Comments on: TEDx — Understanding the Rise of China

By: Georgia

Georgia — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:09:35 +0000

China is simultaneously ahead and behind us. As the majority of Chinese regard themselves as the Han, I believe, if nothing drastically changes, in a thousand years the majority of people who live in the US will consider themselves “American” in race. Maybe this will be what holds us together amid the whispers of California or other states becoming their own countries. Hearing Adam Smith’s quote about China from the 18th century and going to Andrew Morris’s talk has made me realize the extent to their long term success. I never knew that the Chinese invented the printing press and huge canals 1,000 years before anyone else. I realize that my notion of China mostly came from the Maoist period, which now I recognize is not representative of the long, rich history of China.
The term “rules the world” does not bode well with me. I think that China is coming to its rightful place but hopefully a balance will occur. I don’t think that it is good for one country to have all the power. I don’t believe (overall) that the world benefitted from America holding power for the last 200 years. We squashed countries and made deals so that we could profit with little to no regard. We use the WTO in order to set prices we think is fair. Maybe China will do better than us, we shall see soon.

By: Fred S.

Fred S. — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 05:49:09 +0000

Martin Jacques’ speech definitely expanded my thoughts on China. It was very interesting to hear how China views their government. They view the state as the head of the family – that patriarch. Where as, here in the western world, we view the government as an intruder, as an organ of power that must be constrained. This does not mean, however, that revolution is not capable of happening. Maybe it is my “western view,” but I cannot see someone being subordinate to the “head of the family” their entire life without trying to establish their own values and dominance.

Jacques posed a lot of very interesting thoughts in his speech. I agree that we cannot evaluate China solely with western eyes and western values. It takes time to understand the views of this eastern civilization state. Reading about China and visiting the country is my first step in trying to get a better understanding.

By: Keith Cody

Keith Cody — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:40:34 +0000

Discussing the Great Transition (coined and copyright 2012 Keith Cody), every book or speaker I discover, always say the same thing: that we don’t understand China and we won’t understand what is going to happen. They never give us tools to grasp. Martin Jacques is the first that I have heard to talk about the social nation of China. He says it is different then the nation state. But his examples lead me to thing of the American Government and American Values are similar in scope to the PRC and the social nation of China.

China will not be the first “developing” nation to lead the world. Because their are two Chinas, the developed China and the poor undeveloped part. Most still live in the developing part. But all the leadership and all the growth and all the GDP comes from the developed part. It’s true that it is at a lower standard than the Western world, but it’s still developed.

Martin Jacques began his talk with a discussion of when China’s economy will over take America’s. At first it’s 2050, then it’s 2020. One year later, the latest numbers are 2016. It went from 40 years, to a decade, to 4. The length of the next Presidential term.

I find it fascinating that the world economy will change hands under the next President, but the most important issues to Republican presidential candidates is making condoms illegal. They’re thinking with their wrong heads, if they have one.

By: Ashley Tyra

Ashley Tyra — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:11:53 +0000

In his talk, Martin Jacques gives a quick overview of the essentials to understanding China. It is important to familiarize ourselves with a country that is growing rapidly, and could possibly surpass the economy of the United States in 2020. Jacques also noted that China is the first country to lead the world economically while still in a developing state.

He makes the distinction between the cultural differences of China and western countries. One main point is that China is one civilization that has many ways of running itself. Jacques believes that however developed China becomes, it will not become westernized. Also, he states that the Chinese have a very different conception of race. Most of them believe they are part of one race, and they believe in its superiority.

As westerners we need to recognize the disconnect between us and other cultures of the world, and takes action to mitigate our ignorance.

By: Charles Dornbush

Charles Dornbush — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:36:50 +0000

Martin Jacques lays out many interesting points about the rise of China and how it differs from the rise of the West. I agree with his main point that as developing countries like China and India rise to prominence many Westerners will need to aquatint themselves more with these countries’ culture and history. It is unwise to think that China and India will “Westernize” as they grow larger and more developed.

Jacques also showed that China is already taking the lead in technology of the future through high-speed rail and other projects. It is expected for China to invest a lot in advanced infrastructure because of the rapid urbanization of its population. Perhaps it will be America and Europe seeing what does and doesn’t work in China over the next 50 years, instead of the other way around.

Finally, the quick growth of the Chinese economy is surprising. I knew China’s economy was growing fast, but for China to overtake the U.S. economy by 2020 seems remarkable. However, Jacques simply states this projection without any context of what it will mean to the world, which is basically nothing. China has more than four times as many people as the U.S. Chinese output and wealth per person is nowhere near U.S. levels and still won’t be when in 2020 or in 2050. Jacques ignores the fact that on a per capita basis China is way behind the U.S. and may never catch up.

By: Kevin K.

Kevin K. — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:05:38 +0000

I find it interesting that the title of this TED speech is “Understanding the rise of China” when speaker Martin Jacques lists more reasons why we don’t understand the rising superpower than how we can understand it in the future.

Yes, there is a great ignorance shared by many Western Civilizations regarding China and Asia as a whole, however, is it enough just to pose the question: “Can we understand China?” Jacques does a great job describing differences between the two cultures and posing this question, but I feel he does not do enough to answer it — if it has an answer at all. Perhaps just getting us thinking on this topic is his goal — or perhaps his phrasing of China’s rise as a threat is supposed to instill the fear of being eclipsed by the fragmented country as soon as 2020. Don’t get me wrong, China has amazing resources, but like all of us, it is still trying to figure itself out.

In the end I felt as though his projection of China overtaking the world was bullish and forceful, and in a sense he is trying to make us fear for our wallets more than sincerely wanting to understand a large group of fellow human beings.

By: Daniel Fleek

Daniel Fleek — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:14:18 +0000

Being from east Asia and having a mother who is from Japan, I understand what he means when he states that people in east Asia have a much better understanding on American culture then Americans on East Asian culture. I agree with Jacques when he says this is because the West has influenced them with our powerful military and economic powers. However, when I go back to Tokyo, Japan to visit my family, it is evident that people over there are also fascinated by American culture. This is mostly a product of Hollywood and our overall diversification which has produced spectacular human beings. In fact, an American with blue eyes and blonde hair or an American who is over 6 foot 200 pounds will be idolized in the East with people on the streets taking out their cameras to get a photo of them. In this way, America has an advantage to the East with our race diversification which Jacques mentioned since it allows us to bring together diverse backgrounds to find the best solutions. However, it is also true that with less diversification, people will tend to feel like they belong to their group and that there will probably be less tension amongst the groups. In this regard, things can get done more quickly to progress their nations. Overall, I think Jacques has done a great job portraying the changing world through open eyes and makes a great point in that the West must learn East Asian culture in order to keep up with the rise of power in the East.

By: Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:59:47 +0000

I really enjoyed how Martin Jacques described the western view of China and broke down the three building blocks of how they should be viewed differently. I agree with most of the video but feel compelled to cite a few assumptions Jacques made that may be problematic to the outcome of his argument.

First, it was assumed that China will be the dominant economy by 2020. With China growing so fast, much can change in one decade. We cannot say that China will not have an economic breakdown similar to that of the United States years ago, a move that originally caused China’s assumed domination to occur in 2020 rather than 2050.

Secondly, I agree with a comment on Dan’s blog post about the opposing view. The comment stated, “Does China WANT to rule the world?” We do not know if China wants to be the dominating economy, we are only assuming that they do. If in fact they do, we cannot state that the way they make business deals will not become more western. This brings me to my third and final comment.

My final difference in perspective is not really based on an assumption; but rather, our western view of China may not entirely be our fault (nor may it be completely incorrect, either). As China grows it is a fact that it is becoming increasingly western. I believe China’s westernization (not much unlike our own) is what we see from an outsiders point of view. While it is true that China will always hold true to their strong beliefs of unity, racial dominance, and the notion of state being supreme, how we do business with them is becoming much more western as China grows. As a result, it is important that our view of China grows with China, otherwise we may view them in a state that is far too primitive than where they actually are at.

By: Vladimir

Vladimir — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:23:20 +0000

Martin Jacques’ presentation brings up some building blocks relevant to the economic future of China. However, I see it as more of an introduction to these important distinctions, than a prediction of the magnitude of their effect on the future.

Here’s what I gathered from his charts and some quick Wikipedia research:
Today the GPD per capita is about $7,500 in China vs $47,000 in the US (in 2006 US dollars). In 2020-2025 those numbers are expected to be $14 k for China and $59 k for the US. In 2050 the forecast is $54 k for China and $86 k for the US.

While China has been a civilization state, will it continue to be as much so as it modernizes? Unity may have been their most important political value for millennia, but will modernization challenge this? Lack of multiculturalism may help sustain unity, but I also think it depends where the extra per capita GDP will go. Will it be taxed away or will the citizens have a higher standard of living, with more money for outside interests?

The relationship between the society and the state may also change as the per capita GDP increases. We need to consider the source of the increase. If the number of entrepreneurs will increase, will they want or will the state be able to play “head of the family” to them? The entrepreneurial mindset is probably not compatible with “The state is the head of my family” thinking.

The video bought up some ideas I need to keep in mind as I learn more about the Chinese economy. But I would need to have a better idea of what the economy of China will be like in the future to judge their impact.

By: Stephen Allison

Stephen Allison — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:20:54 +0000

Yep some big cultural differences between China and where I am from, California.

1) Government as patriarch. Most people I know don’t even trust the government.
2) Race. In my sociology classes in college we were taught that race is only as real as we believe it is, and that once we are aware of this we can begin to realize that race is non-existent.