Opinion | Xi Jinping’s China needs a foreign policy worthy of the ‘Asian century’
- Beijing should leave the painful past behind and rise above Western demonisation to seize China’s moment in history. A rethink of its aggressive foreign policy, over-the-top propaganda and tight grip on Hong Kong and Taiwan is in order
The decline of the coherence and acumen of American foreign policy would appear to present Beijing with the potential for a century of achievement rather than humiliation. To be sure, historically, the US has demonstrated Olympian ability to bounce back from near-death experiences, from bad economies to bad wars. But, in Asia, there are now growing doubts about that.
Perhaps foremost among those who are starting to conclude that America is past its prime time is China. For its part, however, the Asian giant keeps hitting speed bumps and taking wrong turns of its own. Its policies and pronouncements sometimes seem frozen in a bygone era and fill neighbours – and even admirers of its progress – with dread or doubt.
So, if the 21st century does turn out to be an Asian one – the way the prior one was American and the 19th century was so very British – who will turn out in history’s eyes to be the leader of the Asian pack? The obvious candidate is China. But is it cut out for the role of leader of the Asian century?
China might be said to have history on its side. Having survived that hideous “century of humiliation” when China was banged about like a tennis ball by “barbarians”, and then drawn through the mud of decades of maddening Maoism, China might fairly deserve a whole century named after it.
China certainly had my sympathy when I began reporting on Asia as a journalist 25 years ago. One could not miss the Western ignorance and rancid racism. Over the years, you could find very few major political figures in the American political landscape who seemed to grasp what China was all about.