It is time to learn Chinese

[beijingwalker]

It is time to learn Chinese

Sunday, 18 March 2012 00:00

The history of the world can be written along many lines. Some go year by year, event after event. We can talk about the evolution of species or class struggles, or review the unfolding of centuries in terms of species extinction, loss of forest cover and biodiversity depletion, the spread of disease, demographic tendencies, technological innovation, etc. We can also talk about empires: the Ottomans, the Umayyad Caliphate, Persia, Byzantine, the Hans, the (great) British, the Romans (holy and otherwise), the Russians and Mongols. And then, of course, there is ‘America’, i.e. of the United States.
It can be argued that world history has been shaped by epochal shifts in the relationship between capital and states or state formation. Well, we are unarguably at a cusp now; a moment of ending and beginning. And, as the proverb goes, the going light is shining its brightest. The flame has gone crazy and is burning whatever it can lick. That’s the United States of America today, one might argue.

Where is the world heading, though? In a word, East. To be more specific, China. The number say it all. China comprises 20% of the world’s population and that’s not counting the millions of Chinese living in other parts of the world. It’s not about head count and country-size though. Britain after all was a tiny island. In these times it is about economic sway and, of course, about firepower.

The US has lost it, the bucks, that is. It has its guns, of course, but guns alone will not keep the home fires burning forever because others have guns too. And the bucks. Most importantly you can’t really keep the fires you’ve kindled all over the world burning forever without help. The helpers are also cash-strapped and are essentially client-states that can only depend, not defend. Add to this the fact that most of Europe will be made of countries where the majority are Muslims (within the next 20-30 years according to most extrapolations of demographic tendencies) and the rabid and fundamentalist anti-Islam thrust of US foreign policy, and you will have an EU that will not bite with the USA but would be more likely to bite back.

China has the economic sweep and has played its strategic cards judiciously. The striking feature about the Chinese is that its leadership doesn’t shout and brag; there is no chest-beating or frilling of achievement. The coffers fill, nevertheless. Today, China is the Emperor of Bail Out. Tomorrow, the way things are going, it will probably gather its interest.

There’s a reason why the world embraced the English language. It was the language of the conqueror, replacing French. There’s a reason why English persisted being the Lingua Franca long after the sun set on the British Empire: the business of ‘empiring’ crossed the Atlantic to the United States of America, where too that language was spoken. Now that the sway of the USA is diminishing, the world will naturally find that it has a new master and a new language to learn; China and Chinese, respectively; whether the world likes it or not.

It is not that the Chinese cannot or would not do business in English of course, but there is pride involved in ‘empiring’ and it doesn’t make sense to stick to the tongue of the defeated. The Chinese will not do business in Sinhala or Tamil. Time will reveal the true signature of the ‘Chinese Century’ if you will, what it takes and what it leaves behind, and how we as a small island in the Indian Ocean get located in the overall process of capital extraction, but just as much as the English language is a weapon we needed to pick up to engage the empire, it makes sense to learn Chinese to deal with the Chinese, regardless of the terms of that engagement.
Let’s learn it. We don’t stand to lose anything.

It is time to learn Chinese

 

[amidamaru]

i have no doubt in my mind that the 2 main languages of the planet will be english and chinese

 

[WS-10 Engine]

i have no doubt in my mind that the 2 main languages of the planet will be english and chinese

Ofcourse, your Kevin Rudd loves his mandarin.
He knows 21st century belongs to china.

Nothing or nobody will stop the rise of china.

 

[JayAtl]

i have no doubt in my mind that the 2 main languages of the planet will be english and chinese

on a cooking show perhaps where utensils are banged together...last time we were told it was Japanese and before that it was German.

 

[amidamaru]

on a cooking show perhaps where utensils are banged together...last time we were told it was Japanese and before that it was German.

i dont see chinese ever being more widely spoken then english, due to logistical and geographical nature of english languages being so wide spread... more countries native tongue is english.

china language will become more wide spread due to economy and business.. but thats as far as it goes

 

[hawx]

The tittle should be "IS it time to learn chinese(which is not even a language retarded writer i guess) ?
and my answer will be NO why in the world i would learn chinese...............

 

[WS-10 Engine]

on a cooking show perhaps where utensils are banged together...last time we were told it was Japanese and before that it was German.

Japan and Germany Are jokes. Japan has no independence. No way it was going to be challenging American power, neither will India or brazil as they have no independence. America will force India and brazil to accept something like plaza accord just like it was forced upon Japan. America has brazil, India, Japan, Germany under control. They will do whatever America tells them. Only china and Russia have independence from America, so we can challenge them, but Russian economy is too resource dependent. That leaves only china, china is far too powerful and united to be controlled, so the Americans will try their best to contain china.

Only china can truly challenge American dominance in the 21st century.

 

[IndianArmy]

Japan and Germany Are jokes. Japan has no independence. No way it was going to be challenging American power, neither will India or brazil as they have no independence. America will force India and brazil to accept something like plaza accord just like it was for Ed upon Japan. America has brazil, India, Japan, Germany under control. They will do whatever America tells them. Only china and Russia have independence from America, so we can challenge them, but Russian economy is too resource dependent. That leaves only china, china is far too powerful and united to be controlled, so the Americans will try their best to contain china.

Only china can truly challenge American dominance in the 21st century.

Voila!!! . I do agree the fact that China is a direct challenge to America but I disagree placing India under the American Umbrella... India is a sovereign nation and cannot be exploited by another nation. If India wanted to contain china , India could have supported the American's and could have been a base for them right next to your border in south Tibet. India does not want a western influence in Asia. We have a Business relationship with America and nothing more. America wants us because we are a good defense market, and we want America because they are the best in what they make.

 

[Holmes]

Only going to happen , IF all Indians dare to Learn Chinese...

 

[kingkobra]

i think it is mandarin and not chinese

 

[JayAtl]

Japan and Germany Are jokes. Japan has no independence. No way it was going to be challenging American power, neither will India or brazil as they have no independence. America will force India and brazil to accept something like plaza accord just like it was forced upon Japan. America has brazil, India, Japan, Germany under control. They will do whatever America tells them. Only china and Russia have independence from America, so we can challenge them, but Russian economy is too resource dependent. That leaves only china, china is far too powerful and united to be controlled, so the Americans will try their best to contain china.

Only china can truly challenge American dominance in the 21st century.

Challenge what and how? Your govt can't even trust you to read free news and you think you are going to dominate us ( US)?

You have now what 1/2 of our GDP? and lets see- your average per capita family income is $2000/ year. I pay my housecleaners $4800/year and that too they come only twice a month. US average is 48,0000 or close to it. what you are you going to dominate?

we have bases all over the world and surround you. Our technologies are 20 years ahead of you ( less those you copy/paste/steal from us). what are going to dominate stud? we are the only superpower with NATO alliance in the world. Who you going to dominate son?

LOL your avatar name shows how much you dominate. Still waiting on making an indigenous engine we made 60 years go.

 

[WS-10 Engine]

Voila!!! . I do agree the fact that China is a direct challenge to America but I disagree placing India under the American Umbrella... India is a sovereign nation and cannot be exploited by another nation. If India wanted to contain china , India could have supported the American's and could have been a base for them right next to your border in south Tibet. India does not want a western influence in Asia. We have a Business relationship with America and nothing more. America wants us because we are a good defense market, and we want America because they are the best in what they make.

I think it won't be long before America demands a military base in India. They will put enormous pressure on india through the Indian lobby group in America. America wants to contain china, because they know we and the Russians are the only ones that don't bow down to american demands. America will use India as a puppet to contain china. That's the only use for India from America's perspective. India will never challenge american power, they don't mind living in an American dominated world. America will never ever alow any Power to challenge their dominance, just look at what they did to Japan in the 1980s just when Japan was starting to challenge American economic dominance. America will allow you to rise to a certain level, then your a threat to their dominance. China is starting to reach that point of challenging American power in certain areas. Chinas influence is growing very fast, now America has to respond to our rise.

China is mentioned in american media every single day. It's an obsession. We are doing something right to make America uneasy

 

[Icewolf]

I am going to learn Chinese, screw French!

 

[oct605032048]

You have now what 1/2 of our GDP? and lets see- your average per capita family income is $2000/ year. I pay my housecleaners $4800/year and that too they come only twice a month. US average is 48,0000 or close to it. what you are you going to dominate?
.

No matter how you stress that 'us' means 'U.S.' You are still being viewed as a little brown boy comes from poor South Asia and has to suffer from the invisible glass ceiling in the main stream society in the U.S.

"Still waiting on making an indigenous engine we made 60 years go." You made it 60 years ago?? 60 years ago your family probably living in a slum in the middle of nowhere AKA India.

You may have a choice between CNN and Fox but to say it from your heart, what's the different between their trash talks and a 100% lie?

FYI the annual income of household in China is $16k.

 

[JayAtl]

No matter how you stress that 'us' means 'U.S.' You are still being viewed as a little brown boy comes from poor South Asia and has to suffer from the invisible glass ceiling in the main stream society in the U.S.

"Still waiting on making an indigenous engine we made 60 years go." You made it 60 years ago?? 60 years ago your family probably living in a slum in the middle of nowhere AKA India.

You may have a choice between CNN and Fox but to say it from your heart, what's the different between their trash talks and a 100% lie?

FYI the annual income of household in China is $16k.

When you Chinese loose the argument you go on to making racist remarks, why? I don't get how you think they call me Brown boy considering you know what the racist terms are used against you. Most of you Chinese here are working as wait staff in restaurants in the US according to DOL ( does not include the wonderful massage parlors you people seem to open up). We have no ceilings as the DOL report shows, we of Indian heritage are maybe generalized as techy guys , while you guys are characterized as food delivery boys.

Look at you , you ran away from the 3rd world dump of country and probably labor wonderful country . Are you sure you are here from scientific research ? because it does not take much to research average household income in China and it ain't $16k shanghai bob.