GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
China + the West are eyeballs to eyeball. The two entities reflect quite different priorities + have fundamentally different interests. The agreement, therefore, on an assessment of the Party’s role in China’s emerging significance will never be achieved.
The Western media, James Kynge of the FT included, focus on the ten years of the Cultural Revolution to 1976 + the Tian’anmin Deaths of 1989 + minimise the significance of China’s achievement in enabling its people to enjoy a standard of living in 2021 that was unthinkable in 1949.
The West still hopes that growing economic rights in China will bring political rights + the gradual phasing out of the Communist Party. China, the West hopes, “will become more like us”.
China, in turn, remains confident going forward + focuses on 2049 when a 100 years of China’s achievements will have become unassailable.
The West grudgingly acknowledges China’s economic progress but cannot accept that authoritarian democracy can trump the “one man, one vote” Parliamentary system of the West.
So the future is set. China + the West glare at each other. China expecting more success + the West hoping China will implode.
To what extent is China undemocratic + dictatorial as the West believes? Is the China model the key formula for bringing prosperity + stability to the developing world in Asia, Africa and Latin America? And has the short-termism of the Parliamentary system ensured the long term economic failure of the West?
The West struggles to live with the success of a China-led by a Communist Party. It is not meant to happen. So restrict, impede, contain +, if necessary, destroy. The future is quite uncertain. Confrontation or Cooperation? The decision rests with Washington. China is prepared for both.
