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Feb 18 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
How should #China respond to the growing political divide between China and the West?

▫️ Yang Ping (杨平) advocates building a new international system led by China and countries in the Global South rather than the West.

🧵🧵🧵
sinification.substack.com/p/facing-the-g…
🔹The author: Yang is the head of the highly regarded Beijing Cultural Review (BCR). He is also the director of the Longway Foundation which publishes BCR. The foundation describes its publication as “the most influential magazine of intellectual thought and commentary in China”.
▫️ Yang’s views in a nutshell:

1⃣ “Capitalist politics” are no longer in line with “capitalist economics”. The former now undermines globalisation, while the latter supports it.
2⃣ #Sanctions , export controls, friend-shoring and alliance-building are damaging the #worldeconomy and further alienating China from the current US-led international order.
3⃣ China must respond to this growing trend by building a “new type of international system” with other countries in the Global South.

4⃣ BRI projects should be increasingly focused on achieving this goal and thus allow more room for loss-making endeavours.
🪧 Yang's ideas are not particularly novel but are nevertheless of note in that they represent yet another viewpoint in the ongoing debate over how 🇨🇳 should respond to the increasing tensions that characterise its relations with the #UnitedStates and other Western countries.
🪧 As evidenced in previous editions of Sinification, opinions on this question can range from Da Wei (达巍) stressing the importance of preserving if not strengthening ties with the West and Shen Wei (沈伟) arguing in favour of reforming the #WTO and ->

sinification.substack.com/p/how-china-sh…
-> building up a network of free trade agreements to Ye Hailin (叶海林) emphasising the need for #China to demonstrate its #military might to demobilise US allies and Lu Feng (路风) calling for self-reliance and greater assertiveness in the field of tech.

sinification.substack.com/p/us-china-chi…
🪧 A certain amount of overlap certainly exists among these perspectives but the differences are nonetheless striking.

To follow this debate and receive weekly insights from 🇨🇳 think-tank analysts & scholars on a range of international topics:

sinification.substack.com

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More from @thomasdggeddes

Thomas des Garets Geddes Profile picture
Feb 16
🪧 Remember #XiJinping encouraging #CCP members/diplomats to show a “fighting spirit" and his repeated emphasis on "being good at struggling"?

What this implies is still being debated in #China.

Below is a 'moderate' take by one of China’s most respected US specialists:

🧵🧵🧵
🔹 Da Wei (达巍) is a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University and the director of its prestigious Centre for International Security and Strategy (CISS). Image
▫️ “The 20th Party Congress demanded that the whole of the Party ‘carry forward its fighting/struggling spirit’ ... It is important to stress that the #communist emphasis on struggle is a #Marxist philosophical concept & must be distinguished from the struggle of everyday life.”
Read 10 tweets
Thomas des Garets Geddes Profile picture
Jan 21
🔹Most read article on Chinese aggregator of scholarly articles Aisixiang (爱思想) over the past 30 days:

“Ten critical shifts in international politics in 2023 and their prospects” by CUHK scholar Zheng Yongnian (郑永年).

🧵 EXCERPTS
#UnitedStates:

▫️ “When it comes to international political risks, the US's domestic problems have to be placed at the top of the list ... the US’s internal divisions produce huge externalities that have far-reaching effects on world politics.”
▫️ "So, will a transfer [of the US’s domestic tensions] occur at the military level? This is even more worrying. Countries must guard themselves against this [各国不可不防]."
Read 13 tweets
Thomas des Garets Geddes Profile picture
Jan 20
"#RishiSunak has now become the representative of 🇬🇧's hardliners on #China. We cannot expect him to become a moderate on China again after becoming PM."

🔹 Author: Xu Ruike (徐瑞珂) – Prof. at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Image
▫️ "Under Sunak, the 'Americanisation' of Britain's China policy will remain evident ... Economics will take a back seat. Suspicion and hostility towards China will gradually become the defining theme of Sino-British relations."
▫️ "The right-wing forces of the Conservative backbenchers represented by @aliciakearns and @MPIainDS will exert significant influence on Downing Street's China policy."
Read 5 tweets
Thomas des Garets Geddes Profile picture
Jan 20
TOP Read on Aisixiang (爱思想) – CUHK scholar Zheng Yongnian discusses 10 international risks and challenges facing #China in 2023. These are:

1⃣ The US’s political polarisation, domestic tensions and their potential repercussions on the world and China.
sinification.substack.com/p/top-read-int…
2⃣ The war in Ukraine and the risks posed by a nuclear war.

3⃣ The ‘NATOisation’ of Europe and NATO’s increasing interest in the Indo-Pacific.

4⃣ The growing risk of a nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.
5⃣ Rising tensions in the Middle East and their potential impact on China.

6⃣ #India’s rise is exerting greater geopolitical and economic pressures on China.

7⃣ Latin America’s political polarisation creates uncertainties for Beijing.
Read 5 tweets
Thomas des Garets Geddes Profile picture
Nov 25, 2022
🇺🇸 Tech and supply chain strategy:

“The US's incremental adjustments allow resources to continue to be channelled into 🇨🇳 through ‘third countries’, ‘detours’ or even ‘transfers’, thereby allowing 🇨🇳 to make adjustments and repairs to its supply chains.” – Ma Xue, CICIR analyst.
“The US does not have a complete monopoly on cutting-edge research ... This means that unilateral US controls are often ineffective and the paths for technology transfers to #China are difficult to block."
"Political controls placed on strategic industries will undermine 🇺🇸's future tech competitiveness. US export controls, entity lists and other similar restrictions have reduced the sales of US companies to 🇨🇳 and [thus] reduced the revenues that can then be reinvested in R&D."
Read 8 tweets
Thomas des Garets Geddes Profile picture
Nov 3, 2022
This is how Scholz's visit to 🇨🇳 + COSCO deal is being interpreted in China:

"[COSCO's acquisition] underlines that German Chancellor Scholz is still relatively steady and pragmatic vis-à-vis developing relations with China." – Wu Huiping, Centre for 🇩🇪 Studies at Tongji Univ.
"Scholz is also sending a certain message to those within Germany, that is: although the Greens are currently running the country’s foreign ministry, Germany’s most important foreign policy-making power still lies in the hands of the chancellor." – Wu Huiping
“Scholz's upcoming visit to 🇨🇳 is a sign of 🇩🇪's strong desire to encourage the further development of 🇨🇳-🇩🇪 cooperation at an important point in time – right after the 20th Party Congress and just as Chinese-style modernisation is embarking on a new journey.” – Tian Dewen, CASS
Read 8 tweets

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