I know in their society, stuff like hacking and currency manipulation isn't seen as dishonest cheating, but instead a clever and necessary part of competition. Morals have nothing to do with it; it's about winning. I guess China does use soft power, but their antics are just so annoyingly passive-aggressive: spying but denying everything, cracking down on peaceful dissidents but calling them terrorists, stealthily building up their military, laying claim to new waters, and buying up raw materials all over the globe. And of course they manufacture unsafe, defective, and poisonous products just to shave a yuan here and there. Surely the US is guilty of all of that too (and worse), but at least we cowboys are more brazen with our bad deeds (part of that is due to our freer political system and press). And at least the US does help some people around the globe (Americans are some of the most generous in terms of foreign aid), our inventions/actions have reduced illness and poverty, and we did fight global threats like Hitler and the USSR.
In almost every arena, the Chinese government is playing a negative role (note that I am criticizing the Chinese GOV'T here, not Chinese people). Apart from the unique economic relationship with the US, I don't think any other nation can say that they are so grateful for what China is doing for them - maybe with the exception of Iran, Myanmar, etc. No other state is coming to China's defense and singing its praises. I know I am misinformed and exaggerating here, but there is just case after case of bad news. Uncompetitive behavior with their solar industry and fears of stealing IP have probably set back global green tech innovation a decade. They are the #2 consumer and #1 polluter in the world now (not per capita of course). They don't respect property rights and trade laws. They are usually one of the last states to condemn crimes against humanity (except for America's shielding of Israel), and they commit plenty of atrocities themselves. Their system is rife with corruption and injustice. Their wealth gap is even larger than ours.
Like Israel, China almost "gets a pass" for its poor global citizenship because of its meteoric rise and tragic history. Only the USSR had more dead from WWII. Maoism was taking them in the wrong direction, but then Nixon and Deng shocked everyone and started a new partnership that changed the world. China went from Third World to #2 economy in a GENERATION. Many people got rich and many new products/jobs were created in Asia and the West. Many want China to be a feel-good, zero-to-hero story. And some may like a powerful China to counter-balance Russian and US imperialism. Previously ignored, poor African nations enthusiastically welcomed Chinese development and merchants. But they "overstayed their welcome" and caused major resentment by displacing local businesses and "scamming" naive African governments (trading the rights to precious resources for shoddy infrastructure projects made with crappy materials and imported Chinese labor). China has been an impediment to Western interests on Darfur, Iran, North Korea, Syria, etc. They really don't have much of a stake in those conflicts, and have little to lose by cooperating. But they don't (maybe they still fear Western domination, or have a chip on their shoulder and want to be respected?). They have made little to no serious effort at conflict resolution over Tibet, Taiwan, and democratization. They don't volunteer troops or resources for peacekeeping missions or natural disasters. A poor, developing nation may deserves a pass for that, but China always wanted to be a global power and now they are. So they are held to a higher standard, which they are not living up to. I know the #1 priority of any gov't is self-preservation, as well as maintaining harmony and growth. But a global power should think bigger. They have to make friends and work with others if they want major, mutually-beneficial accomplishments - which will better ensure the continuation of their gov't than repression.
I guess China has its 5, 10, and probably 50 year master plans for development. What are their plans for getting along with the rest of the world, and maybe making the world a better place? Some Chinese people are working selflessly and tirelessly on those issues, but what is the gov't doing? Because even those rooting for China will eventually tire of their egocentrism and more-or-less sociopathic behaviors (= inability to empathize with and care about others). China was so successful since the 1980's partly due to its soft power and peaceful cooperation. Yet they seem to be straying from that now, flexing more hard power and possibly losing friends (empire syndrome?). Some businesses are tired of Chinese corruption, inflation, and IP theft, so they prefer to set up shop elsewhere in more democratic, cooperative places like India and Malaysia. The global economy will be "dependent" on China for decades to come, but clearly the winds are changing and we are coming up with substitutes and strategies to wean ourselves off of China. The West has known about Chinese hacking for years, but maybe it has finally reached the tipping point. Nations are collaborating and deciding what to do about it. But the problem is, how will it escalate? We can get together and tell China, "Hey, stop doing this crap or we will ____ you." But what will the stick be? What will get them to desist without making matters worse for everyone? Because no one wants a cyber, trade, or conventional war with China - especially because China would probably prevail in cyber and trade (and can hurt our allies militarily). I don't know, what else can we do to peacefully encourage them to change their ways? Because it only seems to be getting worse. I think China is loathe to succumb to outside pressure, especially when we have so little leverage with them. Change has to come from within, but how much support can we covertly funnel to dissidents and reformers? China clearly won't tolerate what we did to Iran and Qaddafi.
The tragic part is, China can have awesome socioeconomic growth and global admiration without engaging in these annoying, ultimately mutually harmful antics. The gains they can reap from transparency, trust, reforms, and lawfulness vastly outweigh the fleeting benefits of cheating. They can win fair. But this is the side-effect of a one-party system. There is no check or balance to say no and act as a sanity check. Their state-run enterprise system is now an impediment to innovation and growth in my opinion. China may be the #2 economy, but they are like the #10 creative economy (or worse). Maybe they make up for that with stealing and cheating, but it can't last forever. Some are concerned that China's economic model has run its course and plateaued. I am not sure yet, but clearly they will have to move towards a more democratic market and society in order to have the free flow of ideas necessary for entrepreneurship and economic success in the 21st Century.
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