d. China has no intention of dominating the West ideologically or militarily, but it does insist on preserving its own socio-political system and especially after US failures in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the economic crisis of 2008, the Chinese Communist Party believes itself to be the moral equal of the US and questions the superiority of the liberal model. The issue is whether China’s challenge as an “alternative” to the liberal model and its insistence on regaining the regional role it had before European Imperialism became dominant in the 19th century represents a “threat”. The Chinese Communist Party certainly wants to regain Taiwan which it believes was unfairly severed from China by Japanese Imperialism and US intervention in the Chinese Civil War in the 1940’s. How far this represents a threat to the Asia-Pacific remains something of a controversy.
MS: There is a growing economic power resulting from progressive “westernization” and the transformation of Maoist communism into what many call communism based on the purest capitalism – what impact has this had on the internal organization of the country? Do Chinese people live better in their country today?
JP: There is no question that Chinese are now enjoying the highest standard of living in Chinese history and China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty despite rising levels of inequality. The fact is that no Chinese is materially worse off than they were in the days of Mao Zedong and the vast majority are infinitely better off, with hundreds of millions now enjoying a middle-class lifestyle. Chinese live better, and longer, by every metric.
MS: The current Chinese president makes no secret of his ambition to make China a major global player. To what extent can the fact that the issue of alleged lack of respect for human rights (too often brought to the fore) be a brake on this goal?
JP: The human rights situation in China is not something the country can be proud of, even though, even there the human rights situation has vastly improved since the days of Mao Zedong. Most Chinese citizens enjoy a level of security and are (Covid restrictions excepted) able to move about the country and the world. This was unimaginable 45 years ago. Nonetheless, the Chinese Communist Party does not value individual human rights and people are not free to criticize the state or its ruling Party. The question is whether China can continue to make progress as a market society if freedom including the freedom to own property is under the tight supervision of the state. Will the state smother the spirit that leads to an innovative and creative society? So far, China has continued to grow (even in the midst of the pandemic).
MS: Without any intention of fuelling conspiracy theories, to what extent can it be said that the pandemic that was born in China and has spread around the world has helped Xi Jinping achieve what he announced in the opening speech of the Chinese Communist Party congress in 2017 – “Is time for China to take centre stage’”? Is China trying to dominate the world?
JP: Xi has said and continues to say that by the middle of the century China will complete its national rejuvenation and will be “second to none”. That does not necessarily mean “dominate the world”. China is now responsible for about 18% of global GDP. In 1800 China represented about 25% of global GDP and China has rarely expanded far beyond its initial borders. It is clear that Chinese view themselves as a Great Power and a World Civilization. They see the last 150 years as an exception which must be redressed. But Chinese have never had the urge to rule the world. 70 years before Vasco De Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope a Chinese fleet of more than 20,000 sailed to the coast of East Africa and to Arabia. They had ships vastly larger than the 3 ships that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World, but China has never aspired to rule the world. They have neither the aggressive nor the missionary impulse of the Iberians of the 16th Century.
MS: Can we consider Xi Jinping the greatest po