Inside the Modern Dragon
Books on China
China: Fragile Superpower
Susan L. Shirk.
Review by Leigh-Ann KennedyMay 2008—In the book China Fragile Super Power, Susan Shirk sets out to do what many other writers about China have hesitated to do: Debunk the myth of it as a high and mighty power and expose the underbelly of the country’s fragility.
Shirk, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for China, interweaves her experiences throughout the book. Her main thesis is that we shouldn’t take for granted the powerful economic status China has accrued in the last 20 years. Indeed, China is still considered a developing country. Its fragility is buttressed by a stringent political system that places all of the power in one party, the Chinese Communist Party; and its social culture has paved the way to catastrophic protesting, that, like a wild fire, is untamable at times and could contribute to complete social unrest.
Shirk begins the book by describing the contradiction of China—how China is “strong abroad but fragile at home.” Shirk provides a good historical background on the issues creating China’s fragility at home. For example, the “one China policy” stipulates that Taiwan is part of mainland China and not a separate entity, as the people in Taiwan claim it is. She explains the complexity of the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which requires U.S. presidents to view any Chinese use of force against Taiwan as a “threat to peace and security.” This puts the United States between a rock and hard place in regards to our relationship with China. Fortunately, this issue has not erupted as China has focused on building her economy and showing her strength abroad, but that is not to say it will never happen.
China’s rise as a power aboard started in 1978 when she opened up her doors to trading from the outside world and quickly took the main stage on the global economic market. “Every day news reports remind us that China is the fastest growing economy in the world, which has increased at roughly 10 percent annually for two and half decades,” Shirk writes.
Interestingly enough, this section is followed by another that suggests China’s “insecure leaders” have used the phrase “social stability” as a “euphuism to convince the Chinese public that Communist Party rule is essential for maintaining order and prosperity, and without it, a country as large as China would descent into civil war and chaos.” Shirk does a good job of painting these two faces of China.
Economic Interdependence
Chapter two’s focus is on China as the “economic miracle” that most of us often read about. With the background on China opening up the world market in 1978, China rapidly climbed up the ladder at a light speed. But, as Shirk asks, “How long can it last?”
I found the irony to be blaring reading it in the post-2008 economic crisis era. China’s economy has grown to be interdependent on the entire world’s market. “Foreign trade is 75 percent of its GDP—China depends on other countries for its domestic prosperity and stability,” Shirk writes.
Shirk also points out that although China’s growth has been a miracle, not all Chinese citizens have benefited. In fact, there is a substantial divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” and between the urban and rural populations. So dramatic is this valley that “the richest 10 percent hold 45 percent of the country’s wealth, and the poorest 10 percent only have 1.4 percent.”
Throughout the book Shirk supports her opening thesis of a fragile China as she writes about China’s domestic threats, its nationalism, its media and the internet. She quotes a Chinese student who says, there is “no external threat that is half as serious as the threat of internal conflict.”
Shirk also goes in-depth to convey the rise of nationalism in China and how, in fact, the education system and the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department embed this loyalty to the state. It seems that anything that would portray China in a bad light is censored. Even news covering disease epidemics or natural disasters such as earthquakes can be banned. The Propaganda Department goes to great lengths to control the media, but the question then lies, in this day in age, how can one really control the worldwide web? Is technology and transparency so advanced that its only a matter of time before censorship is cracked in China? I am sure there are hackers in China who have already started to decode the “star wars” like satellite system that orbits China, but it is going to be interesting to see how this is played out in the future with the next generation so plugged into technology. But, then again, that ignores the culture of loyalty and nationalism in China.
'Responsible Power'
Shirk also paints a picture of China as a responsible power. She conveys the idea that “to be a responsible great power, we have to hold a rose in one hand and a gun in the other.” China knows that it cannot be too harsh with its policies and risk disrupting its economic stronghold in the international arena. So time and again, Chinese leaders have chosen to play the neutral card. “China’s accommodating stance helps its leaders avoid clashes with other countries that could derail economic growth and threaten the CCP’s hold on power,” Shirk writes.
Other chapters unravel China’s relationship with Japan and Taiwan. The last chapter sums up by speaking to China’s weaknesses and America’s danger. The book very much ends the way it started, by examining China’s power and how its nationalism and economy is actually her weakness (domestic unrest against the CCP and a dependent economy). “Chinese nationalists experience themselves not as victims manipulated by political interests at the state center but as pure patriots who know the truth and will not be fooled.” (Sinologist, Edward Freedman)The passive aggressive nature of China that Shirk portrays in this book is quite an alluring one. It opens up a whole new perception of all of the different faces of China. Understanding that the Chinese put “saving face” at the forefront of their foreign policy, it was still riveting to read how domestic protests could grow 1,000 people overnight and keep growing.
I predict that as more and more of the Chinese youth are sent to colleges overseas, they will return to China as the catalyst for more freedom of the press and support for political democracy. If China’s economy continues to bleed as it has been this past year, and factories keep getting shut down, there will plenty of fuel to the fire protests.
“As China leaders well know, the greatest political risk lying ahead of them is the possibility of an economic crash that throws millions of workers out of their jobs or sends millions of depositors to withdraw their savings from the shaky banking system,” Shirk writes. What happens then? I think China is quickly approaching a fork in the road—one in which one small turn will change her ideology in a matter of days. We need to be mindful of this, and approach China as the paper dragon she is.
About this Project
This is a web-based journalism project about modern China—a country undergoing massive industrialization and technological change. This project began as an intellectual inquiry and a journey to China. [Read more...]
Read more about China Fragile Superpower on Google Books
