Honoursmodule: China, the rising power (5512HCTR6Y)
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Honoursmodule: China, the rising power
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Course
Honoursmodule: China, the rising power (5512HCTR6Y)
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
Book
The Third Revolution
Providing an in-depth and complete section of notes from the course Honoursmodule: China, the rising power. Notes include not only a meticulous outline of the literature assigned but also from the weekly seminars. Page numbers and main titles refer to the book assigned for this course.
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Honoursmodule: China, the rising power (5512HCTR6Y)
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Xi’s vision for China + a look at a 2005 scenario for the year 2020 (p 1-19)
Xi’s priorities
A. Need to address the endemic corruption that plagued the Communist Party
B. Ensure that the Party served the people
C. Fighting corruption
D. Call for the great revival or rejuvenation of the Chinese nation
* Evokes memories of the country as the Middle Kingdom demanding tribute
from the rest of the world
* China as source of innovation – creating paper, gunpowder, priting and the
compass
* China as powerful and expansive
* Aka The greatest dream for the Chinese nation in modern history
Xi had concrete objectives to achieve the Chinese Dream:
1. China should double its per-capita GDP from 2010 to 2020
2. Should have a military capable of fighting and winning wars
3. Should meet social welfare needs of the people
4. There should be no doubt concerning the country’s ideological future
Differently from the individualistic American Dream, the Chinese was rooted in collective
values, hence it concerns the entire nation.
Chinese people’s impressions towards the Chinese Dream:
A. It’s a dream of political reform and constitutionalism – where the Communist Party
would be bound by the law
B. It’s a dream to better Chinese society through improvements in food safety or quality
of the environment
C. Individual dreams should also be respected (!)
Xi’s inheritance
Xi and his family experiences Mao’s Chinese leadership. Xi’s father was jailed as a traitor
while Xi was sent to a remote village (age 15) where he labored for several years on an
1
,agricultural commune. However, Xi still became determined to join the Communist Party,
applying for leadership several time until being accepted in 1974.
Following the death of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai (premier) in 1976, a bloodless power
struggle resulted in the ascension to power of Deng Xiaoping
* He started China’s Second Revolution – a transformative process to reform the
country’s economic and political system
A. Economy
® To a more market-driven economy
® Result: Average growth rates exceeded 8% annually for more than 2 decades,
elevating millions of Chinese out of poverty
® China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001
® By 2008, China’s reputation as economic heavyweight was established
B. Politics
® Collective leadership
® More institutionalized succession process
® China embraced policy advice, assistance, financial support from the
international community
® Era of president Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao (2002_2012) marked the
beginning of a more concerted public diplomacy effort however, by the
time of Xi’s ascension to the top job, the Hu Jintao era had become known as
the lost decade. Xi took power determined to change China’s course
Xi’s third revolution
What makes Xi’s Chinese Dream distinctive?
® His strategy of dramatic centralization of authority under his personal leadership
® The intensified penetration of society by the state
® The creation of a virtual wall of regulations and restrictions that control the flow of
ideas, culture and capital into and out of the country
® The significant projection of Chinese power – Based upon a more expansive role for
China abroad
Lecture 1 – Xi’s vision for China
Perceptions of China, 2 narratives:
2
, 1. Amazing – the amazing China
2. Dystopian – but also a China as totalitarian state (Chinese Communist Party), with
social media censorship
China through Western and Chinese eyes
® Europe-centric vision of the world with China in the far east, whereas according to the
Chinese version of the world map China is in the center.
China though the Chinese eyes
* Central
* Universal
* 5000 years of history
* Tribute system
* Middle Kingdom
* Mandate of Heaven – the idea of Mao’s mandate. Towards the end of Mao’s mandate,
many earthquakes took place. People thought it was the end of the Mandate of Heaven.
* Continuity
* Subordination – Some countries, such as Mongolia, were not part of China, however
they were subordinate state
* Always the world’s largest economy
* Century of Humiliation 1842–1949
* Xi Jinping Era (President and CCP general secretary) the Great rejuvenation under
the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
The four great inventions – are inventions from ancient China that are celebrated in Chinese
culture for their historical significance and as symbols of ancient China's advanced science
and technology
1. Paper
2. Compass
3. Printing press
4. Gunpowder
Concession and Humiliation
During the industrial revolution, whereas Europe – and the US – had gone up in terms of
GDP, China suffered from it.
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, Mid 1800, after the Opium Wars International enclaves in Shanghai, Beijing and other
cities
Late 1800s, end of Qing Empire:
® Taiwan to Japan
® Shandong to Germany
® HK to Great Britain
® Concession to Russia, France and Japan
® So basically, China was a victim of many European powers: They divided China up
Historic perceptions
A. Western perception
1. West: Collective, stabile and meritocracy
2. China:
B. Chinese perception
1. China: Collective stabile, and meritocracy
2. West: Individual, chaotic, inefficient democracy what can the west say
nowadays? After US election, Brexit, Terrorism, Fake news
Plan: Made in China 2025
Wanting to become leading in tech production Hence China invested in it, automobile,
self-driving cars
® Addition in 2017: AI Overtake the US in 2020 and become AI world leader in 2030
21st century: Assertive China
2008: Olympics – First time confident China stepped out to the world and presented itself
2010: Shanghai Expo – Again, China showed the new flourishing economic developments
® After these two impacting events (Olympics and Expo), China wanted a seat at the table.
China was confident, but the US (and the rest of the world) was not on the same page:
The world disagreed on giving China increasing power
2013: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – hence, considering the hostile world, China
created a own investment bank
2013: Belt and Road initiative launched (aka Silk road, both maritime and roads) – Focus on
infrastructure: Basically, connecting China and Europe with loads of infrastructures and roads
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