British polemicist Martin Jacques has divided critics in China with his controversial new book, "When China Rules the World". With a new translation of the book set to become the must-read of the summer, NewsChina meets with the outspoken former magazine editor to discuss his views on a rising China.
By Yuan Ye
According to influential Chinese intellectual Yu Yongding, When China Rules the World, the controversial new book by British writer Martin Jacques, constitutes, “the greatest and most precisely researched work about China yet written.” Yet the opinion of Yu, a former director of the Economy & Politics Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), is by no means universal. Although it has won acclaim from several of China’s leading intellectuals, it has also drawn fierce criticism from the country’s more liberal contingent. So what exactly is all the fuss about?
With economies throughout the world still reeling from the global financial crisis, China’s double-digit growth rate has forced many in the developed world to rethink the significance of the country’s economic reemergence. Among a series of books about China’s rise and its consequences, Jacques’ ominously titled When China Rules the World has sparked widespread interest.
Embodied with a near incessant positivity, the book refutes claims of China’s gradual “westernization,” and instead underscores the differences between the ancient cultures and traditions of China to those of the West. Chief among these is Jacques’ belief in China’s unique position as a civilizationstate, rather than a nation-state in the traditional Western sense. In the second half of the book, he even goes as far as to predict a reemergence of China’s ancient tribute system, under which neighboring countries paid a yearly tribute to China as a show of loyalty.
Of course, such views are tinged with controversy, and as for Jacques, a former Marxist magazine editor and well known political agitator, there is a suspicion that this is all part of the attraction. Yet for all the debate surrounding the book, there can be no doubting its influence. The author was recently invited for a one-hour meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss the ideas outlined in his book.
With this in mind, NewsChina met with Martin Jacques during a recent visit to Beijing, to talk about his book and its consequences for China.
NewsChina: What inspired you to write the book?
Martin Jacques: The key moment was a holiday I took to Southeast Asia and China in 1993. The trip raised so many questions in my mind. In Guangdong, you could see the energy, the city literally changing before your eyes as you passed through it. Hong Kong and Singapore were also much more modern than I’d expected. The question in my mind was, “this is very modern, but is it Western? Or is it something different?”
Also on that holiday, I met my wife in Malaysia. In some ways, we had amazing empathy. But in another sense, we were completely different. When she came to live in London with me, she introduced me to an entirely different version of my home country, as seen through her eyes.
We all walk around with lots of assumptions, most of which we’re not even aware of. With my wife arriving in London, I was suddenly required to think about them, think about what’s under my skin, my culture, my history.
NewsChina: How do you respond to accusations that the title is too provocative?
Martin Jacques: In my mind, the title is good, but it’s also a problem. It’s good because people remember it everywhere. But it’s a problem because actually I’m not arguing that. In English I can get away from the title, because people don’t think I’m being literal. No one is asking me “do you really think China is going to rule the world?” in Britain, because we use terms such as “rule” or “rule the world” more like a metaphor. We don’t mean it literally. But here (in China), people react to it in a very literal way, especially when people haven’t read the book.
NewsChina: So, by writing this book, you are reminding people in the West about the importance of China?
Martin Jacques: I’m telling people, not reminding them, because they don’t know. The problem lies in the fact that the Western interpretation of China’s rise has been quite simplistic, and based largely around the economy. It’s widely accepted that China will have a huge influence economically, but no one ever talks about the political and cultural consequences. No one says, “This matters!” And my book argues that the political and cultural consequences of China’s rise will be as great as the economic consequences. It’s going to change the world. But Westerners haven’t thought of it. They think as China modernizes, it will become more like the West. So there’s no real serious discussion.
NewsChina: Speaking of modernity, what’s your view on China’s future?
