China and the Emerging World

We need a new way of thinking about China.

So much of what is written about China is wrong.  We have built a narrative of fear around China, fear that, because China appears to embrace different values to us, it is inherently a danger to our safety, security, and way of life.

 

A lack of globally sophisticated thinking in America particularly, and the West at large, is now resulting in a danger to world peace and global security with a failure to truly understand China.  The Chinese themselves have a far more sophisticated world view than most Westerners, and know a great deal more about our countries, cultures and language, than we do about them.

 

Narratives about the country are usually very limited, and rarely get under the skin of how people think and see the world.  We use Western frameworks to make evaluations about the intentions and motivations of China, and fail to enter into a way of thinking that might be wholly different to ours – yet, quite possibly, more profound and liberating than our own. 

This fear of China also hints at a larger ignorance about the rest of the so-called Global South and a complete misunderstanding in the West of the shifting landscapes of power and a change in values occurring throughout our world right now.

We need to understand that societies built on more collective principles have much to teach the more individualistic West on how we can build a better world

We need global leaders with a more sophisticated world view, capable of truly understanding China, the Middle East, India, Africa and other parts of the emerging world, at a deeper level, with the knowledge, respect and understanding to capably build meaningful partnerships for shared peace and prosperity.