Perceptions on China changing
This week sees China celebrate the 40th anniversary of the start of Deng Xiaoping’s landmark economic reforms in the late 1970s. While the changes have been one of the biggest gamechangers in global affairs in the post-war era, their very success raises today not just key opportunities but also challenges for Beijing.
On the success side of the ledger, China’s rise to greater prominence has been one of the defining features of recent decades. For instance, data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2014 asserts that China’s economy is now larger than its US counterpart on the basis of purchasing power parity.
In so doing, Beijing has recorded an average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of around 9.5 percent in the past 40 years. The result has been the fostering of a middle-income population of 400 million, and the lifting of more than 700 million Chinese out of poverty.
However, the consequences of this remarkable feat have been more than economic and financial. In terms of perceptions, many worldwide believe that the global political balance of power has swung very significantly.
This is having important, realworld implications, including feeding into the political posturing of some Western politicians on China.
The stark change in international perceptions toward China is underlined by Pew Global Research. In October 2018, publics in 25 countries overwhelmingly agreed that China plays a more important role in the world today than a decade ago.
While welcomed by many in China who understandably like recognition of the country’s growing might, this opinion shift is causing some headaches for Beijing. It has exposed the country to greater foreign scrutiny.
What this underlines is that China’s growing prominence is not without challenges for Beijing. This is especially so given that the country’s grand strategy had long been premised on a gradual, peaceful transition to power, during which it will grow stronger while keeping a low profile.
Yet Beijing has increasingly adopted a higher profile and a more assertive foreign policy in recent years. The significantly brighter spotlight this has put on the country has unfortunately exposed a soft-power deficit that is complicating its rise.
As international perceptions of China’s power have changed, its global favorability has shown weakness in some key countries and continents, as underlined in Pew’s data. In October 2018, for instance, only three of the 25 countries surveyed asserted that they prefer a world order where China is the leading power rather than the US.
If critical scrutiny intensifies, Beijing must find better ways to tackle this soft-power deficit, including enhanced international public diplomacy to win more foreign hearts and minds.
Beijing should also restart a process of addressing foreign concerns about its intentions as a rising power. Here, it could intensify efforts to be seen as a responsible, peaceful global stakeholder, and match this rhetoric with actions.