China: The New White Man

America is often seen as the arrogant international police, selectively enforcing its views of human rights, waging its Just Wars over oil fields, and ridding the world of its Axis of Evil, one dictator at a time. The Muslim world hates us, our immodesty, and our Zionism. Latin America grudgingly acknowledges its powerful big brother. Africa takes our handouts and confounds our understanding of development. Europe can't understand our strange marriage of religion and politics. And Asia eyes us jealously, waiting for the day the aces shift from the West to the East.

I mentioned China becoming the new World Superpower in the upcoming years, and a friend mentioned that he was excited for America to lose its spot on top.

I questioned whether or not having China on top would be much better.

Now, I'm no IR major or Sinologist, but I am a general pessimist when it comes to the prospects of China becoming an intrinsically motivated positive player on the world stage.

Numerous reasons for this exist. China's power comes from its enormous and exponentially growing economic clout. Since China opened up in the '80s, its tentacles have made significant inroads not only in Western countries, but developing countries and nations with unstable governments as well. Culturally, the accumulation of pelf is of enormous importance to the Chinese. How one attains that wealth, as those familiar with "Chinese Characteristics" will attest, is not subject to a moral standard of integrity. Politically, China's past isolationist attitude and current non-interventionist policies do nothing to abet peace (ex. Sudan and Burma). China has no intentions of leveraging economic clout to bring about stability. In line with stereotypical Chinese business practices, little concern is given to the "lao bai xing," the normal Joes who are affected by cutthroat competition. Much like colonialism and imperialism raped Africa of its resources, China is systematically taking advantage of Africa by what would be equivalent to economic extraterritoriality in African natural resources.

As an example, much of the Chinese mentality of doing business is already heavily ingrained in South East Asia. In Africa, it is the Mzungu (white man) who is viewed as the privileged and powerful minority. In South East Asia, the ethnic Chinese are powerful minorities who live a high life in walled compounds, hire indigenous servants, quite reminiscent of the despised wealth of Mzungus in Africa (which led to purges in places like the Belgian Congo). As terrible as it was for the Chinese, it's no wonder that Indonesia erupted with anti-Chinese riots in the 90's. (Interestingly, the ethnic Chinese are also oftentimes associated with Christianity in these countries.)

For those who know the Chinese perspective of the world, it is hardly a secret that the Chinese are a very proud people. The Chinese have not forgotten their humiliation in the early 1900s by the foreign powers. In many ways, China's show for the world via the Olympics is not about world peace or brotherhood. "One world, One dream" is lip service. The real Olympic tagline should be, "One China, One Power, biotch." It's about Chinese face, and proving to the world that China has finally come of age. Some might point to China's investment in nuclear talks with North Korea, or its previous (but few) deployments of PLA soldiers for humanitarian work, or its changes towards human rights as encouraging. One must notice, however, that in most cases, China either has vested interest in a positive outcome (e.g. North Korea), must deal with an issue because it's causing internal discontent, or is pressured and shamed by foreign powers (in regards to human rights). I wonder what positive international change can come when China becomes top dog and other countries have little leverage over it, since China in its current state seems to lack most parts of the humanitarian/peace/justice engine on cultural, moral, philosophical, theological, and political levels. Democracy and human rights are hardly their worries.

China will certainly play an increasingly enormous role in the world. But I have very little hope that much positive change will come with China's ascent.