The China challenge: Should the West be worried?

     

Credit: EIU China (Screenshot)

How much of a challenge does China’s political model pose globally?

That’s the principal question posed by The Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest annual Democracy Index.

The potency of this political challenge is inextricably linked to China’s incredible economic success over the past three decades, The EIU adds. The Chinese economy has grown at almost triple the pace of the US economy in nominal GDP terms since 1990, turning China from a poor developing country into an economic superpower with the second largest GDP in the world. China’s rulers have become more confident about promulgating the alleged superiority of their system over that of the West, and the Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated this trend.

China’s political system: authoritarian meritocracy?

In his 2015 book, The China Model, Daniel A Bell extols the virtues of the country’s “political meritocracy.” But the regressive features of system “create contradictions and potential problems of legitimacy,” The EIU observes:

A system that encourages corruption on a large scale will eventually cast doubt on the virtue of its leaders. And if corruption runs out of control, the ability of the bureaucracy to foster economic growth will also be compromised. Similarly, a system that presides over massive income and social inequalities is eventually likely to breed discontent.

Consequently, the benefits of the system and its inherent contradictions are, as economist Branko Milanovic notes, always in a “precarious equilibrium.”

The real challenge for the West may not be to prevent China from one day becoming the dominant global power, which seems to be, if not inevitable, at least highly likely—but to manage that process in such a way as to avoid war and preserve democracy and the best of the Western enlightenment legacy, The EIU suggests:

This implies that the US and its Western allies should focus their energies on rejuvenating their
political systems so that they can provide a desirable alternative model to that of China. Far better that the US and the world’s democracies demonstrate the advantages of their system of government by re-democratizing their politics, rather than by trying to isolate or contain China.  That old adage, “Physician, heal thyself” may be the best advice that they could follow if they wish to prove the superiority of the democratic way of life. RTWT 

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