On October 12th 2020, in the 75th episode of Dragon TV’s “This Is China”, Professor Zhang Weiwei, Dean of the Institute of Chinese Studies at Fudan University, and Professor Wu Xinwen from Fudan University, jointly interpreted the new ideological emancipation of the current Chinese society.
The dramatic rise of China over the past few decades has been accompanied by a series of ideological emancipations. The discussion in 1978 that practice is the only criterion for testing truth can be said to be a great emancipation of the mind. At that time, I had just been admitted to Fudan University, and I can still recall the excitement and shock when discussing this topic.
“Practice is the only criterion for testing truth” turned out to be a contribution from the philosophical edition of Guangming Daily, written by Hu fuming, a philosophy lecturer at Nanjing University. He believes that the “two whatevers” run counter to Marxism. After seeing the sample of the manuscript, Yang Xiguang, editor-in-chief of Guangming Daily, was acutely aware of the significance of this article to the direction of national development. Therefore, he discussed the revision of the article with the author and put forward two requirements: first, to clearly point out that Mao Zedong thought should be fully and accurately understood, and this is also a core of Comrade Xiaoping’s thought of rectifying chaos; second, it is necessary to clearly point out that the “two whatevers” are wrong.
This article was first published in the theoretical Trends, an internal publication of the Central Party School. At that time, someone in the party school said that Guangming Daily did not dare to publish it, so it was necessary to start with “theoretical trends.” Yang Xiguang was very angry and said, “I’ll tell you what, I’m not afraid to note a contribution from Guangming Daily when the theoretical Trends is published.” It should be said that Hu fuming, a theoretical worker, and Yang Xiguang, a leading cadre of the propaganda department, have demonstrated a real spirit of seeking truth from facts and responsibility. I think we also need this spirit very much today.
Later, in the name of a special commentator of this newspaper, this article was published on the front page of Guangming Daily on May 11, 1978. I still have the original copy of this newspaper. Immediately after the article was published, it sparked a nationwide discussion. Deng Xiaoping himself highly affirmed the discussion, and he made some enlightening remarks: “if a party, a country, and a nation proceed from the book, thinking is rigid, and superstition prevails, then it cannot move forward.” its vitality will stop, and the party will perish and the country will perish. ” This discussion has freed our country from the shackles of dogmatism and returned to the ideological line of seeking truth from facts advocated by Chairman Mao for a long time, enabling us to start the great process of reform and opening up on the basis of the achievements made in the previous 30 years.
In 1992, we experienced another great emancipation of the mind. In that year, the world had just experienced the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and the western world cheered. Many people in China doubt how long the China’s red flag can be waved, and are doubtful about reform and opening up, especially the market economy. Deng Xiaoping visited the south in early 1992 and issued a series of statements calling for the adherence to socialism, reform and opening up, and the improvement of the people’s living standards. He made a final judgment on the issue of market economy, which has been debated all the time, saying that “capitalism also has a plan, and socialism also has a market.” The measure of whether China’s development is good or bad is not “fundamentalism”, but whether it is conducive to the development of productive forces, the improvement of people’s lives, and the enhancement of comprehensive national strength. This ideological emancipation has laid the foundation for China to establish a socialist market economic model. Although this model is still in the process of improvement, it has brought about the rapid improvement of the people’s living standards and the all-round rise of the people’s Republic.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, we have further deepened our understanding of the ruling law of the Communist Party of China, the law of socialist construction, and the law of the development of human society. As a result, new and historic changes have taken place in China.
At the beginning of this year, a COVID-19 epidemic struck, allowing different social systems and governance models to compete on the same stage. Under the personal command and leadership of General Secretary Xi, China has won major strategic achievements in epidemic prevention and control with the people’s war, the war of resistance, and the overall war against the epidemic. This war “epidemic” can be said to be a stormy life experience for the vast majority of Chinese people. Our people have become more mature. After seeing the success of China’s anti-epidemic model and the defeat of the western anti-epidemic model, we are all glad to live in China, in a socialist country that embraces the great culture of supremacy of life, and in a super-large-scale modern country that can withstand all-round international comparisons.
The significance of this institutional and cultural prosperity cannot be overestimated. Most of our ordinary people, especially young people, no longer look up to the West, but look down on the West. China’s mobile Internet and social media are at the forefront of the world, which has also contributed to a new emancipation of the mind and a mobile phone to know the world. We ordinary people have gained a broader international vision and great wisdom, and it is very difficult for China’s so-called public intellectual to deceive the majority of people. Through one fresh case after another, people have increased their knowledge, and their understanding of the institutional disadvantages of the West has also been deepened with the development of the epidemic. Is there a better emancipation of the mind than this?
Ten cases to share
First, it is said that Western multi-party competition is more likely to produce leaders who serve the people, but the reality is how to elect such inconsiderate leaders. But their handling of the epidemic shows them to be more like wayward grown-up children or ruthless speculators, following their feelings rather than following science, with little regard for human lives.
Second, it is said that Western democratic systems can be more accountable. So many people have died in the United States. By September 2, the death toll from the epidemic in the United States was 40 times that of China. The population of the United States is less than 1/4 of that of China. China disciplined more than 3000 officials in Hubei Province alone. Half a year later, how can the United States have any accountability system to speak of?
Third, it is said that Western countries pay the most attention to human rights, and the United States will save everyone with the spirit of “saving Private Ryan,” but in fact, they have developed herd immunity and even ignored the lives of the elderly. During the epidemic, how many nursing home staff abandoned the elderly and fled? How many hospitals give up treating the elderly or people with underlying diseases?
Fourth, it is said that the freedom of the press in the West can give people the right to know and make rational choices. But American leaders made a number of contradictory statements, mainstream media and social media are rife with party battles, everything is politicized, and it takes months to debate whether to wear masks or not. Such information confusion has misled the public, how to make people make rational choices?
Fifth, it is said that freedom of speech allows whistlers to sound the alarm in advance. But the situation in the United States is that it is useless for you to have ten whistlers and twenty whistlers. As long as you dare to violate the interest and power of capital, you will be silent if it tells you to be quiet. It won’t matters whether you are a scientist, a doctor, or the captain of an aircraft carrier. Fauci, the chief expert on epidemic prevention and control in the United States, exclaimed that he and his family members were threatened. McCarthyism now seems to be making a comeback in the United States, and scholars are now silent, and taking more objective approach on China has become a taboo.
Sixth, it is said that the marketization of health care can enable the market to play a role and automatically achieve a balance between supply and demand. The United States is the most fully market-oriented Western country, the result is that tens of millions of people do not have health insurance, tens of millions of people do not have adequate health insurance, do not see a doctor for mild illness, and may go bankrupt if they see a doctor seriously. How can such a backward health care system deal with the great crisis of the COVID-19 epidemic?
Seventh, it is said that European and American citizens are of high quality and have a high degree of self-discipline. But unexpectedly, this time, Chinese people have seen the power of anti-intelligence in Western society, from setting fire to 5G base stations to drinking disinfectant to prevent epidemic. So many so-called civil society organizations are busy not fighting the epidemic, but taking to the streets to boycott the anti-epidemic measures.
Eighth, it is said that the Federal Reserve follows the principles of economics and strictly controls the money supply, but the United States has no bottom line in printing money and desperately releases water in order to save the stock market, the rich and the economy.
Ninth, it is said that the United States is a market economy country, and by adjusting through the invisible hand of the market, it can avoid power rent-seeking; it is said that the United States is still a country under the rule of law, and private property is sacred and inviolable. Even in a small shack, “the wind can enter the rain, but the king cannot enter.” But the president of the United States is forcing a Chinese company to sell away the TikTok app, or it will be forcibly shut down. In addition, he openly asked for a commission, “because we made it possible,” he said.
Tenth, it is said that the United States respects personal privacy, but border personnel in the United States can inspect and detain anyone’s mobile phones, computers, and other electronic communication devices without applying for a search warrant beforehand, and even disclose the so-called address and identity information of the so-called sanctioned persons.
In short, what the United States has done over the years is outrageous, cold, ignorant and has no moral bottom line. In the face of China’s victory in the fight against the epidemic and China’s peaceful rise, the Trump administration was out of order, quickly turning America’s claims of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, fair competition and Internet freedom into a joke.
At the same time, China’s so-called public intellectuals have also become a joke. Many of their “gems” in the process of fighting the epidemic are still fresh in everyone’s memory:
there is democracy, freedom and human rights in the United States, and no one will cover up the epidemic
the epidemic will be eliminated in its infancy as the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States is extremely efficient.
The medical level is particularly advanced and more than 70,000 nurses volunteered to go to New York
the magic medicine of Remdesivir in the United States is the hope of mankind. The ability and production capacity to mobilize and produce can eliminate the virus
the United States has 35 medical ships. Overnight 180 field hospitals will be all over the United States.
However, the epidemic has proved that these are only “the emperor’s new clothes” made up by China’s public intellectuals.
Not long ago, the United States flagrantly closed the Chinese Consulate General in Houston. China announced countermeasures within 48 hours, closing the US Consulate General in Chengdu, and our people applauded. Foreign media have noticed that China’s online celebrity city of Chengdu is permeated with a festive atmosphere. Netizens are also “mentally inspired”. Some people suggest changing this place to Trump Hot Pot Restaurant; some suggest renaming this street to “No Consulate” Street, which means “no”no”, homophonic “beauty” of “America”; some people suggest that suona blow up; some people even set off firecrackers, although it is a violation, but it is indeed a bit festive atmosphere. Everyone praised CCTV for using 5G live broadcast of the US consulate to close, which is called “treating him in his own way” and “not going back and forth”. Another netizen wrote, “in 1999, the Chinese protested in front of the US embassy and consulate with tears. In 2020, the Chinese signed in in front of the US embassy and consulate with a smile. We are witnessing history and we are witnessing great changes in the times.”
The vast majority of Chinese are calm about the escalation of the diplomatic conflict between China and the United States, because the American myth is over and the American magic is gone. Unlike some of our elites who are worried about Sino-US relations, our people’s minds have been liberated, and the influence of China’s “public knowledge”, which worships beauty, fears beauty, and fears beauty, is rapidly declining. Our people are firm, confident, optimistic, not afraid of nor worship the US. They overwhelmingly support the decision of the government. We have a clearer view of the strengths and weaknesses of the United States, and its weaknesses are more apparent than its strengths. We despise it strategically, but we still attach importance to it tactically.
You may recall that in 2011, former US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman put forward the idea of bringing down China. He said at the time: “We should unite our allies and supporters in China, who are young people known as the ‘Internet Generation’.” China has 500 million Internet users and 80 million bloggers who will bring about changes, and similar changes will bring down China. At the same time, we will have the opportunity to rise and regain the power of our economic production. ” It can be seen that the US authorities are indeed pinning their hopes of subverting China on our Internet generation, with the intention of sweeping away the wealth accumulated by the Chinese people.
But today, it seems that they are going to be completely disappointed. The young people of China’s Internet generation, that is, our post-90s, post-1995 and post-00s groups, should be the most confident generation in China’s modern history, and they are the ones who really look down on the West.
From this point of view, the ideological emancipation in getting rid of the western-dominated liberal dogma and superstition will be of far-reaching significance. Because it mainly comes from the people, from the people and from the Internet revolution, from the great war “epidemic” that each of us personally participates in, from the omni-directional international comparison without dead corners, and from China’s confident education and practice of “up-and-down interaction” over the years.
This kind of experience is not only a powerful experience, but also a great practice. I think this ideological emancipation is an unparalleled psychological victory for most Chinese people.What it will bring is the ideological “de-Americanization” of the Chinese people, and it will certainly contribute to the our progress and development as we become richer and stronger. That’s all I want to talk to you about today.
The new cold war? (This is China series, Episode 74)
张维为《这就是中国》第74期：中美新冷战？
On September 20th 2020, in the 74th episode of Dragon TV’s “This Is China”, Professor Zhang Weiwei, Dean of China Research Institute of Fudan University, and Professor Yongpeng Fan, Vice Dean of China Research Institute of Fudan University, analyzed the US extreme right advocating the new Cold War.
Zhang Weiwei:
I remember that we made a special program “China winning the heart ” here. Through the international comparison of this war epidemic, the Chinese people greatly enhanced their self-confidence and enhanced the socialist system’s “winning the heart” over the capitalist system. If we are “heart-winning” in China, then the United States is now “heart-breaking”. The collapse of the American war against the epidemic, the outbreak of ethnic conflicts and the severe economic recession have caused a kind of anxiety. The far-right forces in the United States have been blowing a new cold war recently. I think such anxiety manifestation, which is very similar to going to the clinic when being overwhelmed by the rapid rise of China. However, they must have prescribed the wrong prescription and will surely end in failure.
American anxiety is reflected in a series of recent somewhat irrational speeches by American politicians. Since June, senior Trump administration officials such as national security adviser Robert O ‘Brien, FBI Director Christopher Babers and Secretary of State Pompeo, have delivered anti-China and anti-communist speeches one after another. On June 24th, O ‘Brien said in his speech: One of the fundamental mistakes that the United States misjudged China is that it failed to pay attention to the ideology of the Communist Party of China, ignoring that the Communist Party of China has always been a Marxist and Leninist in nature.
Frankly speaking, senior officials at this level in the United States only recently learned that the Communist Party of China is a Marxist-Leninist party, which is really ironic. It seems that this lawyer-born official is a bit ignorant. Of course, he should not only understand that the Communist Party of China is a Marxist-Leninist political party, but also understand that the Communist Party of China is a political party that has sinicized Marxism, which is the essence of China’s successful experience.
On July 7th, Christopher Babers said that China’s goal is to replace the United States as the world hegemon, and no country has ever posed such a wide and comprehensive threat to American innovation, economic security and democratic thought. He even said: every 10 hours, the FBI will start investigating a case related to China’s infiltration that threatens the national security of the United States.
On July 23rd, Secretary of State Pompeo made an anti-China and anti-communist speech at Nixon Library. He believes that the US policy of engagement with China since President Nixon has been aimed at changing China, but as a result, China has not been changed, but China began to infiltrate the United States on a large scale. This can also be understood as: the attempt of the United States to peacefully change China has failed in his view, so the United States can no longer continue the old mode of blind interaction with China. Then he began to abuse the Chinese Communist Party for interfering in the internal affairs of the United States and attempting to change the United States. The absurdity of logic and the exaggeration of language is just incredible.
Ideological paranoia
These ideological paranoia in the United States are very similar to McCarthyists in the 1950s, but the United States will eventually pay a heavy price for this new McCarthyist movement. As we all know, McCarthyism in the 1950s not only caused thousands of American citizens to be persecuted, but also plunged the United States into an extremist way of thinking, which led to the stupid Vietnam War.
What is surprising this time is that a group of western mainstream scholars who often criticize Trump also began to clamor for the “new cold war”, which is the sorrow of western academic circles. Of course, these scholars have always been quite ideological, but now they are more extreme.
I want to mention two people here. One is Niall Ferguson, a senior researcher at Hoover Institution. In 2007, he put forward a new concept of Sino-US economic symbiotic relationship, called Chimerica, but now he thinks that the New Cold War has begun, and China is a greater challenge to the United States than the Soviet Union. He said that this new cold war with China may be colder and last longer.
The other is Fukuyama, the initiator of the “The end of history”, who recently published a long article in American Interests, entitled “China Challenge: What kind of regime is China?。 Different from his past articles, this article is full of cold war language. He said that the western democratic countries should first realize that China is very similar to the Soviet Union in the mid-20th century. He believes that China is no longer a country similar to the “authoritarian capitalism” regime in East Asia, but a country aiming at establishing a “totalitarian system”. He agrees with President Trump’s sanctions against Huawei. Although it was a rather clumsy attempt, the intention was “basically correct” as any free and democratic country that allows Huawei to build its own information infrastructure must be crazy because it may be controlled by the Chinese government.
Fukuyama accused China of expanding its military power to break through the first island chain, and criticized “the belt and road initiative” as China’s attempt to shift the world economic center from the US-led trans-Pacific system to the China-led Eurasian system. He suggested that western countries should gradually decouple from China economically. This epidemic has shown that western countries have become over-reliant on a manufacturing industry that is hostile to western countries. China’s attempt to control society in an all-round way has transcended China’s national boundaries and is affecting the academic freedom of western countries. He hoped that China would eventually undergo a democratic transformation like the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and abolish the “Four Basic Principles” in the Chinese Constitution.
Obviously, he continued to criticize Trump severely for the poor performance in his opinion. Of course, I think Fukuyama will continue to be disappointed, because the end of the final conclusion of history is an irresistible historical tide.
At the same time, many experts and scholars in the United States believe that it is unwise to use the new cold war to deal with China. For example, Richard Haas, chairman of the American Foreign Relations Committee, recently published a document in the Washington Post, criticizing Pompeo’s speech strongly. He believed that Pompeo knew nothing about China, Nixon and American foreign policy. He said that the problem is not only that the country’s chief diplomat has no diplomatic skills, but even worse, he has distorted history, and at the same time, he has no ability to propose a practical road for future Sino-US relations.
According to Pompeo, Nixon’s interaction with China is to change China. Haas wrote: In fact, the policy formulated by Nixon and Kissinger aims to use China to balance the Soviet Union and influence China’s foreign policy, not its internal nature. In response to Pompeo’s portrayal of China as militarily aggressive, he said, “It is true that China has shown its muscles in the South China Sea, but Pompeo did not mention the fact in his speech that China has not waged any war since its counterattack against Vietnam in 1979.”. Haas believes that Pompeo is trying to put the United States on a doomed road. “We have no ability to decide China’s future, let alone change it.”
On July 29th, Dan Coates, former US National Intelligence Director, also wrote in the Washington Post that “there is no Cold War between China and the United States, and even if there is, we will not win”. He bluntly said that if the United States now uses the same method as the Soviet Union to deal with China, it has been very difficult to work, let alone succeed. He put forward his own set of so-called methods to contain China, which should be “ganged up” internationally and fight against China together with American allies.
In fact, Coates’ view is also the view of many senior Democrats, who also want to contain China, but think that they should not offend their allies at the same time as Trump, but unite their allies, especially those in Europe. No matter whether it is the New Cold War or attempt to contain China, it is an unjust cause that have few supports.
With the rise of China, the world pattern has changed. Let’s take Europe as an example. Europe publicly criticized the United States for engaging in the Cold War. On June 12th, the German newspaper published an article entitled “Break with China? Our real dependence on China is so great, how can we do this? “. The article quoted the president of the Federation of German Industries as saying, “China may be a competitor and an institutional rival, but it is always an important partner for Europe and Germany. It is unthinkable to be forced to completely decouple from China. This will definitely bring huge losses to the national economy. “
Borrell, a senior diplomat of the European Union, also wrote that “the world order led by the United States has ended and the Asian century has arrived ahead of schedule. Europe is facing increasing pressure to choose between China and the United States. The EU should avoid falling into Trump’s New cold war.
From the perspective of the Chinese people, no matter how much energy the people who advocate this New Cold War in the United States have, no matter who comes to power after the US election, it is doomed to fail.
There are three main reasons why it is doomed to fail
The first is to “move against the historical trend”. An important experience of China’s successful development is that it must accurately grasp the tide of the times and take advantage of the trend. When doing things, Chinese people pay attention to the relationship between “Dao” (the way) and “Shu” (method, skill), and pay attention to “it is not enough to seek a domain without seeking the overall situation”. We always make clear the tide of the times first, and promote “Shu” on the basis of grasping this “Dao”.
Today’s tide of the times is that the people want peace, development, unity and anti-epidemic measures, leading to the community of shared human destiny, but the United States believes in Cold War, being conceited, and adopting win-lose mentality. Taking the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 as an example, it is actually a common disaster faced by humankind, which require the international community to unite. The United States refused international cooperation, and as a result turned itself into the epicenter of the world epidemic. Many Americans lamented that the United States had become an outcast of the international community in the fight against the epidemic.
Looking back, even if the United States can partially accept the concept of “community of shared human destiny”, its epidemic prevention and control situation should be much better than it is now. If it chooses not to blame China, but to seek China’s help, not to quit the World Health Organization (WHO), but to follow the WHO’s prevention and control recommendations, then the epidemic prevention and control in the United States will be much better.
Pompeo himself admitted that the United States faced many difficulties against China’s “new cold war”. He called for a “democratic alliance” with “like-minded” countries in the United States against China. But not long ago, when attending the hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate, he was asked: The United States has joined forces with more than 20 western countries to raise the issue of Hong Kong’s national security legislation at the UN Human Rights Council, but 53 countries have also made joint speeches at the Human Rights Council, welcoming China’s adoption of Hong Kong’s national security law, and they reiterated that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of China. What do you think of 53 countries supporting Hong Kong’s national security law? Pompeo admitted that he was “surprised and disappointed”. Undoubtedly, this kind of surprise and disappointment reflects the above-mentioned “unjust and helpless”, and this situation will only increase with the foolishness and hegemony of American right-wing forces.
The second reason is that they mistakenly regarded China as another Soviet Union. The Soviet Union exported ideology and Soviet model to the outside world, and China advocated a community of shared human destiny, neither importing foreign models nor exporting Chinese models; The Soviet Union engaged in military alliance system and expansionism, while China advocated non-alignment, built equal and mutually beneficial partnerships and opposed expansionism. The Soviet Union established its own economic mutual aid system and did not participate in economic globalization. China was integrated into the world economic system, and implemented the “embedded cooperation and win-win” model, which formed a big pattern of mutual benefit integration with major economies in the world, which made it difficult for the “new cold war” to succeed in the economic field. The speed of foreign investors entering China is still accelerating, and the New Cold War policy of the United States, which is disordered in time and space, is bound to pay an increasingly heavy price.
On July 31st, when the BBC interviewed me, and was asked what I thought of Secretary of State Pompeo’s speech on China. I said that Pompeo’s is very ideological and he is a cold war warrior. His concept is outdated, arrogant and ignorant, and we don’t care much about this person. China is not the Soviet Union as China is the world’s largest trading country and the largest trading partner of 130 countries. In terms of purchasing power parity, China is the largest economy in the world with the largest population of middle class in the world. How can you contain such a country? If the United States wants to do this, you will find that China is not isolated, but the United States itself becomes isolated instead.
The third reason is that today it is just not strong enough. At the time, George Kennan, the Cold War designer desired to contain the Soviet Union, and repeatedly stressed that whether the long-term competition between the United States and the Soviet Union could be won depended on “whether the United States can give the people of the world such an impression”, where the United States “has the ability to handle its own internal problems” and “has great spiritual power”.
Today, the COVID-19 epidemic brought the United States back to its original form. China now has the most developed information means in the world, where with a mobile phone in hand, one can get all kinds of information at any time. Ordinary people, overseas students, overseas Chinese, and even foreigners all compare the anti-epidemic handling between China and the United States in the form of video and WeChat. People were shocked and this greatly enhances the institutional confidence of Chinese people. It can be said that in the hearts of most Chinese people, especially the vast majority of Chinese young people, the illusion of the United States has ended, and the internal governance and institutional arrangements in the United States are more the subjects for analyses rather than model to learn from. Frankly speaking, this is China “winning the heart” where an advanced political system wins over a backward political system.
Kishore Mahbubani, a senior Singaporean scholar and my good friend, also said that in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic crisis and the tragic deaths, the poor performance of the Trump administration shows that China has become the most capable country in the world today.
On August 20th, Trump’s rival Biden gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention, saying that the United States is facing “four historic crises”: virus crisis, economic crisis, ethnic conflict crisis and climate change crisis. By far, the United States is the country with the worst anti-epidemic performance in the world, with the highest number of infections and deaths in the world. This year, more than 50 million people applied for unemployment, and nearly one sixth of small businesses closed down. Biden said that the United States under Trump was shrouded in darkness for too long, and Trump failed to protect the United States, which is unforgivable.
But Trump is not idle either. He said at the campaign rally on August 18 that if the sleepy Biden was elected, “China will own everyone here, will own this building, and will own the United States.” He also said that Biden would give everything to China. For Chinese people, Trump’s remarks are simply outrageous. China doesn’t want to own any country, but the United States wants to own China, but it just can’t do it.
However, the four crises Biden saw, namely, virus crisis, economic crisis, ethnic conflict crisis and climate change crisis, should be true, but he could not come up with any solutions, but only called for “American unity”. To deal with these crises, it is not enough to rely solely on “American unity”, but also needs “international unity”, especially China’s help. I think this is where China’s confidence and determination in handling Sino-US relations arise today. However, for various reasons, the United States may not realize this for a while, but as it keeps hitting the wall, I think the United States will realize this eventually, and then the opportunity to substantially improve Sino-US relations will really come, so we can continue to maintain strategic patience and strategic determination. In a word, a “heart-winning” China can calmly deal with a “heart-breaking” America. Let’s talk about this today, thank you!
Fan Yongpeng:
After World War II, in 1946, the United States and its leading NATO group fought with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact for half a century in military, economic and cultural struggle. But because there is no direct war between the two nuclear powers, it is called the Cold War. The concept of the Cold War has been unfamiliar to Chinese people for a long time. In fact, this half-century competition is, to a great extent, a struggle between two systems, two ideologies and two development paths.
Moderator: The keywords you just mentioned can make everyone quickly grasp the Cold War. Back to today’s “new cold war” topic, the United States wants to launch a “new cold war”, but China has made it clear that it will not accept the move, so I would also like to listen to the analysis of the two people. What is the thinking logic behind this insistence of the United States? Will launching the “New Cold War” definitely benefit it?
Zhang Weiwei: The United States is “confused” and seems disorganized. If you really want to fight the “New Cold War”, how do you play it? Moreover, the Cold War has several conditions, one is a strong alliance system, the other is a high degree of ideological confrontation, and every aspect must contain each other. The United States itself does not have the ability to organize alliances now. Ideologically, we don’t export the Chinese model and we advocate a community of shared human destiny. China doesn’t want to engage in ideological confrontation. In the past, in the Soviet Union, you fought the Cold War and I fought with you, but in China, we don’t. We continue to follow our own path, while you pursue close-door policy, and we continued to open up. Therefore, this style of play has never been seen by the United States.
Fan Yongpeng: Speaking of thinking logic, I have a perspective, that is, why the United States has such a “new cold war” thinking, which has a very deep historical root from the perspective of civilization evolution. To put it simply, such a way of thinking will come into being only when the national construction or national construction of the United States has not been completed. Any civilization needs a shell, people have skin, and the earth has an atmosphere. Why? Only when we can control the exchange of material, energy and energy can we produce life.
Then the United States is too special. First, it occupies huge land and resources, so he has no competition for such resources; Second, the unique security environment of the United States is also very rare in human history, which leads to the fact that the United States does not have a particularly strong impulse or need to build such a shell. Therefore, when the United States was on the rise, we saw that this open-minded attitude of Americans was determined by his various conditions.
Today, we talk about the great influence of the Cold War on American nation-building, but it has a negative impact. Why? China has a long history and is a natural fusion of national cultures. The formation of national culture in European history depends on two points: first, forced assimilation and violence, and second, expulsion, which excludes various heterogeneous factors such as Jews and Gypsies.
The United States is an immigrant society, so it will not reject it. The United States adopts naturalization and forced assimilation. For example, forced language assimilation, until the 1970s, the United States still adopted forced sterilization for some ethnic minorities and forced assimilation education for children, which was a means for the United States to build a nation. The Cold War led to the transformation of the United States in the direction of “progress”. Before the national construction was completed, it suddenly turned into a period of “progressivism”, which followed the Soviet Union to engage in universal suffrage, ethnic equality and gender equality, resulting in cultural pluralism. This cultural pluralism has formed a vicious circle with the electoral system and representative system that I just mentioned. As a result, the United States has a mentality of taking differences as beauty and taking pride in a few.
The rise of the United States as a world power also blocked the process of national construction. For example, just like a country boy, when he reigns over the world overnight, he will encounter a problem. Your personal basic personality has not yet been formed, and you will have to build an imperial personality. Once the throne is crumbling, your mentality will collapse to the unfinished basic personality, which is the giant baby mentality we are talking about today.
Today’s America is a typical state of empire when the national construction is not completed, and then once the empire is crumbling, the United States feels cold without skin, so it is especially necessary to control the exchange of energy, material and resources inside and outside the body, and it wants to find enemies. The so-called “new cold war” it engages in is the response of this mentality.
Zhang Weiwei: I quite agree with Teacher Fan. Generally speaking, when you deal with the United States, you will feel that this country is immature. The United States needs China’s help most now, and its infrastructure construction is too backward. Our sanctioned enterprises are all first-class infrastructure enterprises, and so is Huawei. From the Chinese perspective, you have made a mistake of time and space disorder, so you must keep in touch with the most advanced productive forces and learn to master the most advanced productive forces. Therefore, I often say that the United States has no strategic mind in doing so.
Fan Yongpeng: Indeed, the first problem facing the United States to launch the “New Cold War” is that it is not monolithic internally.
We should make a distinction from two angles. First, we should distinguish the capitalist ruling group in the United States as a whole, and at the same time, we should distinguish this relationship between it and specific industries and enterprises. Today’s civil strife, political conflicts and polarization of political parties in the United States are behind many differences among different capital groups. Second, we have to distinguish between a country, a civilization and its specific groups and specific people’s interests.
During the Anglo-American War in 1812, on the one hand, the United States fought against Britain, on the other hand, local businessmen in New York and Massachusetts also cooperated with Britain, and finally in order to do business, they even declared independent. For capitalists, their mouths are full of doctrine, their stomachs are full of business, as their businesses are the most important things. Therefore, if you look at the latest data, under the current New Cold War atmosphere, US trade and investment in China are still growing.
Moderator: We have noticed that in recent years, the United States has been withdrawing from WHO in various international organizations. At the height of the COVID-19 epidemic, it has recently withdrawn from WADA, the World Anti-Doping Organization. WADA’s response this time is that it is ok to quit, but next time I ask to come in, I disagree. This is also a very interesting reaction.
Zhang Weiwei: Now it seems that people’s IQ and knowledge are better than those of American leaders, whether it is a developing country in the third world or other western countries. It seems that no adult is making political decisions there, which is an important stage in the decline of American soft power.
Fan Yongpeng: Today, the United States began to retreat from the group and began to decouple, which shows that his self-confidence is gone. Thinking that freedom is a threat, it wanted to give up freedom. Therefore, it is actually a cycle from earlier closing, then opening, and then closing today. From this point of view, it is not surprising that there are all kinds of chaos in the United States, including the future development prospects. We often talk about the post-World War II international order. This international order may really be short-lived, because its builder, the United States, no longer wants it.
Moderator: Chinese people have always said that they should learn from history, and they also want to hear what we can learn from the history of the Cold War when we discuss the concept that the United States insists on launching the “new cold war”.
Zhang Weiwei: It’s an interesting phenomenon. When I met Russians in the Cold War, I always asked, Why did you fall into an arms race with the United States? The United States said that I could produce atomic bombs that destroyed the world 100 times, while the Soviet Union said that I would also produce atomic bombs that destroyed the world 101 times. Why bother? I think this was a serious mistake of the Soviet Union at that time. After all, China is a great civilization. It has continuity. When its strength is strong, it knows how to exercise restraint when its strength is weak. Therefore, it is more methodical and holistic in dealing with problems.
Fan Yongpeng: Why did the Soviet Union fall into the Cold War? There are many opinions that the Soviet Union lacks security, but it is actually a state of distrust. In addition to the mentality, I think the Soviet Union has many lessons worth summarizing. The first one is the bureaucratization and privilege of the Soviet Union’s political class. In the end, the common people have no sense of identity with you. This is a great lesson.
The second is the abnormal development of technology and industry. The Soviet Union’s high-end science and technology, military science and technology are very powerful, but civilian science and technology are not. To what extent? When the United States imposed an embargo on the Soviet Union in the 1980s, the Soviet Union could not even manufacture its own industrial equipment, and even the oil drilling platform would stop production. One source of great confidence in China today is that our technology and industry have formed the most complete industrial chain, which is a great source of confidence.
Third, after the 1980s, a large number of intellectuals and politicians in the Soviet Union gave up their positions and struggles ideologically, which ended up being fooled and lame. Let the Soviet people accumulate wealth for decades and lose all their power, which is a more vigilant lesson for China.
Fourth, the Soviet Union engaged in world expansion, hegemonism and arms race. However, we must absorb the lessons of the Soviet Union and not dance in the footsteps of the United States. We must make up for our shortcomings and build our own military so that our national defense forces can fight, dare to fight and win.
Zhang Weiwei: In fact, the United States and the Soviet Union fought for hegemony. From the mid-1980s, the Soviet economy had a big problem, which led to more and more troubles. Therefore, our proposition is economic globalization, and we should take part in it. Of course, in opening up, we emphasize choice, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.
The Western development strategy (This is China, Episode 73)
张维为《这就是中国》第73期：西进西进
On September 14th, in the 73rd issue of Dragon TV’s “This is China”, Professor Zhang Weiwei, Dean of the Institute of Chinese Studies at Fudan University, and Yan Yilong, Associate Dean of the Institute of National Conditions of Tsinghua University and Associate Professor of the School of Public Administration of Tsinghua University, interpreted China In the economic sector, we will discuss the new connotations of the western development strategy. The following is the text of the program content.
Zhang Weiwei:
Recently, facing the unfavorable external environment brought by the COVID-19 epidemic, Chinese leaders put forward the idea of “double circulation” of China’s economic development, “a new pattern of double circulation development with domestic circulation as the mainstay and international and domestic mutual promotion”. Among them, I think an important link is the development of the western region. As we all know, the western development was put forward 20 years ago. In May this year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued a new guiding document on the western development, which can be said that the western development ushered in a new accelerated period. I want to talk with you about the implementation of this strategy in the past 20 years, and then talk about the special significance of this new guidance document.
Great achievements have been made in the western development in the past 20 years, and earth-shaking changes have taken place in the western region. People who have been to the central and western regions in these years will feel this way. I remember that a few years ago, Americans were spreading rumors that people in western China were eating grass, which made some people in China very excited. But suddenly, Americans found that the rapid rise of central and western China, coupled with the implementation of the the belt and road initiative, worried that what they called the “land power order” led by China would soon appear in the world, subverting the “sea power order” led by the United States. Frankly speaking, they think too much. I’ll talk about this topic later.
Generally speaking, in the past 20 years, the economic growth rate in the central and western regions has surpassed that in the coastal areas. I always think that to understand China, we should have the concept of plate, and then look at the interaction between plates. The west in the western development refers to the central and western regions of our country, including Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi and other 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, with 71% of the country’s land area, 27% of its population and 20% of its GDP. Due to historical reasons, we all know that there is a big gap in the development degree between the central and western plate and the eastern plate, but the gap is also an opportunity. The highly benign interaction between the eastern and central and western plates is one of the main reasons for the rapid rise of the central and western regions. For example, the central and western regions have undertaken a large number of industrial transfers from the east.
In the 1980s, when we talked about the East Asian model, we often mentioned a concept called “geese flying model”, that is, the appearance of geese flying in the sky, with head geese, middle geese and tail geese forming a flight matrix. At that time, this model specifically refers to the gradient transfer of manufacturing industry in East Asia. The first geese were Japan, and the Japanese manufacturing industry was transferred to the “Asian Four Little Dragons”, which was called Zhongyan, and then transferred from the “Asian Four Little Dragons” to China’s coastal areas, so China was called Tail Goose at that time. In the past 20 years, China has actually experienced industrial gradient transfer similar to the geese model. It can be said that the east is the head geese of China’s economy, which has changed to capital-intensive, while the central and western regions are the middle geese and tail geese that undertake the transfer of labor-intensive industries in the east, but this is only part of it. Now the growth driven by internal factors in the central and western regions is constantly increasing.
The gains brought by the western development strategy to the local people are concrete and real, and the people have a strong sense of gain. Last year, I went to Yinchuan, Ningxia to attend a seminar on “the belt and road initiative” and China-Arab cooperation. Ningxia (Yinchuan) is probably the lowest-key provincial capital in China, but the city is clean, beautiful and modern. At that time, there were many Arab guests, some of whom from rather rich countries. They couldn’t believe that it was one of the poorest provinces in China’. They felt that Yinchuan, the provincial capital, was very developed. This is a city with a largeaffluent class and people living and working in peace and contentment.
In recent years, Chengdu and Chongqing are both “online celebrity cities” that have been popular all over the country. The closure of the U.S. Consulate-General made Chengdu famous in the world. Sichuan’s GDP exceeds 4 trillion yuan, ranking first among 12 western provinces and cities, and its foreign trade share is one of the top ten provinces in China. Chongqing is known as “a city on four wheels”, with more than ten automobile enterprises and more than 1,000 supporting enterprises. Its automobile output ranks first in China, and one out of every three notebooks (computers) in the world is made in Chongqing. In Guizhou, where there is hardly any flat land, the annual output value of big data industry exceeds 100 billion yuan. In other words, after 20 years of great development, China’s western region or the central and western regions have already taken on a new look.
What are the main contents of the new guidance issued by the central government this time? The requirements are very clear. If I make a long story short, it is to form a new pattern of big protection, big opening and high-quality development, that is, four key words: big protection, big opening, high quality and new pattern.
The first is the great protection, which has many contents, but the core is to strengthen the construction of the “beautiful west” and build a solid barrier to the national ecological security of China. I have always said that China is a civilizational state. The Communist Party of China is not an electoral party in Western electoral politics, but a mission party. It is responsible for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, the continuation of Chinese civilization and the future generations of our nation. Therefore, the whole country has a construction plan for the main functional areas of the country. According to this plan, we must ensure the ecological security of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, protect the ecological resources such as glaciers and wetlands, and promote the ecological protection and construction of the Three Rivers in Qinghai.
The second is opening up. If we look back at the documents of the central government on the development of the western region, you can see that some key words are constantly evolving. At first, they talked about “laying the foundation”, then “developing the western region”, and this time they used “opening up”. This is a leap in strategy and concept. In the “great opening”, the central government requires the western region to move from the “end” to the “front” of national opening. In other words, the so-called “wild goose model” just mentioned is undergoing great changes, but in fact this great change has already started.
With the development of “the belt and road initiative”, we have made great efforts to promote the flow of various factors, and China’s inland has become a frontier from the rear of opening to the outside world. For example, the Eurasian trains have made Xinjiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Xi ‘an, etc. become the frontier of opening up to the outside world. Xi ‘an is building the assembly center of China-Europe trains, forming an important trade and logistics channel and network connecting east and west, north and south, and connecting Europe and Asia. The western region has great potential for opening up to the outside world. For example, the GDP of the whole western region accounts for about 20% of the whole country, but the proportion of foreign trade is less than 7% and the proportion of foreign capital utilization is only 7.6%. In other words, the western region is still a place full of opportunities.
The third key word is high quality, which mainly refers to solving the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development in the western region. The central government has a clear time requirement, that is, in 2020, the western region should work with the whole country to build a well-off society in an all-round way; By 2035, basic public services, access to infrastructure and people’s living standards in the western region will be roughly equal to those in the eastern region. In the past, the advantages of the west were generally land, raw materials, resources and labor, but now there are new advantages such as “the belt and road initiative” construction, free trade zone, big data, cloud computing and high-speed rail.
Finally, there is a new pattern. To put it bluntly, if all the above three tasks can be done well, then a new pattern of western development will be formed.
But we also need to understand the main starting point for realizing the new pattern. I think this is also the characteristic of the Chinese model, which not only has goals, but also has the main means or grasp to achieve them. Here, I will talk to you from two angles:
One is that from the internal point of view of the western region, the promotion of urban agglomerations is a major starting point. In the Central Guiding Opinions, it is proposed that Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration with Chengdu and Chongqing as the core includes 15 cities with a population of 95 million; There are more than a dozen cities with Xi ‘an as the center and the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration with a population of nearly 40 million, which leads the development of the western region and becomes the core engine. And in Nanning, the Beibu Gulf urban agglomeration formed by 12 cities including Nanning. Urban agglomeration is a new growth pole, and the central government requires that there should be positive dislocation of characteristic functional areas in urban agglomeration, so as to realize the characteristic development with division and combination. Therefore, the spatial layout of China’s development is a wonderful part of the Chinese model.
China has now entered the era of high-speed rail and 5G, which is an important driving force for the development of urban agglomerations. By 2025, the total railway mileage in the whole western region will reach 15,000 kilometers, including 5,700 kilometers of high-speed rail. What is the biggest change brought about by this layer of infrastructure? That is, the development of the city in a group, and the large-scale interaction between urban and rural areas.
If the high-speed rail links the vast western cities and the eastern and western regions, then 5G allows people to jump out of the physical urban agglomeration and understand the development significance of the central and western urban agglomeration from the aspects of virtual economy, innovative economy and urban-rural interaction. In the era of high-speed rail and 5G, the development of urban agglomerations in western China means vast space and opportunities. A few days ago, the BBC interviewed me and asked me what I thought of Britain’s rejection of Huawei’s participation in the UK’s information infrastructure construction. I said that Britain’s rejection of Huawei would delay the landing of 5G in the UK for 2-3 years. What era is this? You have succumbed to the pressure of the United States and are so insensitive to scientific and technological progress. I think Britain will pay a heavy price for this, and we will not wait for you.
Second, from the national perspective, another major focus is the significant strategic coordination between regions, which is the plate interaction I talked about. The central government has explicitly requested to expand inter-regional cooperation. It is required that the development of the central and western regions meet major strategies such as coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, including mutually beneficial cooperation with Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and other eastern and central provinces. The western development originally involves the ecological protection of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River Basin, which coincides with these plans, so it is necessary to further strengthen regional coordination. On the whole, the prospect of mutually beneficial cooperation between regions is very good, because it has already had the foundation of the first 20 years. In addition, it is specifically mentioned that Guangxi should be encouraged to actively participate in the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hainan should comprehensively deepen reform and opening up.
Finally, I also want to talk about a problem, the relationship between the western development and “the belt and road initiative” and geographical civilization. Everyone who studies international politics knows that at the beginning of last century, British geopolitical scholar Mackinder put forward the concept of “world island”. He said that the whole earth consists of two parts: Europe, Asia and Africa constitute a “world island”, and the largest, most populous and richest land combination in the world. At their edge, there are a series of relatively isolated continents, America, Australia, Japan, British Isles and so on. The center of the world island is from the Volga River to the heart of the Yangtze River. He believes that “whoever controls Eastern Europe controls the heart zone; Whoever controls the heart zone controls the whole world island; Whoever controls the world island controls the world. ” Mackinder believes that the emergence of railways makes it easier for a powerful country to dominate the central area. In the past hundred years, the western powers fought for hegemony, from Central Asia to the European battlefield in World War II, to the hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. There was a geopolitical shadow or consideration of “world island” behind it.
In a larger historical perspective, western mainstream narratives have always believed that Columbus’s so-called “great geographical discovery” 500 years ago opened the western-led maritime civilization or sea power order and brought about the rise of the western world. We know that this is a bloody and tearful history full of looting and killing, but it has finally formed what some scholars call the “sea power order” to dominate the “land power order”. Specifically, all the developed plates in each country are almost in each country’s own coastal areas.
It is this narrative of western geopolitics that has existed for a long time. When China put forward the “the belt and road initiative” initiative, many people in the west instinctively thought that China wants to control the “world island” from Europe to Asia, and that China would change the dominance of the western “sea power order” over the “land power order”. In the past few years, I have participated in many “the belt and road initiative” international dialogues, which are unavoidable topics. In fact, the Chinese people’s vision is not like this. The core concept of China’s “the belt and road initiative” is to discuss, build and share. In essence, it is necessary to change the geographical competition used by the West into geographical cooperation and strive to build a new concept of geographical civilization with win-win cooperation. Therefore, the “the belt and road initiative” is an open initiative. We welcome more countries to join. There are already many cooperative projects that are jointly promoted by various countries. We believe that peaceful development and win-win cooperation are the right way for the world.
Today, Eurasia has 75% of the world’s population, 60% of the world’s GDP and 75% of the known energy. For China, the “two cycles” that we put forward today naturally include the outward radiation of the “inner cycle”, which radiates to the whole Eurasia, including the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the New Eurasian Continental Bridge, etc., so the regional advantages of the central and western regions of China begin to appear. In this sense, under the guidance of the new geo-civilization concept of cooperation and win-win, our western development and the “the belt and road initiative” measures will vigorously promote the rebalancing of land and sea civilizations, which will create a lot of new growth opportunities for China itself and the whole world.
China has a coastline of 18,000 kilometers and a long border and continental passage connecting the whole Eurasia. This special geographical location determines that we can achieve “land and sea aid”. In 2019, 51.9% of China’s GDP came from the eastern region. Now, with the implementation of the western development strategy, the central and western regions are rapidly rising. In this sense, we are achieving a new balance of “land and sea aid” from east to west, from coastal to inland. This process is not only a new growth point for the development of China and the whole Asia-Europe region, but also contributes to promoting a new geographical civilization of win-win cooperation.
For example, since the Sino-US trade war, the trade volume between China and the United States began to decline from 3.95 trillion in 2017 to 3.73 trillion by the end of last year, but the total trade volume between China and the two ends of Eurasia, namely the European Union and ASEAN, has been growing, from 7.66 trillion in 2017 to 9.29 trillion in 2019. Specifically, on the one hand, our trade with the United States has decreased by 200 billion yuan, on the other hand, our trade with the European Union and ASEAN has increased by 1.6 trillion yuan. In 2019, the EU is still China’s largest trading partner, and by the first half of 2020, ASEAN will surpass the EU and become our largest trading partner. Therefore, the new development pattern of “mutual aid between land and sea” across Eurasia has shown great energy, which will play a positive role in the “double circulation” of China’s economy after the epidemic and in stimulating the economic development of the whole world.
In a word, I am optimistic about the development of the western region and the vast space for the development of land and sea. Let’s talk about this today. Thank you all!
Yan Yilong:
Just now, Professor Zhang mentioned western geopolitical thinking, and I would like to share with him a geopolitical development thinking, which is different from western geopolitical thinking, or geopolitical economic thinking of geopolitical development, which is reflected in the western development.
We are not following the thinking of neo-liberal economics, but the market government forms a joint force to narrow the development gap between the east and the west. For example, if developed areas and underdeveloped areas are compared to two pools, the former has a high water level and the latter has a low water level. How to reduce the water level difference between them? According to the idea of “trickle-down economics” of neoliberalism, the water flow in developed areas will automatically seep down, and the development will slowly “drip” into underdeveloped areas like water flow.
The thinking of China’s geo-development political economy is that, on the one hand, we should unblock the passage between the two pools and make full use of the market mechanism to promote the free flow of labor, capital, technology and other factors; on the other hand, we should transfer part of the pool water in developed areas to underdeveloped areas, and promote the construction of the western region through large-scale financial transfer payments to improve the basic public service level in the western region. For example, in 2018, the general public budget expenditure in Tibet was 8.6 times of income, while that in Xinjiang was 3.3 times. The excess of these expenditures over income was mainly compensated by the central financial transfer payment.
The western development is just like the next big chess game. It is not everywhere in Puckilo, but in key areas and key areas, mainly focusing on key cities, urban agglomerations and traffic arteries. What do you do at the point? The point is to develop agglomeration economy, improve economic density, create new growth poles and promote balanced development of different regions. What do you do on the line or on the axis? To promote the smooth flow, shorten the economic distance and reduce the cost of factor flow, we have carried out large-scale transportation and information infrastructure construction in the west, especially in the high-speed rail era, and the wide popularization of 4G signals has actually greatly promoted regional integration, and also promoted the economic integration between the western region and the whole country.
Guizhou used to be regarded as a remote and backward province, but now it has become the most important data center base in China and a comprehensive experimental area for big data in China. As long as it can be accessed, no matter how far it is, it will become zero distance. What do you think is the highest proportion of mobile payment in China? Is it in Shanghai, or Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangdong? Actually, it’s not. It’s in the west. Tibet ranked first for five consecutive years since 2012, and was overtaken by Guizhou in 2017.
The western development is also the opening of the western region. The western region is at the forefront of China’s land opening, and 13 of the 14 countries bordering China are bordered by the western region. By constructing a strategic corridor connecting inside and outside the “the belt and road initiative” in the western region, it can promote the opening of the Eurasian Continental Bridge and promote the economic cycle between China and the “the belt and road initiative” countries.
Some people in western society are keen to interpret “the belt and road initiative” with geopolitical theory. In fact, this view is to “drive a gentleman’s belly with the heart of a villain”. “the belt and road initiative” is not promoting geopolitical expansion, but building a political and economic platform for geopolitical development for the common development of all countries in the world. By carrying out large-scale infrastructure construction, promoting the interconnection of facilities and shortening the economic distance between different development nodes, some inland and remote countries and regions can better access globalization and gain unprecedented development opportunities.
Of course, when we talk about China’s geo-development thinking, it doesn’t mean that China doesn’t have geopolitical thinking, but China’s geopolitical thinking is different from the aggressive, predatory and aggressive geopolitical thinking of the West. China’s geopolitical thinking is to fight back in self-defense. “Friends come with good wine, while enemies come with shotguns.” In the face of invading enemies, China will firmly defend its sovereignty and development interests. The rise of China is not only a peaceful rise, but also an inclusive one. It also creates great opportunities for common development for the world. However, if some countries must push China into an opponent, China will certainly become a terrible opponent. As Nixon predicted in the past, if the United States does not know how to accept China’s goodwill, the United States will have to face “the most terrible and powerful enemy in world history” one day.
I share here today, thank you.
Discussion session
Moderator: Under the pattern of “double circulation”, the development of the western region provides us with a huge space for deep economic strategy. It can be said that this is an important definition for the development of the western region, but many friends may also be concerned. What is the difference between the heavy policy or different formulation of this round of the development of the western region and our development of the western region for so many years?
Zhang Weiwei: First, we reiterate many successful experiences in the past, and the other is to overcome some shortcomings at present. The most obvious successful experience is the growth rate of the whole western region in recent years. I see that the basic data is that the GDP of the western region was 1.5 trillion yuan in 1999, and nearly 21 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 13.4 times. In politics, it is remarkable to crack down on the “three forces” and maintain stability in Xinjiang, which brings peace to the whole country.
The other is the rise of Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi ‘an, which means that the western urban agglomeration, but it does have shortcomings, especially the Sanjiangyuan in Qinghai, which is our important ecological barrier. Now President Xi is talking about new development concepts: innovation, coordination, green openness and sharing. For example, how to make green better, grassland degradation has not been solved, and urban groundwater level has dropped, all of which are new challenges. This document puts forward some ideas on how to solve these problems.
Yan Yilong: In fact, it is very similar to the process of software development, which is to try and make mistakes in practice, patch and upgrade. From this point of view, it is version 2.0 of the western development. Great changes have taken place in its basic focus. For example, in version 1.0, the main focus is to implement the idea of two overall situations and narrow the development gap between the east and the west. Up to now, in version 2.0, the important focus is to regard the west as an important starting point for realizing the goal of socialist modernization and strengthening the country. In addition, great changes have taken place in the international environment. In the past, we were mainly able to integrate into globalization, but now the international environment is highly uncertain, so this is why we should implement the system with internal circulation as the main body.
Furthermore, our regional strategy has also undergone great changes, which is actually a process of upgrading. After the western development was put forward, several strategies, such as the revitalization of Northeast China and the rise of Central China, combined into a regional coordinated strategy. The current regional strategy is very three-dimensional. Besides the overall regional coordination strategy, there are also regional connectivity strategies, such as the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yellow River Ecological Economic Belt, including the high-speed rail, which are actually a connectivity strategy. In addition, the domestic background may have been an opportunity to accelerate urbanization and industrialization, but now it is a new idea put forward under the background of the fourth industrial revolution, so I define it as version 2.0, because it has indeed entered a new era.
Moderator: We just looked at the western development from the macro level, but at the micro level, if it is specific to individuals, everyone said before that employment opportunities and so on are all in the southeast coastal areas, which may give birth to more opportunities in the western development in the future, and if we start to the west now, we are pioneers, so young people should seize the opportunities.
Zhang Weiwei: The west now is completely different from the west in our mind. First of all, I have been to Chengdu-Chongqing and Guanzhong urban agglomerations, and the development level is really quite high. About four or five years ago, I went to Honghe Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, where there were several poverty-stricken counties. The state capital I went to was called Mengzi, with beautiful scenery, cheap housing and simple folk customs. I gave a lecture there, saying that China is such a good place, what are those people doing in Canada and how nice it is to immigrate here?
Moderator: When talking about the development of the western region, both of them have reached a higher dimension and redefined our geopolitics. If the development of the western region is linked with the “the belt and road initiative”, we will still see some obstructionist forces. Many voices may have opinions about our going west.
Yan Yilong: Yes, I think there are about three situations in which “the belt and road initiative” is questioned overseas. The first one may be a misunderstanding in concept. We must tell the story of China well and tell him earnestly that we are not geopolitical expansion, but the thinking of geopolitical civilization and development. The second is commercial interests, but in fact, as a big country, China has corresponding punishment means. I think the third situation is the most difficult to deal with, that is, the United States uses hegemony to discredit and suppress China in all directions, which will cause us great difficulties in a certain period of time, but in the long run, the containment of China by the United States is doomed to be futile. Because this is not only the competition in specific strategies and skills, but actually the construction of “Tao”. “American priority” is hegemonism. The United States is now “three hegemonism”. Overbearing, hegemonism and hegemonism, the more overbearing it is, the more difficult it is to last. Because the eyes of the people of the world are sharp and helpless, it is said that today’s United States is not a paper tiger, but an autumn tiger, and it is still very difficult. China’s “Tao” is a community of human destiny, which is to serve people with virtue, to create development opportunities for all countries in the world, to get more help from the Tao, and to be an amiable way that can last for a long time as stated in the Book of Changes. As time goes by, its power will become stronger and stronger.
Moderator: Therefore, when talking about the combination of the western development strategy and the “the belt and road initiative”, it may bring a new interpretation to the development of geopolitical civilization. Through our practice, it may still change a lot of cognition. Therefore, I would like to listen to your analysis from this angle. Is it a rebalancing of land and sea civilization? We can make a good practice.
Zhang Weiwei: A basic basis for the rebalancing of land and sea civilization is that the rise of marine civilization in the past 500 years has created huge economic energy, which has driven the development of many countries and the rise of the whole West. Even the rise of China up to now has something to do with marine civilization. What does this mean? If land civilization rises again, it can also bring huge economic increment, which must be the case from the big pattern. In addition, the biggest unfavorable factor to the United States is that China has really risen. You can ask a very simple question. Whether you go to Africa or Southeast Asia, the United States is really against us. If you ask what things and products Americans can provide to these countries, there are not many. China is their biggest trading partner. I can give you anything, so this thinking has a certain strength. Although you can sabotage, through many non-governmental organizations and the media, the real benefits are there, and it can really push forward the momentum of cooperation.
Yan Yilong: This round of China’s rise is actually the collective rise of the whole non-Western world. From a big pattern, it is indeed a great change that has never happened in a hundred years. The Economist published a study, saying that the center of gravity of world economic geography has been in Asia for a long time. After 1600, the world began the history of the so-called great western diversion. When did the center of gravity of economic geography begin to shift to the west? In 1950, the People’s Republic of China was founded shortly. When we enter the 21st century, we will accelerate and continue to change in Asia. Therefore, today’s world history will turn more to land and sea civilization.
Question and answer session
Audience 1: In the wonderful speeches given by the teachers just now and the 36 suggestions and measures issued by the central government, talents and technology are emphasized. Then, how should western provinces and cities keep local talents from losing, and actively attract foreign talents? Thank you.
Moderator: A good question. You are in Nantong, right? We know that Nantong’s economy is also very large, and it is also a hot spot for development. If you choose, will you go to the west?
Audience 1: If it is my personal ideal, I would choose Nantong, but if I want to contribute to my motherland, I feel obliged to go to the west.
Zhang Weiwei: I have traveled a lot in the western provinces in recent years. The major urban agglomerations, the capitals of most provinces and even prefecture-level cities are quite modern, and life is not difficult at all, even very comfortable. This is a huge change. According to the data I have seen, Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi ‘an are attracting a lot of talents. I saw a video of Huawei’s research institute in Xi ‘an, and thousands of people are all Xueba. When they come to a restaurant to eat, they have different gas fields when they watch Xueba eat. Therefore, the western region, especially the high-tech zone urban agglomeration, is already very attractive. Now, if young people start businesses, I think they should really follow their own heart. Don’t be framed by many traditional frameworks. If you can achieve your career, you can go. Now the transportation is very convenient, and now few people work in a company all their lives. You have a great experience in the west, and life often depends on experience and experience to have a wonderful life.
Yan Yilong: Especially under the internal circulation system, the new western development will indeed create a lot of opportunities. The fourth industrial revolution is an era of attention, and there are a lot of opportunities in the western region. Why? Because the west is rich in geographical resources, human resources and outstanding people, it can create numerous scenic spots in online celebrity, industries in online celebrity, formats in online celebrity and products in online celebrity. For example, the most typical example is Li Ziqi in Mianyang, Sichuan, which is popular all over the world by shooting short food videos, and Miss Tumbler in Xi ‘an alone has brought the whole city that never sleeps in Datang, which is a phenomenon in the attention era. I think this is an opportunity for young people. Of course, this is only a small aspect. There is still huge space and great future possibilities.
Audience 2: In this “Guidance Opinion”, some paths about the marketization of desert land are mentioned, and the behavior of encouraging residents to apply for personal use rights is also mentioned. I would like to ask, if the two teachers can have the opportunity to become the owners of desert land, what kind of behavior will they do to this land?
Zhang Weiwei: This one should be younger. Because it involves desert land, it doesn’t make much sense to pack a large piece. You have an idea that I want to be a film and television city. In the past, writer Zhang Xianliang got one. Last time I read a report, in fact, the management of Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia is a large area for enterprises to do desertification control and develop their own industries. There are more than 100 methods of sand fixation and sand industry. I’m afraid this needs a certain scale and technical support, because it involves desert management. Or you always have to have a very good idea, I’m afraid it can’t be done by all individuals, and it’s more appropriate to have considerable funds and enterprises to support and protect it.
Audience 3: I have two questions to ask teachers. First, there are many central cities in the west, which cities will develop rapidly next, and form the western version of “Northern Guangzhou and Shenzhen”. Second, how can western cities develop their strengths and avoid weaknesses and give full play to their own characteristics?
Zhang Weiwei: Now it seems that folks have this saying, and Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi ‘an are generally called “Beishangguang” in the west. Now, in fact, they have formed their own characteristics. For example, Xi ‘an is obviously positioned as a large logistics center in China, including the logistics center of “the belt and road initiative”, importing goods to China, and then distributing them to all parts of the country at Xi ‘an Airport, and there are logistics centers in JD.COM. Chongqing is obviously a big industrial gathering center, and now the prospect of industrial upgrading is also very good. Chengdu is even more distinctive. Generally, leisure is the first thought. In fact, the economy is extremely vigorous, highly developed, and the creative economy is doing well. Therefore, they form their own unique style and are very attractive.
Yan Yilong: Yes, for example, taking the electronic information industry as an example, a model called “two ends are outside” has been formed along the coast, and raw materials and products are outside, so why can Chongqing build an electronic information industry base? It is because it creates a new model called “one inside, one outside”, and the sales market is overseas, but raw materials and parts are included. Then, if it has to go outside, the first problem to be overcome is that shipping is inconvenient, so we must rely more on air transportation. So Professor Zhang talked about the scale of air transportation in Xi ‘an just now, which is related to it. In addition, through the Eurasian Continental Bridge, we should build a “Chongqing-New-Europe” international train intermodal transportation channel, reduce logistics costs, and realize one head out. What’s inside the head? Use local resources to make some industrial chains more complete and large-scale, and at the same time give full play to the advantages of intensive labor resources. For example, many Chongqing people used to work in coastal areas, but now they work locally, which is very convenient. The two-month gap during the Spring Festival can make up for it, which makes the whole industry very competitive. Therefore, we can see that Chongqing today is already the largest notebook computer production base in the world and an important mobile phone manufacturing base in China.
Zhang Weiwei: There is a big data that can reflect the development of the western region. By 2019, taking Shanghai as an example, the number of migrant workers returning home in Spring Festival travel rush is decreasing every year. It is very simple, and other places have developed.
I’d like to talk about two experiences on this new thesis: “the new development pattern with domestic circulation as the main body and international and domestic circulation promoting each other”. The first is why this new thesis should be put forward, and the second is how to implement this new thesis.
As for China’s economic development model, it is customary to make full use of domestic and international markets and resources. Many domestic and international scholars further believe that China’s economic development model is export-oriented; When the trade friction occurred between the United States and China, it was even thought that China’s export-oriented economy led to the expansion of the trade deficit between the United States and China.
If our economic development model, as proposed by the Central Committee for the first time, should take the domestic circulation as the main body, then considering that China is now the largest trading country in the world, the change of China’s development model will not only affect China itself, but also affect the whole world.
My personal opinion is that there are short-term reasons for putting forward this new assertion, that is, the outbreak of pneumonia in COVID-19 has caused a great impact on the global economy. Many scholars believe that this shock is the largest since the Great Depression in 1930s. Under this situation, international trade will shrink. The World Trade Organization predicts that international trade may shrink by 13% to 32% this year.
Because China is a big trading country as well as a big exporting country, China’s products are exported less, of course, more depends on domestic digestion, which is the domestic circulation. In addition, as we all know, because the United States keeps suppressing China’s high-tech industry, such as cutting off supply to Huawei, it will affect the export of related enterprises. If these enterprises want to continue to develop, their products will be digested by the domestic market and circulated in China.
This is the short-term reason why the central government put forward the new judgment of “taking the domestic circulation as the main body”. However, in the view of scholars who study economic development like me, the more important reason why the central government put forward this judgment is that “taking the domestic circulation as the main body” is the reflection of the basic law of economic development.
Although China is said to be an export-oriented economy, the highest proportion of exports in China’s total economic output was in 2006, with a ratio of 35.4%, slightly higher than one third. However, by 2019, the proportion of exports in our total economic output is only 17.4%, which is a decrease of 50%. In 2019, 82.6% of our total economic output has been digested in China and circulated in China, which means that our economy has been dominated by internal circulation.
Why did our exports account for 17.4% of the total economy in 2019, down from 35.4% in 2006? I think this mainly reflects two basic economic laws: First, the greater the country’s economic volume, the higher the proportion of domestic circulation; Second, a large part of the service industry is non-tradable. As the proportion of the service industry in the whole economy increases, the proportion of exports in the total economic output will definitely be lower.
Why is the proportion of exports closely related to the economic volume? Because modern manufacturing industry has a large scale economy, small economies develop modern manufacturing industry, because its domestic market is limited and the domestic digestible proportion is small, so most of the products produced have to be exported. On the contrary, countries with large economies develop modern manufacturing industries, because the domestic market is large and the domestic market can digest more, so the proportion of exports is low.
In this respect, let’s look at Singapore. In 2019, Singapore’s exports accounted for 104.9% of the total economic output. Everyone must be surprised how its exports exceeded the total economic output. Because many parts in export are imported from abroad first, they are calculated again after the finished products are exported. Our exports accounted for the highest proportion of the total economy in 2006, but it was only 35.4%. This is because China is a big economy, and its export accounts for a low proportion of the total economic output. Because Singapore is a small economy, as long as it develops modern manufacturing, its export accounts for a high proportion of the total economic output.
Secondly, the proportion of exports is related to the service industry.
As a big economy, America’s exports accounted for only 7.6% of its total economy in 2019, even less than 10%. What has been the cause? Because American service industry accounts for 80% of its total economy, a large part of which is non-tradable. Therefore, the higher the proportion of a country’s service industry in its total economic output, the lower the proportion of its exports. The development level of service industry is related to a country’s economic development and income level.
Developing according to comparative advantage means that there are many industries where we have no comparative advantage. For China, many natural resources are in short supply. In some capital and technology intensive industries, compared with developed countries, China also does not have a comparative advantage. In addition, with the development of economy and the rise of wages, the comparative advantages of labor-intensive industries, which had great comparative advantages in the past, will disappear. For products of industries without comparative advantages, it is of course necessary to import more products if they can be imported. We should make good use of international resources, including natural resources, technical resources and labor resources. Only a few high-tech products related to national security and economic security, we may be stuck by some countries, only as an exception.
Let’s think about it. Which country wishes strangle us now? Europe? It doesn’t have enthusiasm, and if it has comparative advantages, it will make full use of domestic and international markets. China is the largest single market in the world, and it will be motivated to sell products with comparative advantages to us. It is the United States that wants to strangle us. With our rapid development, our gross products will soon surpass that of the United States, and our influence will surpass that of the United States. In order to suppress the development of our country, it will impose a technical blockade on us. In doing so, the United States will sacrifice the opportunity to use our market to develop the American economy.
In this situation, for those high-tech products that our country has no comparative advantage-we should know that the vast majority of these products are available not only in the United States, but also in Europe and Japan-as Mr. Ren Zhengfei said, as long as they are available and cheaper than their own production, they should be bought. Only those products that are unique to the United States, not available in Europe, not available in Japan, and can’t be bought. For those industries, of course, we should give full play to our national advantages and be self-reliant. But I believe that this proportion will be very low.
Therefore, at present, if the economy is to develop well, it is really necessary to take the domestic big cycle as the main body, but it is still necessary for the domestic and international double cycles to promote each other.
So how can we really cycle? I think, in order to realize the domestic circulation as the main body, the most important thing is to make the economy bigger and bigger, and make the national income level higher and higher. In this case, the proportion of economic volume in the world and the proportion of service industry in the total economic volume will become higher and higher, which will inevitably lead to a decline in the proportion of exports and an increasing proportion of domestic circulation.
How to make the economy bigger and bigger? From the perspective of economic development, it is necessary to continuously implement technological innovation and industrial upgrading. China has two advantages in technological innovation and industrial upgrading.
First of all, in terms of traditional industries, China has the advantage of being a latecomer.
In 2019, our per capita GDP was US$ 10,098, US$ 60,000, Germany $50,000 and Japan $40,000, all higher than us. Their per capita GDP is higher than ours, which means that the average labor production level is higher than ours, the industrial technology is more advanced than ours, and the added value of products is higher than ours.
However, traditional industries are mature industries, which means that most of the technologies in those industries can be owned by buying equipment, and those countries with technology will be willing to sell equipment to China, otherwise the value of those technologies cannot be realized. Therefore, China still has the latecomer advantage of introducing technology to upgrade its technological innovation industry.
How big is the advantage of latecomers and how to measure it? In 2010, China’s per capita GDP was 19.2% of that of the United States in terms of purchasing power parity, which was equivalent to that of Japan in 1953, Singapore in 1970, Taiwan in 1971 and South Korea in 1980. These East Asian economies took advantage of the gap in productivity and industrial technology represented by the income gap with the United States, and took advantage of this latecomer advantage to achieve an annual growth rate of 9.3% in Japan, 8.4% in Singapore, 8.9% in Taiwan and 8.4% in South Korea. These East Asian economies have taken advantage of the latecomers of traditional industries and achieved 8% to 9% growth in the past 20 years, which means that China has taken advantage of the same latecomers and has the potential to achieve an average annual growth of 8% in the past 20 years.
In fact, our average growth rate from 2010 to 2019 is 7.42%, which is very close to my analysis. This means that looking forward to the next decade, we still have 8% growth potential by 2030.
The second advantage, which our country has but the aforementioned East Asian economies did not have in the catch-up stage, is the advantage of changing lanes and overtaking in the new economic revolution.
The new economy has a characteristic, its R&D cycle is particularly short, and its investment is mainly human capital. Some are new economies involving software, such as the Internet and artificial intelligence; Some are new economies involving hardware, such as drones in DJI and mobile phones in Huawei. China is a populous country with many human capitals and complete industries and supply chains, which has advantages in the new economic revolution. According to the global unicorn list released by Hurun Research Institute, there were 494 unicorn enterprises in the world in 2019, including 206 in China and 203 in the United States. In 2020, as of March 31st, there were 586 unicorn enterprises in the world, including 227 in China and 233 in the United States. That is to say, in the new economy, we have the advantage of competing directly with developed countries.
Judging from the two advantages mentioned above, although people always criticize it as too optimistic, I personally still believe that China’s economy has 8% growth potential.
So how to tap this potential? First, we must deepen reform, and second, we must expand opening up.
How to deepen the reform? China’s reform is gradual and dual-track, with different speeds in various aspects. Now the product market is basically liberalized, but there are still many structural obstacles in the factor market.
For example, in the financial market, 50% of the real economy are private small, medium and micro enterprises, as well as farmers, whose needs cannot be met in the financial system dominated by big banks and stock markets. Therefore, in order to serve the real economy, finance needs to make up for the shortcomings of providing financial services to farmers and small, medium and micro enterprises in the reform. In the labor market, it is necessary to promote the reform of the household registration system to facilitate the flow of talents; To solve the problem of high housing prices, let housing prices return to the orientation of “houses are for living, not for speculation”. In the land market, to solve the problem of rural collective land entering the market, the policy already exists, and it depends on how to implement it. In terms of property rights, we should implement the “two unwavering”, consolidate and develop state-owned enterprises unswervingly, encourage, support and guide the development of private enterprises at the same time, and let private enterprises in the market not be affected by obstacles in access or operation caused by different property rights arrangements.
Special economic zones should play a more important role in deepening reform. China’s reform is gradual and dual-track. In the gradual process, Shenzhen and other special economic zones should try first, and the reform with good results should be popularized throughout the country.
In terms of expanding opening up, in the past, our opening up was also a dual-track system, with industries that met comparative advantages open, while industries that did not meet comparative advantages were not open. Now, it is necessary to open wider to make full use of international resources. On the one hand, it is necessary to reduce tariffs; on the other hand, it is necessary to implement a negative list for foreign investment, and the scope of the list should be smaller and smaller. In this regard, we should first expand the scope of the free trade zone, and the successful pilot policies in the free trade zone should be implemented nationwide. In this way, we can make full use of foreign resources, including technical resources and financial resources.
China’s further opening-up, together with other countries’ development, has to make use of their domestic and international markets, and China is the fastest-growing market in the world, so they will not join the US blockade of China. If the United States wants to isolate China, it will be the United States itself. This is conducive to resolving the unfavorable situation that our country is facing at present.
Generally speaking, in the face of the once-in-a-century change, we should keep our strength, recognize the situation clearly and do our own thing well. The most important thing is to continue to deepen reform, open wider to the outside world, use our advantages to develop our economy and raise our income level, so that the proportion of domestic circulation will continue to increase.
Moreover, if we continue to deepen reform and open wider to the outside world, we can make better use of both domestic and international markets and resources. In this way, China’s development will benefit not only itself, but also other countries in the world.
In 2020, I believe historians in the future will pay special attention to the year, because too many things happened in the year.What happened to the international development of China’s IT industry? China’s IT industry has been collectively blocked this year. Huawei, ByteDance and Tencent, the three leading IT enterprises, have been suppressed.
On the surface, IT seems to be a matter of IT industry, which is a technical and market issue, involving information technology. But at deeper level it involves flow, distribution and dissemination of information and ultimately the control of information. The U.S. Department of Commerce and some other western countries all restrict the expansion of Chinese pioneer IT enterprises in the global market.
But is the problem limited to technology and market? In fact, since Snowden in 2013 revealed the inside story of the United States really monitoring the world and collecting important information in various countries. Geopolitics, big power diplomacy, global governance, and cyber security were the issues. Therefore, after the Snowden incident, we can use the reasons used by the United States to attack other countries to counter it. The fundamental problem is not technology and market.
The concept of information is too broad. If we focus on news, we will see that there is another side to things. If we examine information technology in a news network, we will find that there is something called “news technology”, which is related to the flow and dissemination of news, and even the control of news.
Not only that, but our world is also shrouded by something called the “Truth Network”. There is a kind of technology called “truth technology”, which is related to the flow and spread of truth. In the end, it will be discovered that someone is controlling the truth of the world. This is not a simple information technology issue, it includes some very complex technologies.
The Big Four news agencies
The control of global news and truth is not just happening now. It has a history of 200 years. This matter should start from the middle and late 19th century. Anyone who has studied journalism and history knows that the media output news through newspapers in the early days, and the public also relies on newspapers for new ideas.
By the mid-19th century, the Big Four news agencies began to appear one after another. In 1835, Charles-Louis Havas founded the world’s first news agency, namely the Agence Havas in France; then the Harbor News Association (the predecessor of the Associated Press) in the United States; The Wolf News Agency appeared in Germany; and Reuters in the UK.
After the emergence of news agencies, a network was formed at that time, which was responsible for distributing news to the global newspaper media. In other words, after the rise of these four news agencies, the news in the world was divided up by these four news agencies (see figure below).
Why were these news agencies able to carve up the world? This is of course related to the absolute leadership of the colonial empire in politics, military, economy, culture, and technology. The sphere of influence divided by them is actually a large part of colonies, and these colonies do not have these advantages.
The figure below shows the world communication cable shares. The world of communication cables at the time was a bit like the Internet today. At that time, most areas did not have a share of communication cables at all and did not have this technology at all.
As we all know, McLuhan has a famous saying that media is information. I believe many friends who first came into contact with McLuhan’s theory don’t quite understand this sentence. In fact, this was true at that time, because it was a pre-information age, and information was scarce. All new information was spread with the new media technology, so there was such an effect that “media is information” in a certain period of time. At that time, Roderick Jones, general manager of Reuters, once said:
It can be seen that the news agency’s control of world news at that time was a kind of monopoly, which was a cartel. Cartels are actually illegal in various countries. The United States has a special antitrust law, and the monopoly implemented for the common interests of such enterprise alliances in the same industry must be restricted. But who can limit the monopoly control of the global news information flow by the Western news agencies at that time? No, none at all.
Resistance to Media Imperialism
Later, some resistance gradually appeared in the south countries. The south countries were formerly colonized countries, and they began to feel strongly the domination of media imperialism. All the important happenings in their own countries are explained and defined by western news agencies, and hence these countries have taken a series of actions to resist the imperialist overreach.
Before the collective action of the south countries, a group of left-wing scholars in the West actually put forward some theories, which are truly effective until today. For example, in 1968, some western non-governmental associations held a meeting in Yugoslavia, at which it was pointed out that the system of controlling people’s thoughts has become increasingly better, and foreign thoughts have been continuously imposed on the minds of people in other countries, so that people’s minds in contemporary society have become prisoners of foreign thoughts without knowing it. In other words, people were being systematically brainwashed.
In 1969, UNESCO pointed out a problem at a meeting in Montreal:
Although the news media can expand the international consensus, the flow of information between cultures does not necessarily improve the international consensus. On the contrary the so-called free flow of information is actually a one-way flow of information, and not a real exchange of information.
In the confrontation between these western left-wing scholars and South countries against the North countries (the West), China was absent from the picture. The West distorts the world reality by controlling the news and truth, but resistance to the hegemony of western media came into being very late.
But during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Anti-CNN movement rose in China. At that time, the Chinese people suddenly found that the western media completely ignored the truth and made a lot of distorted reports about China, which led to the Anti-CNN movement. In fact, some discourses used by the people at that time had already been used by scholars from south countries and western left wing as early as 1960s and 1970s, and thus China were quite late in this respect.
The third battlefield is UNESCO. For a long time, UNESCO has been the main battlefield against Western media imperialism. In the early 1970s, UNESCO adopted a resolution requiring the Director-General to submit a draft declaration on consolidating peace, strengthening international consensus and opposing war, racism and apartheid by using mass media at the next plenary meeting. It has been clearly pointed out that the global mass media should have collective justice, anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism and anti-racism. This requirement led to a declaration made by UNESCO in 1978:
The Basic Principles Declaration on the Contribution of Mass Media to Strengthening Peace and International Consensus, Promoting Human Rights and Opposing Racism, Apartheid and War Incitement.
The declaration basically includes the positions of three parties: one is the Eastern camp headed by the Soviet Union at that time, the other is the Western camp represented by the United States, and the other is the Southern camp of the Non-Aligned Movement countries. The positions of these three parties are very clear: the eastern camp mainly emphasizes the responsibility of the media, which is very similar to the position of our Chinese government now; Of course, as always, the Western camp emphasizes freedom; The southern camp emphasizes neither responsibility nor freedom, but balance. The three parties repeatedly played games, and finally formed a declaration that included all three words. However, the word “responsibility” appeared only once, “freedom” representing the western position of the United States appeared seven times, and “balance” representing the position of non-aligned countries appeared four times.
In 1980, UNESCO published a famous report, The MacBride Report, also known as Multiple Voices, One World. It was named after Seán MacBride, an Irish and a famous anti-imperialist fighter who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974. The report contains 82 suggestions, conveying that the media and news should not only be allowed a certain degree of freedom, but also emphasize responsibility and balance.
Western compromises and counterattacks
However it appeared all these resistance seem to have little effect in the end. In the 1980s, the West carried out an organized counter-offensive. Looking back now, it can basically be said that three fists and two feet have defeated the efforts of the Eastern Block and the South Countries for so many years. What happened then?
The three parties experienced many struggles and games back and forth, but as a result, something happened in 1980s. The West utilized it advantages in various aspects, especially in technology and carried out its plans through the United Nations. It provided advanced electronic technologies to assist South countries in developing radio and television stations, and introduced all kinds of communication technologies. Finally, the Media Development Assistance Program was formed.
Hundreds of millions of dollars was spend on this program, and there are about a dozen contributing countries that help the third world countries develop modern media technology and establish media industry. Today, we can hardly imagine that India was one of the 13 donors at that time, and China was the object of help. The Communication University of China once had two projects, which came from this program.
At the beginning, developing countries thought that it seemed that they could make up the gap with the West through this mean. However, after the implementation of the program for a period of time, developing countries found that the effect was just the opposite, as they became more dependent on the West and the flow of information was more asymmetric. They could use their own limited media power to fight against it, but the broadcasting equipment, technicians and supports are controlled by others. The plan actually failed in the end. This is the first wave of western counter-offensive. Then things got worse and worse.
As we all know, the so-called neo-liberal revolution started from the mid-1970s, and in the early 1980s, with Reagan and Thatcher coming to power, a big right-wing counter-offensive in the whole West began. This counter-offensive includes attacks on the left wing of media in the south and east since the mid-1960s. At about that time, 21 western countries held a conference on media in France, and the declaration issued at this conference declared the beginning of the Western counter-offensive.
They put forward that freedom of the media is one of the basic human rights, and completely revised the concept that the access and dissemination of information is a basic human right put forward by the South countries and the Eastern Block countries. The basic human rights put forward by the South countries are based on the fact that every citizen in the world should have the basic right to obtain all kinds of information. However, at this conference in France, the western countries mentioned media rights, but in fact only the western big global media which have formed monopoly in history have corresponding rights, thus reversing the whole direction.
In 1983, the U.S. government began to openly attack UNESCO, arguing that UNESCO undermined media freedom and freedom of speech. At that time, American officials, from Vice President Bush to State Department Spokesman to Secretary of State, began to attack UNESCO continuously. In 1984, the United States and Britain formally withdrew from UNESCO.
With the withdrawal of the United States and Britain, in fact, the attack of the world left-wing forces against western media liberalism basically failed. Since that period, the arguments about freedom of speech and freedom of media in the west began to be rampant.
Because China began to reform and open up in the late 1970s, for a long period of time, we hope to be in line with international standards, live in peace with the West and win-win cooperation, so in such a situation, China did not participate in this round of game. In the late 1990s and the 21st century, China found that western media had double standards, but in fact, many words we used later had been used in international forums more than 50 years ago.
Why the resistance against Western media imperialism failed?
Let’s sum up, why we never leap out of the circle of this game, and why these justification of western media imperialism can always be established. In fact, it has finally become a political philosophy problem, where the West, the East and the South each hold on their own core concepts of political philosophy. The West emphasizes that the media also has rights. In fact, the media rights in the West have become power in history.
By the way, power (权力) and right (权利) are homonyms in Chinese, which is a great confusion. In English, they are completely two concepts. Up to now, our news media are often confused. There is so much confusion in such an important core concept of political philosophy, which shows that there are actually many problems in our ideological circle.
Right of media is actually power, and the greater its right, the greater its power. Therefore, the West emphasizes that its own media have rights, which actually means power. To put it bluntly, the freedom of speech is used to exercise its freedom to do wrong deeds.
Eastern block countries are late-developing countries. In order to pursue their own independence, the late-developing countries especially emphasize sovereignty, so we emphasize the responsibility of the media, while the South countries mainly emphasize human rights and balance. These three concepts are always circling around, and no one can convince anyone.
What is the problem? Let’s go back to the information network, news network and truth network I talked about at the beginning. Let’s look at it from another angle. Information is actually unannounced happenings, and people cannot grasp the flow of all information.News is reported events and selected related events. On top of this, there is another thing, that is, current knowledge and public opinion(see below).
Since the four major news agencies carved up the world for the past 200 years, popular knowledge and public opinions about the world have always been controlled by the West. The West talks about freedom of speech, media rights and pluralistic views all the time, but in the final analysis it is actually maintaining a monopoly on popular knowledge and public opinion. In every round of game, the West will reduce it to technical issues and always talk about technologies, and conceals the core problem.
A big lie
On the monopoly of popular knowledge about the world and public opinion, once you have unrestricted power, what can you do? There are actually some things in this world that can really be called big lies.
It is a basic fact that the debts of developing countries are actually increasing all the time. Developing countries will find themselves trapped in a debt trap all the time. This debt trap basically started after World War II. The more they owe, the more they keep borrowing money from the West which attach more conditions to these loans.
This is a big lie about debt, and almost all developing countries are now stuck in it. But go back and search for “debt trap” with Google or other search engines. What do you find? Now, the West has blamed all the debt crisis on China. If you want to search the relevant information of debt trap, you will all blame China for letting developing countries fall into debt trap through “the belt and road initiative”, BRICS Bank and aid to Africa.
Let’s look at another thing that can be called a big lie-the Washington Consensus.
The troika of the U.S. Treasury Department, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank promotes the so-called liberalization, marketization and privatization to the whole world, claiming that as long as you follow this, your economy can develop and the debts of your underdeveloped countries can be repaid as soon as possible. What is the final result? Even Stiglitz criticized that whatever new consensus is better than Washington consensus. But when the Washington Consensus was first implemented, the whole world had no power to resist.
Big lie on global climate change.
In 1992, the United Nations formulated a framework convention on climate change. Since then, 99% of scientists in the scientific community have recognized that climate change is a reality, and collective actions must be taken to reverse the trend. But after 30 years, you will find that this matter has become more and more uncertain, and there are some opinions, even so-called scientific arguments, that deny global climate change all over the world.
How did this come out? A scholar from an American university made a survey. From 2003 to 2010, about 140 American conservative foundations distributed $558 million to 91 different non-profit organizations in the form of 5,299 funds, and launched a huge movement to turn things around. Therefore, we will see things that have already been clearly stated. The collective reports of scientists, the conventions reached between governments and the consensus formed have gradually been overturned and become so uncertain.
The remarks against climate change from these right-wing politicians, conservative foundations and media think tank experts sound ridiculous. They will incite the public, saying that once energy is saved and emission is reduced, even the food for your cats, dogs and small pets will increase by 40%, and you may have to put your pets to death. They use this kind of speech to incite the public to oppose various policies on green environmental protection.
Big lie on COVID-19 epidemic.
This year, we have seen that since the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan, Hubei Province, other provinces and cities in China have been given early warning, acquired relevant knowledge and adopted a series of measures. It is said that overseas countries are farther away from Wuhan, Hubei Province, and they have a longer warning time. If similar measures are taken, their curves should be similar to those of non-Hubei areas in China. But what is the reality? The proportion of confirmed cases in China has disappeared now, while many overseas regions are still growing rapidly.
Although the facts are obvious, many people in the West are blaming China for the problem, particularly the United States and Trump. They are still using their monopoly on the truth and major news events to make big lies, and they know exactly what they are doing.
Chinese people always rebutted by claiming the “double standards” in Western media, saying “you practice double standards” and “you are reversing black and white”. In fact, this rebuttal has no power. Let’s stop talking about double standards, as they clearly know that they are implementing double standards and unabashed about it.
The power manipulating public opinion
This is the most important thing. We must recognize clearly that in western history, pursuing this kind of power ensues defining opponents as criminals, criminalizing opponents’ actions, and defining oneself as the embodiment of justice, exonerating ourselves from crimes and justifying the crimes committed.
This is a kind of theocracy, a kind of power deeply rooted in monotheistic tradition. Since its rise, the West has always adhered to this kind of power. Holding the sword in one hand and the Bible in the other hand, it conquered the world. In the modern society, as religious power declined they still maintained this power by monopolizing the truths, by manipulating major news and popular knowledge.
So what technology do they use?
In 1986, the Guardian newspaper published an advertisement “Points of view” on TV stations and cinemas, which is one of the most famous short films in advertising history. At first, everyone saw a perspective. A young man was escaping from a car, just like a very typical Hollywood gangster film. He seemed to be avoiding people’s pursuit. Immediately the perspective was changed and it turned out that there was a businessman in front, and it appeared he was trying to rob the businessman. But from another perspective, it turned out that building materials were falling from the top of the businessman’s head. He actually pushed the businessman away and saved him.
Given the three perspectives, we come to three different judgments. The final conclusion is that only the Guardian can provide the most comprehensive perspective to let you know the truth (that is only when you get the whole picture, you can fully understand what is going on). Most people have no problem in agreeing very much that this is about freedom of speech, pluralistic views and only the Western media can reveal the truth. In fact, this is a huge scam.
People who really study media theory will understand that to describe a reality, three perspectives are far from enough. When we see western media newspapers and televisions, they will definitely follow this rule. An event will interview both pros and cons, and then ask three or four experts to talk about this matter on TV. After 10 minutes’ talk, the western public is usually relieved and thinks that’s it. In fact, the real truth is just concealed by this superficial three perspectives. These media people and think tank scholars who really manipulate public opinion in the West fully understand this point, but most Western public think, “Is it right? That’s it. “
The second mechanism, everyone knows that there is a “Gresham’s Law” in economics, and bad money drives out good money; If we think of speech as a free market, we will find that there is a rule called “bad words drive out good words”.
Why don’t you go back to our Chinese tradition? Let’s take a look at the many words beside our words. In ancient times, there were more words. Now, many of them are no longer used. However, if you simply search, you will find that there are many more bad words than good ones.
A kind of speech is called “impartial remark”. It is not very useful now. In the past, it meant honest, kind and good words. We ancients never referred to a person’s speech as speech, and then said that speech should be free, never like this; Speech itself has been divided into good and bad, and bad speech is qualitative from the beginning, so people can’t say it casually.
However, there is still a popular saying today, “rumor opens one’s mouth, rumors run and legs break”. Rumors can fully enjoy the rules of freedom of speech. We will find a large number of public rumors, lies and forged truths in the western media. But the mechanism does not allow one to refute it easily.
Chomsky told a story. He complained to the TV station, “Why don’t you always let me talk? I have seen many rumors in the media, and I want to expose them. ” The editorial director of the TV station is also his friend. He said, “It is not that you are not allowed to speak, but your language is too’ not concise’.” Chomsky tried hard to think about the meaning of this word, and then he finally understood that if you want to refute him, it will take at least three times or five times to clarify the truth against him, but the TV station won’t give you this time, because the advertising time is up. Therefore, he discovered that those who reveal the truth will never have a chance. He said there are only two choices, either you talk crazy and talk nonsense with those people, or you give up this right. So this is also one of their mechanisms.
The third mechanism is deeper. Western media has brainwashed the western public for a long time, resulting in shrinking thinking. Everyone has the opportunity to read Possman’s “Entertainment to Death” again. This book is not outdated until today. The more entertainment, the less thinking.
Recently, there was a documentary film “The Great Divide of America: From Obama to Trump”. Everyone will see a background sound running through the whole documentary film, that is, the laughter of American TV viewers. As long as they turn on the TV to watch political news, the first reaction is that I am ready to laugh, not to think.
So Possman said, if I tell a very important news on TV, saying that nuclear war is inevitable, the destruction of mankind is just around the corner. What will happen next? The following is still advertising time, or what to do. No one will say that after listening to this news or this point of view, the national TV should stop for half a day, and leave half a day to think about what to do. It won’t be like this. Still, there is an entertainment program below. Everyone continues to laugh, but there is no formal thinking.
Everyone knows that Navarro blatantly talked nonsense in the media during the whole epidemic. He said that all the viruses were spread by China, and the viruses were produced in the laboratory, and then the Chinese government allowed Chinese citizens to freely travel around the world and spread the viruses. No one has time to refute him. Many Americans still believe him.
Society damaged by “modern theocracy”
So this is a society that has been damaged by “modern theocracy”. We know where the diseases are in today’s western society. There are many angles, and this is one angle. In fact, they have always been a country where politics and religion are integrated, and this religion is a kind of “modern theocracy”. The real rulers are these people who manipulate public opinion.
Isaac Isaac Asimov, a Jewish American writer born in Soviet Russia and a biochemist, said in 1980 that there has always been an anti-intellectual tradition and “a cult of ignorance” in the United States. How do we understand it today?
We all know that Hayek wrote “Fatal Conceit”. In fact, today’s Western society is “fatal deception”-the upper elite worships deception, because they have always ruled the world by it. The lower class people worship ignorance. This epidemic clearly exposes the damage to society .
If you don't have a sense of the past, your future will be diminished. Knowing where you come from, where your roots are, and all those great - and terrible - things that happened in the past, strengthens your identity
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