China tried to undermine economic report showing its ascendancy
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a nice analysis by RiaNovosti
REVIEW: China on Path to Cultural Renaissance
MOSCOW, April 30 (RIA Novosti) – China’s economic boom has led to the imminent revival of its consciousness as a centuries-old civilization that is now trying to spread its cultural influence across the world, says Sergei Luzyanin, Professor of Oriental Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed his dream of “a great revival of the Chinese nation” to introduce China to the world as a modern power, rather than a trove of mothballed historical artifacts like the Terracotta Army or the Forbidden City.
“A nation once hidden behind the ‘Bamboo Curtain,’ China has begun to open up to the world quite fast and unexpectedly since the early reform era. The Western perception of its culture is rather chaotic as it tries to grasp the idea of a 5,000-year Chinese colossus in its simplified form,” Luzyanin said.
The new Chinese government under Xi has recognized this problem and devised a step-by-step program to introduce the West to its culture, starting from the outward attributes of China’s ancient history like Confucius to the modern history of Communism and Mao up to its contemporaneous form, with its changing city landscape and vibrant metropolises.
“The next stage would be to teach the West about the deeper layers of Chinese culture. Here Beijing faces a problem akin to that of a primary school teacher who needs to explain to the ‘children’ that the ‘adult world’ of the Chinese civilization is a hundred times older and more complex than all Western civilizations combined, which is far from an easy task,” Luzyanin noted.
According to the expert, the West has been comfortable with a mixed bag of stereotypes about China that comprises elements of popular culture, cinema tropes, Chinese cuisine tips and tourist brochures. The Chinese hope to make use of these scraps and pieces to introduce Americans and Europeans to their culture.
“Projects of the Confucius Institute, huge financial and political resources that are lavished on the promotion of China’s image abroad are used to ‘coach their students’ ahead of the ‘high school.’ The civilization strategy is gaining steam and the results can wait, because the Chinese know that the day will come when the vine shall give its fruit,” Luzyanin said.
On the other hand, the West hasn’t given up on its attempts to alter the Chinese mentality, although to no avail, because Westernization efforts have only scratched the surface of the Chinese society without making them more liberal politically.
“One can safely say that [the effort] is doomed to fail. The US is making the same mistake as the Soviet leaders of the 1950-60s did when they hoped to engage China into the international Communist movement,” the pundit said.
“For the Chinese, ideological doctrines are secondary … meaning that China only appears to have succumbed to Western influence, while it remains traditional and unchanged,” he said. “We can stay assured that China will digest … and eventually assimilate it all.”
Luzyanin pointed to the Chinese political system and the Communist Party, a reflection of its thousand-year-old management tradition, which answers the question of how it has been surviving alongside liberal economic reforms.
The great Chinese philosopher Confucius said in his Analects that “the gentleman aims at harmony, and not at uniformity. The mean man aims at uniformity and not at harmony.” This, the expert said, is characteristic of the Chinese and Western mindsets, with the former working towards the goal of several centers of power and the latter trying to reduce the existing diversity to a common denominator.
“The question is whether Chinese civilization can create new technologies,” Luzyanin said. “The traditional one certainly could, since all advanced technologies of the past – the compass, the paper, the gunpowder and much more – arose in China.”
By the 18th to 19th centuries, Chinese civilization started to lose to the more vibrant American, European and Dutch economic models, possibly due to China’s preoccupation with humanities compared to technological development. In this regard, Xi Jinping’s desire to revive the nation, whose prior greatness reaches far deeper into the world’s past than that of the West, is only logical.
China’s cultural expanse could serve to uphold its economic miracle that left the world open-mouthed back in 1978. Beijing and Moscow have grown closer since then, with China’s western neighbor exporting tons of raw materials the country needs to keep alight the fires in the furnace of its industry.
In May, President Vladimir Putin is expected to come to Beijing where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. A number of bilateral agreements are waiting to be signed on the sidelines, including a deal on liquefied natural gas deliveries to China.
looks like being immediate neighbors russians and chinese understand each other well.
REVIEW: China on Path to Cultural Renaissance
MOSCOW, April 30 (RIA Novosti) – China’s economic boom has led to the imminent revival of its consciousness as a centuries-old civilization that is now trying to spread its cultural influence across the world, says Sergei Luzyanin, Professor of Oriental Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed his dream of “a great revival of the Chinese nation” to introduce China to the world as a modern power, rather than a trove of mothballed historical artifacts like the Terracotta Army or the Forbidden City.
“A nation once hidden behind the ‘Bamboo Curtain,’ China has begun to open up to the world quite fast and unexpectedly since the early reform era. The Western perception of its culture is rather chaotic as it tries to grasp the idea of a 5,000-year Chinese colossus in its simplified form,” Luzyanin said.
The new Chinese government under Xi has recognized this problem and devised a step-by-step program to introduce the West to its culture, starting from the outward attributes of China’s ancient history like Confucius to the modern history of Communism and Mao up to its contemporaneous form, with its changing city landscape and vibrant metropolises.
“The next stage would be to teach the West about the deeper layers of Chinese culture. Here Beijing faces a problem akin to that of a primary school teacher who needs to explain to the ‘children’ that the ‘adult world’ of the Chinese civilization is a hundred times older and more complex than all Western civilizations combined, which is far from an easy task,” Luzyanin noted.
According to the expert, the West has been comfortable with a mixed bag of stereotypes about China that comprises elements of popular culture, cinema tropes, Chinese cuisine tips and tourist brochures. The Chinese hope to make use of these scraps and pieces to introduce Americans and Europeans to their culture.
“Projects of the Confucius Institute, huge financial and political resources that are lavished on the promotion of China’s image abroad are used to ‘coach their students’ ahead of the ‘high school.’ The civilization strategy is gaining steam and the results can wait, because the Chinese know that the day will come when the vine shall give its fruit,” Luzyanin said.
On the other hand, the West hasn’t given up on its attempts to alter the Chinese mentality, although to no avail, because Westernization efforts have only scratched the surface of the Chinese society without making them more liberal politically.
“One can safely say that [the effort] is doomed to fail. The US is making the same mistake as the Soviet leaders of the 1950-60s did when they hoped to engage China into the international Communist movement,” the pundit said.
“For the Chinese, ideological doctrines are secondary … meaning that China only appears to have succumbed to Western influence, while it remains traditional and unchanged,” he said. “We can stay assured that China will digest … and eventually assimilate it all.”
Luzyanin pointed to the Chinese political system and the Communist Party, a reflection of its thousand-year-old management tradition, which answers the question of how it has been surviving alongside liberal economic reforms.
The great Chinese philosopher Confucius said in his Analects that “the gentleman aims at harmony, and not at uniformity. The mean man aims at uniformity and not at harmony.” This, the expert said, is characteristic of the Chinese and Western mindsets, with the former working towards the goal of several centers of power and the latter trying to reduce the existing diversity to a common denominator.
“The question is whether Chinese civilization can create new technologies,” Luzyanin said. “The traditional one certainly could, since all advanced technologies of the past – the compass, the paper, the gunpowder and much more – arose in China.”
By the 18th to 19th centuries, Chinese civilization started to lose to the more vibrant American, European and Dutch economic models, possibly due to China’s preoccupation with humanities compared to technological development. In this regard, Xi Jinping’s desire to revive the nation, whose prior greatness reaches far deeper into the world’s past than that of the West, is only logical.
China’s cultural expanse could serve to uphold its economic miracle that left the world open-mouthed back in 1978. Beijing and Moscow have grown closer since then, with China’s western neighbor exporting tons of raw materials the country needs to keep alight the fires in the furnace of its industry.
In May, President Vladimir Putin is expected to come to Beijing where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. A number of bilateral agreements are waiting to be signed on the sidelines, including a deal on liquefied natural gas deliveries to China.
looks like being immediate neighbors russians and chinese understand each other well.
Chinese-Dragon
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Good analysis.
Ever since Deng Xiaoping, our main ideology has been "pragmatism".
China's traditional historic strength has been assimilation. Manchus today are fully Chinese. My own ancestors were Hakka, who despite originating from the North China plains, were once not considered Han. That is the great power of the Chinese civilization, and one we should use to further our own strength, by assimilating ideas and methods from all over the world and applying them in a uniquely Chinese manner.
Chinese-Dragon
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@KingMamba, I'm replying in this thread since it is more relevant here:
Yes. The Chinese government has rejected this report, and does not recognize it.
China is still a developing country and we are not ready for the prime-time, the Chinese leadership knows it, we know it, America knows it.
We need more time to consolidate our national power, and to develop ourselves. The goal of releasing this report (amongst many other things) is to push China forward before we are ready for it.
Yes. The Chinese government has rejected this report, and does not recognize it.
China is still a developing country and we are not ready for the prime-time, the Chinese leadership knows it, we know it, America knows it.
We need more time to consolidate our national power, and to develop ourselves. The goal of releasing this report (amongst many other things) is to push China forward before we are ready for it.
KingMamba
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Lol just like they did with India patted it on its head made it feel all high and mighty and now Indian economy is slowing, glad China has rejected the report if that is the case.
Chinese-Dragon
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Yes, they used the same trick against India. They pushed India into the spotlight, several decades before they were ready for it. And India bought it.
Now India's growth is slowing significantly, down to 4% at last count.
China's growth is slowing too, though we built up our base economy to a sufficient size that 7.5% growth will be enough to take us to developed status in a few decades, though even achieving that growth rate will be difficult to the extreme.
The goal is becoming a developed country, not becoming a superpower, and not displacing anyone. That's our main goal and we must avoid anything that might throw us off track.
As long as the government knows this trick than China will be ok.
Chinese-Dragon
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The Chinese government knows all about this trick, which is why we are rejecting the world bank report.
India on the other hand, even their highest leaders ended up using the word "superpower" for India, like their President Kalam.
America has the biggest bag of tricks in the world, and they are the masters of this game. Like Sun Tzu said: "All warfare is based on deception". Though even he would be shocked at the level to which America plays the game.
terranMarine
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But he is from ancient times lol, even our ancestors would be shocked if they see what kind of a modern world we are living today with all these high tech gadgets. But i agree lets not get into our heads now about China's superior status, no need to rock the boat. Keep working and less bragging. China will remain a developing country for decades to come. We will reach our goals just wait and see
Chinese-Dragon
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But he is from ancient times lol, even our ancestors would be shocked if they see what kind of a modern world we are living today with all these high tech gadgets. But i agree lets not get into our heads now about China's superior status, no need to rock the boat. Keep working and less bragging. China will remain a developing country for decades to come. We will reach our goals just wait and see
If Sun Tzu was alive today he would be a great Chinese patriot.
However, it is sad that our enemies are using Sun Tzu's own theories against us, from Imperial Japan to modern day USA.
The generals in Imperial Japan were great enthusiasts of Sun Tzu's philosophies and his work. It's quite horrific when you think about it.
Luckily we have learned from our mistakes, especially the Century of Humiliation. A self-aware China will be a force to reckon with, I hope our development process goes smoothly and I wish the Xi-Li Administration luck in this goal.
Agree. The Chinese people need to go into overdrive now that the Western rats are so hostile. It's a shame Chinese outside the PRC won't do more to help.
Nan Yang
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Same as Singapore. When Singapore was defined as a developed country, Singapore government also refuse this status. Arguing that there were many other "developed country" measurement that Singapore had not achieved.
[quotranslated e-Dragon, post: 5614803, member: 29684"]If Sun Tzu was alive today he would be a great Chinese patriot.
However, it is sad that our enemies are using Sun Tzu's own theories against us, from Imperial Japan to modern day USA.
The generals in Imperial Japan were great enthusiasts of Sun Tzu's philosophies and his work. It's quite horrific when you think about it.
Luckily we have learned from our mistakes, especially the Century of Humiliation. A self-aware China will be a force to reckon with, I hope our development process goes smoothly and I wish the Xi-Li Administration luck in this goal.[/quote]
Who translated sun tzu's text to English?
However, it is sad that our enemies are using Sun Tzu's own theories against us, from Imperial Japan to modern day USA.
The generals in Imperial Japan were great enthusiasts of Sun Tzu's philosophies and his work. It's quite horrific when you think about it.
Luckily we have learned from our mistakes, especially the Century of Humiliation. A self-aware China will be a force to reckon with, I hope our development process goes smoothly and I wish the Xi-Li Administration luck in this goal.[/quote]
Who translated sun tzu's text to English?
boomslang
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I'm sure you subhuman monkeys don't understand what humility is.
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