Veteran reporter says China need not be an enemy
A ‘very consequential power’ requires understanding by U.S.
WASHINGTON — China is one of America’s most formidable competitors — even adversaries — but a former Shanghai bureau chief for The New York Times says the powerful Asian nation doesn’t have to become an enemy.
Howard French, now a research fellow at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, said the key to understanding Chinese foreign policy is in understanding the 5,000-year arc of its history. French will give a talk on the topic Friday at the UNM Continuing Education Auditorium in Albuquerque. The lecture is part of the Albuquerque International Association’s ongoing speaker series.
French, the author of a new book titled “Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power,” said his book and Albuquerque lecture aim to inform, not frighten, a U.S. audience.
“My book is not meant to alarm people,” French said. “It’s meant to help Americans come to terms with China by understanding the complexity of the topic and bringing it down to a digestible level.
With an appreciation of Chinese history, we put ourselves in a better position to understanding the challenge we face in dealing with China in positive and mutually beneficial ways. China doesn’t have to be our enemy.”
China has a proud history marred in more recent times by a period from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century that its own leaders refer to as the “century of humiliation.” During this time, China was dominated by Western imperialism and Japanese aggression, but the vast nation has since come roaring back.
“China is and always has been a very large civilization — very populous and very successful in terms of its achievements and very rich compared to any neighboring society,” French said. “Because of China’s great longevity,
this has created a number of reflexes in its foreign relations.
“It (China) takes as a norm the idea that it should be pre-eminent compared to its neighbors — that other societies should defer to it and accept its leadership on vital matters in exchange for the goods that China can bestow upon them.”
Of course, many of the other countries in the region — Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and others — don’t quite see it that way.
“Modern nation-states in the
region are not so eager to be flooded into this kind of narrative, or story, that China is fashioning,” French said. “On the one hand, they want to share in the wealth creation that China’s rise has enabled, but on the other hand, they don’t want to have to be relegated to some implicit inferior status. They fear over time they will be losing their independence or room to maneuver in international relations.”
As for U.S. policy toward China, French said President Donald Trump, who talked tough on China during the 2016 presidential campaign, might be changing his tune. Trump emerged from meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month with comments that seemed conciliatory.
“This administration has shown in its early rhetoric a lot of bluster about China and more recently has come to terms with the reality that I think is inescapable — that China is a very consequential power,” French said. “It’s the only near rival the U.S. has in the world for comprehensive power. It’s the world’s second-largest economy, it’s the world’s most populous country, and it’s the key to settling all kinds of problems in the Far East and in other parts of the world. Therefore, you need a supple, moderate, nuanced approach to dealing with China. I think that’s what the Trump administration is having to come to terms with.”