Opinion
Behind the Curtain (II)
The story behind China's economic success and U.S. misperceptions of China
By Peter Walker  ·  2018-12-12  ·   Source: | Web Exclusive
Huang Shuangxi (right), a village river chief in east China's Zhejiang Province, clears debris from the Shijiabian River with a colleague on November 28. River chiefs are responsible for resource protection, pollution prevention and control, and ecological restoration, according to a nationwide scheme launched in 2016 (XINHUA)

Author's Note: My first connection to China was a spiritual journey over 35 years ago. I wanted to identify individuals who "died with a smile." I visited China over 80 times as a consultant, and connected with hundreds of individuals from all walks of life.

These relationships led me to develop a deep respect and understanding of the Chinese history, culture, government, and way of life. I've encountered the country's highly competent and educated executives and government officials, witnessed the high level of pride in what China has accomplished, and seen firsthand the intense commitment to family and the future of China.

I read extensively on Chinese history, philosophy, and literature, written by Eastern and Western authors alike. I closely followed articles and editorials written in the Western press. The picture of China emerging from these readings is very different from my personal experiences. Words like "authoritarian," "oppressed," "absence of human rights," "unfair trade practices," "military threat," and "suppression of minorities" just don't fit. I dig up the roots underneath this disconnect in my book on the subject, which publishes next year.

In this two-part article, I address two key topics which are closely related: What are the core strengths driving China's economic growth since reform and opening up? What are, and what causes, the primary misperceptions the West has about China?

Read Part I: Driving Factors Behind China's Economic Growth

Part II: Common Western Misconceptions of China

Heavy misrepresentations of China and the Chinese way of life are prevalent in U.S. news and politics. Some are driven by fear of being surpassed economically, but most are driven by simple but significant misunderstandings about China's history and culture, the way of life, how it developed, why it is so very different from the U.S., and the inherent contrasts between an individualistic culture, like the U.S., and a collectivistic culture, like China.

Western news heavily criticizes China on a range of issues, including trade, intellectual property rights, the South China Sea, and the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang. Most of these criticisms challenge China's intent without considering facts.

The heart of the issue is best captured by a quote from Hank Greenberg, who built AIG into the leading insurance company globally and has extensive experience in China. He said, "The histories and culture of countries (U.S. and China) are vastly different, so it is unrealistic to expect China to have a political system that parallels any other." In that spirit, I would identify the following as core U.S. misperceptions about China.

The U.S. would consider that any government (China's) other than a Western electoral democracy is not accountable and therefore not legitimate.

The Chinese model, as described earlier, selects leaders meritocratically by examining performance and peer respect over time--and it works. The collective results of China's leaders are impressive and I can personally attest to their breadth, depth of experience and competence, as well as their deep commitment to the well-being of the Chinese people. By contrast, the U.S. system struggles to address key issues due to the inherent division in a multi-party electoral system that relies on expensive media campaigns rather than relevant experience and accomplishments. While the U.S. system may differ greatly from China's, it's impossible to deny China's model is effective and serves its people well.

The U.S. tends to think that China is likely to head in the same direction as the former U.S.S.R.

The former U.S.S.R. is militarily aggressive, while China isn't. Comparing South China Sea skirmishes to the takeover of Eastern Europe and the Baltics is beyond a stretch. China focuses its efforts for more than 40 years on improving the well-being of its people, lifting 700 million out of poverty. China's recent economic performance under reform and opening up is spectacular.

The U.S. thinks that China limits human rights.

No issue generates more criticism from the U.S. toward China than the perception the Chinese people don't have human rights. In the past, this was fair. Forty years ago, the hukou (household registration system) determined where you lived and your job. Traveling outside your village required government approval. Today is a different story. The hukou system is now used to determine which public services rural Chinese migrants living in urban areas are entitled to--its influence on others is negligible.

When I've asked the Chinese about personal freedoms, the typical answer is, "I can do whatever I want." When pressed on political freedoms, the average response is, "We have a system that has responded to the people's needs over the past 40 years. Why would I try to undermine the government?"

This doesn't mean the Chinese people don't have grievances with the government and cannot express them--they do and they can. U.S. criticisms fail to recognize the realities of the China model.

Key Factors Driving These Misconceptions

Underneath these common Western misconceptions are a few simple but significant causes.

The U.S. ignores historical differences between the two countries.

The U.S. typically ignores two key historic differences between the two countries which underlie most core misunderstandings. The first is the role of the Central Government.

In the U.S., the founding fathers decided on a "minimalist" government unable to hinder entrepreneurs or businesspeople seeking equal economic opportunities. They sought to escape the class-driven economic model that constrained them in Europe. The minimalist goal led to a divisive two-party system, a balance of power across the three branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial), and regular elections.

China's strong Central Government, going back thousands of years, grew out of the need to defend against ongoing invasions and to deal with periodic famines, floods, and little arable land, which made feeding a large, growing population very difficult. China's needs were totally different from America's, which had peaceful borders, abundant arable land, and natural resources.

A second historic division is the timing of each country's industrial revolution. The U.S. industrial revolution began around 1870 and resulted in corruption from rapid growth of wealth, income inequality, exploitation of workers, pollution, and theft of European intellectual property. China's industrial revolution began in the 1980s, had similar consequences, and was criticized heavily by the U.S., conveniently forgetting its own experience of the late 19th and early 20th century.

The U.S. doesn't recognize core cultural differences between Americans and Chinese.

Western societies, like the U.S., tend to have dualistic views of the world: right and wrong, heaven and hell, winners and losers. Eastern cultures, like China, tend to look for harmony and balance, yin and yang.

Therefore, when President Xi Jinping supports win-win solutions, the U.S. response is "if China wins, we must be losing."

Along that same line, the U.S. is an individualistic society, while China is collectivistic. Under Confucian values, deeply ingrained in China, family and society take precedence over the individual. The individual's role is self-improvement through education so each person can better contribute to the whole. In the U.S., the individual's role is typically more self-serving.

This is also reflected in how people speak. In the U.S., individuals are expected to say what they think. In China, people are expected to be indirect, much as Sun Tzu sets forth in his classic The Art of War, "Win by retreating and only engage directly when the time is right." The U.S. acted directly in the trade war by imposing tariffs, the Chinese respond indirectly by reducing their dependence on the U.S. market.

Lack of understanding of these cultural and historical differences leads to serious misperceptions. It leads to a noticeable lack of curiosity by Americans in China, further perpetuating feelings of mistrust.

The average American has shown less interest in understanding China than the average Chinese has in understanding the U.S. For example, over 26 million Chinese people have visited the U.S. compared to less than 1 million Americans that visited China. At any point in time, over 300,000 Chinese students are attending university in the U.S. while less than 10,000 Americans attend university in China. The language barrier is significantly greater for Americans as well. While English is taught across China in the education system, very few Americans study, practice, or are exposed to Mandarin.

What are the consequences of this lack of knowledge and interest? Misplaced fear and agitation toward China as its economy continues to grow. China's economy is expected to overtake the U.S. within the next decade. The U.S. is the largest global economy going on 150 years. In a society with an ingrained sense of competition, that threat is terrifying. This leads many to buy into the thesis of two popular books, The Coming War With China and The Thucydides Trap, which speculate that war between the U.S. and China is inevitable. Any review of Chinese military history and culture would prove this outcome to be highly unrealistic.

Getting Beyond These Misconceptions

China's government delivers tremendous value to the Chinese people through its governance and economic models and as a result is highly supported by the people. These high functioning models incorporate "Chinese characteristics" that build on China's unique history and culture.

The U.S. now has an opportunity to better understand China's aspirations, history, and culture. It remains to be seen whether it can recognize there are no fundamental reasons the two countries can't build a constructive, win-win relationship to jointly tackle global issues like the environment, the nuclear proliferation, and the treatment of refugees.

If the U.S. does not get beyond these misconceptions, the Chinese have demonstrated they are fully capable of pursuing the Chinese dream in the spirit of harmony and balance regardless of tensions and push back from the U.S.

The author is a former senior partner of McKinsey and a trustee of the New York-based China Institute

Comments to yushujun@bjreview.com

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