled.’  However, this is an extremely absurd phenomenon, just like how behind prosperity there is poverty yet there are not many people who face up to the realities of life.  Along with the magnetic levitation trains, sleek airports, and skyscrapers, the scenes in the vast majority of China’s regions appear very uncoordinated with people’s welfare still one of the most important social issues.  To use Blair’s words, Europe’s population distribution is approximately 5% rural while China’s is nearly 60% rural, and in the future, China will seek to shift hundreds of millions of people from the villages to the cities.  What he fears is that, in a period in which a kind of vanity is seen as the truth, it will be difficult to avoid overestimating the ‘threat of China’ in the West.

It’s possible that Mr. Blair’s words are similarly not lacking in subjective elements.  However, through his ideas, it can be seen that some Westerners’ knowledge of China tends to be rational.  Disregarding whether or not China’s rise has been exaggerated, their objective appraisals of China are sufficient proof that the real ‘China threat’ lies in people’s groundless fears.  For this, of course we should thank the Olympics for enabling Westerners to see a relatively real China.  This is because it is not only not as they originally imagined it as ignorant and barbaric, it is also not how some imagined it as rich and flourishing.  The real China is one that is quickly moving towards modernization and a civilized nation.  Most Chinese people sincerely wish for world peace and are all full of hope as they look towards the future.

The ancient Chinese writer Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹 ) once said, “Don’t be fond of things, don’t be sad of yourself.”  Reading this from a psychological standpoint, this state is one of high self-confidence.  By using this standard to consider the psychology of Chinese society, one realizes that nowadays nihilism and habitual indiscipline have combined to form an excessively sensitive and manic group.  Upon being hearing a few niceties, they are pleased with themselves, but in the opposite case, they are uncontrollably indignant.  In fact, any kind of transformation and development is destined to be a kind of quest and success and failure are both normal.  What is most regrettable is not failure, but is to be fond of exaggerating successes and shunning defeats.  In regards to many of the specific issues mentioned by Mr. Blair, many people have undoubtedly recognized that China’s rise has been exaggerated but have still not altered their habit of exalting in success so how can they know that this is the lowest level of self-‘destruction through excessive praise.’

Translator’s Notes:

1.    The author has sometimes used passages from the translation without using quotes.  They have also sometimes mixed sentences with their own writing and passages from the original without using quotes.  I have done my best to insert quotes where necessary to show that certain passages came from the original.

2.  In an earlier version of this post, the phrase ‘赞美’ was mistranslated as ‘praising America.’  The error lay in the fact that 美 is also used to represent the US.

For background on the translation of the Thomas Friedman editorial to which this article refers, please see this mei-zhong post.  To read Tony Blair’s editorial, please see this link.

Note: This site has no relation to the author or original publication. This translation was done for informational purposes only and not for commercial gain or to express any personal views. To contact the author or original publication, please check the details listed above.

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