China playing down its new economic status

[Nomenclature]

China's economic status is good news for the country ... right? - CSMonitor.com

What, me wealthy? Far from showing pride in figures released Monday that suggest China has overtaken Japan to become the second largest economy in the world, Beijing officialdom is doing everything in its power to play down the news.

“One is struck by the lack of self-congratulation in the [Communist] party media,” says Russell Leigh Moses, a political analyst here. “I admire the government’s retreat from hubris and its embrace of humility, and I don’t get any sense it is manufactured.”

“China is a developing country,” Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian stressed Tuesday, anxious to point out that China’s economy may be massive, but so is its population, and that most of them are poor.

Chinese officials are quick to argue that the simple volume of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is less important than the approximate value of goods produced per person, known as per capita GDP. Measured that way, according to the World Bank, China ranks 124th in the world, between Tunisia and Angola.

The World Bank puts annual per capita GDP in China at $3,620, less than one-tenth of the Japanese figure and one-thirteenth of the US.

Dr. Moses says the main reason Beijing is so coy about its new economic status is that “they understand that the problems ahead are gigantic.” Government economists worry about all sorts of ways in which the Chinese economic miracle might implode, from a burst property bubble (which is what has dragged Japan down for more than a decade) to runaway inflation to an explosion of social unrest in the face of growing inequality.

The government is also concerned that if the rest of the world thinks China is rich, it might pile on the pressure for Beijing to shoulder the sort of international responsibilities that come with the territory when you have economic clout: do more about climate change, for example, or stop favoring its exporters with an artificially weak currency.

Xinhua, the official news agency, put it neatly the other day. “The implication of labeling China as a developed state and exaggerating China’s strength is to demand the country take responsibilities beyond her capability, or to publicize indirectly the ill-disposed 'China threat' theory."

Deng Xiaoping, the man who put China on the road to its current economic stature, had a famous maxim guiding Beijing’s approach to the world: “Hide your brightness, bide your time.” When you are No. 2 (even if you are also No. 124) that is hard to do.

Nice article summing up the official response to China No.2 news. If you read message boards or other Internet discussions, ordinary Chinese ain't celebrating either.

Understandably, most Chinese are more worried about their mortgage than their country's international rankings. And who knows, maybe the Communist Party took notice of BJP's India Shining slogan and what happened to them in the elections.

I don't agree with the "bide your time" part translation of Chinese phrase '韬光养晦' though. As the word in Chinese has zero temporal content. 'hide brightness, nourish obscurity' is probably a better translation although it's still not perfect.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Good idea.

Like Deng Xiaoping said, "Keep a cool head, and maintain a low profile."

 

[Patriot]

Chinese Economic Surge is creating a lot of nightmares for some people.Just have to look at western forums who rub China Achievements by saying stupid stuff like China is not free country etc.Plenty of jealousy.For years these people thought only western countries can advance.

 

[CardSharp]

lol the Elephants says sshhhhh you don't see me

 

[inddef]

Chinese Economic Surge is creating a lot of nightmares for some people.Just have to look at western forums who rub China Achievements by saying stupid stuff like China is not free country etc.Plenty of jealousy.For years these people thought only western countries can advance.

nope, the thing is unlike the rise of japan / south korea, the rise of china might be very disruptive to the world order, economically, politically and militarily.

japan was ahead of US per capita in late 80s.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I don't agree with the "bide your time" part translation of Chinese phrase '韬光养晦' though. As the word in Chinese has zero temporal content. 'hide brightness, nourish obscurity' is probably a better translation although it's still not perfect.

The reason they do that is because it can be a nightmare to translate Chinese "quotations" into English.

大水冲了龙王庙... For instance just translates into "The Dragon King's Temple is flooded".

A Westerner won't be able to understand what that means without a more in-depth explanation.

So they just substitute it with an English expression like "Even the things you control can destroy you", which is the essential meaning of the quote.

 

[Nomenclature]

nope, the thing is unlike the rise of japan / south korea, the rise of china might be very disruptive to the world order, economically, politically and militarily.

japan was ahead of US per capita in late 80s.

One shouldn't compare China to Japan in the 1980s anyway.

I'd put the current day China at the roughly same stage of development as Japan in mid-1960s or Korea in early 1980s.

 

[Skeptic]

China's economic status is good news for the country ... right? - CSMonitor.com



Nice article summing up the official response to China No.2 news. If you read message boards or other Internet discussions, ordinary Chinese ain't celebrating either.

Understandably, most Chinese are more worried about their mortgage than their country's international rankings.

I don't agree with the "bide your time" part translation of Chinese phrase '韬光养晦' though. As the word in Chinese has zero temporal content. 'hide brightness, nourish obscurity' is probably a better translation although it's still not perfect.

Very modestly put. China is going pretty strong in economy. Best of luck in achieving these objectives.

And who knows, maybe the Communist Party took notice of BJP's India Shining slogan and what happened to them in the elections.

Actually the institution of democracy makes it mandatory for Political parties to blow their own trumpets. Even for the smallest of achievements.

 

[ephone]

China's rise disruptive???

How much do you know China's history? I suppose none.

Even China was invaded by foreign powers since 1840 by those drug dealers u.k. french, and other imperist countries later on, China's economy was No.1 still until replaced by U.S. in 1890. Before then, China was always the world No.1.

During Ming dynasty, we had the world No. 1 fleet and No. 1 economy as well. For the next 300 hundred years in Qing dynasty, we still have the world No. 1 economy...

where the disruptive China was??? Except being disruptive, China was disrupted by those disruptive countries who today keep chanting China threat since they themselves are actually the ones that are really disruptive in nature.

Even weird, you mention the rise of japan as model example of not being disruptive. Do you know any world history at all???

You don't remember one of the three evils during WWII is the japs after its so-called rise??? Or should I call that rise "disruptive rise"???

nope, the thing is unlike the rise of japan / south korea, the rise of china might be very disruptive to the world order, economically, politically and militarily.

japan was ahead of US per capita in late 80s.