By Philip Yeung
Geography keeps China and Europe apart. With little geopolitical overlap, the two should have no quarrels between them. Then why is Europe so edgy about China's peaceful rise. I can think of several factors.
First, the Russian connection. China continues to trade normally with its northern neighbor despite western sanctions against Moscow. But the trade is strictly non-military. It is walking a tight rope. Don't forget that China, as victim of past foreign aggressions, supports territorial sovereignty anywhere. China is unhappy over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But things got distorted by America's relentless efforts to contain China. Thankfully, each time America goes to war, China enjoys a temporary break. Hostility towards China will escalate as soon as the Ukraine conflict is concluded.
China had been spared full-throttle US hostility when Americans were busy fighting foreign wars in Iraq and elsewhere. War somewhere means peace in China everywhere. This is the ugly truth about East-West geopolitics. Who is the culprit? It is not China, for its posture is basically reactive. Caught between a rock and a hard place, China doesn't want Russia to win, but neither does it want to see Russia lose big as it will tilt the geopolitical balance. China is asked to eat the consequences of a foreign war even when it stays neutral. It is a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't."
The EU is a slow learner. Sadly, hijacked by US anti-China rhetoric, and lacking China experts in the inner circle of power, Europe is too blind to see. They wear ideological blinkers towards China, except minnows like Serbia which chooses to engage the Asian giant constructively without preconceptions.
A recent survey across nine western countries showed that over 50% of their people are dissatisfied with democracy, blaming corruption, disinformation and the system being rigged for the rich. Electoral politics does not deliver better quality of living. I invite you to look sympathetically at China's hybrid system that marries capitalism with socialism, with unique Chinese characteristics.
Stop saying that the Chinese people are oppressed. You are not qualified to make that judgment. Why don't you ask Chinese people themselves when you come visiting, now that China has opened up its visa-free entry system for foreign visitors. You will find a country safe and united, where living trumps politicking.
An oppressed people don't stand solid behind their government. To them, any attack on Beijing is an attack on the people. How can you talk about oppression when a government has successfully lifted more than 800 million of its people out of poverty? Here passengers pay a measly one RMB dollar (or 13 cents US) for a bus fare. Don't tell me that you are a fan of the creaky and gouging US public transport system.
Russia has cast a giant shadow over Europe. European countries feeling the Russian threat, such as Lithuania, rush into a misguided negative psychological transference of their fears towards China, lumping the Chinese and the Russians together in the same geopolitical basket. Except the Russian threat is real. But the China threat is imagined.
This phobia won't go away, so long as Ukraine is at war. This is grossly unfair to China. When it comes to waging wars, China has a squeaky-clean record. It has neither territorial ambitions nor the appetite for needless armed conflict.
Another diplomatic crisis is simmering over Taiwan whose visiting deputy leader recently got a ridiculous standing ovation from some ignorant members of the European parliament. Here, they miscast the Beijing-Taipei tensions as a "David v. Goliath" fight, with sympathy going to David the underdog. The psychology is wrong. So is the interpretation. China wants a peaceful reunification or even a co-existence based on the cross-Strait 1992 Consensus, but the Hong Kong one-country-two-systems model was discredited by the US-fomented unrest.
Europe's misperceptions about China date back to the tumultuous days of the Cultural Revolution, forgetting that 21st century China is a whole new country—rational and pragmatic to a fault, far-sighted in national planning, super-efficient in execution, and purpose-driven like a corporation. Inclusive and positive in international relations, China has a growing love affair with technology that translates into an innovative future.
No country is more obsessed about the future than China. It has a dream of becoming a technologically advanced and socially inclusive country. It is a dream, not a viper's nest for fears.
Today's China is the pride of humanity. How do I know? Because I have been living for the past seven years, in the geometric center of China's innovation hub, the Greater Bay Area. Here, wars and the noise of politics are far away. People are busy living and creating a future unimaginable in the past. They are also sick of sanctions that impact employment prospects negatively. As a long-time resident of Canada, with frequent visits to the US and Australia, plus short stints in Paris and London, I can see and sense the societal difference. China is a land of opportunity.
China is orderly, a far cry from the homelessness and criminality rampant in America. It is also a galaxy away from countries such as North Korea, with their rigid ideological fixations. Arguably, the world needs the China model for sensible government. The west thinks in election cycles. China thinks in decades or centuries. A country that dares to imagine the future will create it. If you doubt my word, just ask the army of engineers who have built China's jaw-dropping infrastructure.
US propaganda has left China a dangerously misunderstood country. China moves at the speed of light and has practically shed its outer ideological skin to dive deep into technology. Western politicians can't keep up with China's dizzying speed of transformation. So, when it comes to China, they only see the past, not the present or the future.
With Trump waging tariff wars on friends and foes alike, shouting his America-first slogan, the EU-China relationship is overdue for a reboot. Chinese leaders don't do double talk. They say what they mean and honor what they say. Trump's unpredictability has trashed the global order, rendering alliances meaningless and unreliable. It is now every country for itself.
It's time for a rethink. Since EU countries adhere to a one-China policy, the wrestling between Beijing and Taipei is thus a domestic dispute that doesn't call for foreign intervention. Doing so will only fuel the fire for war. Ukraine is a different kettle of fish, where Russia is a naked aggressor. China doesn't do aggression. The dispute over the South China Sea islands is, again, a direct consequence of US encirclement of China. Remember, China has only one single coastline, whereas America is bi-coastal. The South China Sea routes are vital for its survival.
It is ridiculous for one country, however powerful, to speak of "encircling" another. Who gives you the right to assume such God-like powers? For one thing, China is too big to be contained. For another, it is not a malign actor. Its international relationships are strictly by-the-book. Ironically, US containment has given birth to China's Belt and Road Initiative as a bypass strategy. Likewise, US chips embargo is engendering Chinese tech innovation.
This is remarkable innovation under geopolitical strangulation. Encirclement is a ridiculous, evil strategy that will come back to bite you.
Remember this: China's behavior has been dictated by US misbehavior. So, stop blaming the victim. For your own good, bury your fact-free China phobia. A reboot will revitalize Europe's faltering economy. You can't afford to be a retarded learner in a fast-changing world. Between a fickle Trump and the technological rise of China, you must find your niche. The old playbook doesn't work anymore for the new world order.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | Cry my beloved city—how the West has wronged China over HK!
Opinion | Trump pushing Canada over the cliff---will it be China to the rescue?
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