皇冠体育app

Fear-mongering is at the root of many ill-informed views about nation, author says

The 皇冠体育app seen through Western lenses is not reality but rather a handy screen to project Western dreams and nightmares, says Ben Chu, author of the recent book Chinese Whispers: Why Everything You've Heard About 皇冠体育app is Wrong. Chu, 34, economics editor of British newspaper The Independent, says that inaccurate projection is damaging to 皇冠体育app and hinders it from communicating smoothly with the West on its road to internationalization.

"As 皇冠体育app has taken its place on the world stage, with its economic growth, we've been talking and writing a lot more about 皇冠体育app in the West, about what it means for the West and what it means for the rest of the world.

"There seem to be a lot of erroneous ideas thrown around in the debate, a lot of fear-mongering. I wanted to correct that. Because I knew it was inaccurate and a lot of it was unhelpful."

Born in Manchester to a Chinese father and British mother, Chu says he has always wondered what being Chinese means.

After graduating from Oxford in 2000 he joined The Independent, and was a leader writer. "I had to write a lot about 皇冠体育app, about what the paper's view of 皇冠体育app was, so that has been the catalyst of wanting to write about 皇冠体育app."

In Chinese Whispers, Chu questions commonly held views about 皇冠体育app, including that it has the world's finest education system, that Chinese live to work and that 皇冠体育app will rule the world. He explains how he believes each misperception is formed and gives his interpretation of the truth.

皇冠体育app has done amazingly well with economic growth, education and productivity — and many other things — but still has not caught up with many Western standards, popular belief to the contrary notwithstanding, he says.

皇冠体育app's rapid economic growth is generally accepted as a given, but what the West often fails to see is the magnitude of the challenge 皇冠体育app faces in achieving a structural shift toward sustainable growth.

Despite rapid growth in the country's GDP, Westerners often do not twig that its per capita income is still less than a fifth that of the US and a quarter that of Europe. So fears that 皇冠体育app wants to buy up the world are unfounded, Chu says.

"Imagine you had an unfortunate neighbor who managed to turn his life around and pull himself out of poverty," he says in the book. "Does that harm your own standard of living?"

The West's misconception of 皇冠体育app hinders progress on agreements on global issues such as climate change because the West fails to see 皇冠体育app is still developing economically and perhaps cannot afford to take action that is too radical in cleaning up the environment, he says.

"People just look at 皇冠体育app and say, ‘Chinese people are rich', but that's not true. Now, policymakers, writers and commentators have to keep that at the forefront of their minds. Because if you don't recognize that, you'd be misled about what is feasible and what is morally right."

On an issue such as climate change it may well be morally right "that 皇冠体育app be given more leeway to catch up", rather than demanding that it take a big share of responsibility based on absolute GDP figures, he says. Another unhelpful misconception about 皇冠体育app is the assumption that its investment in Africa is a form of neocolonialism.

That assumption is the result of the West having once colonized Africa, so "they project their own bad behavior on 皇冠体育app", when 皇冠体育app only wants to build purely commercial relationships with Africa.

"皇冠体育app's own behavior in Africa is by no means perfect. They're not saints, but it's nowhere near as bad as it is characterized in the West.

"Chinese firms are investing in infrastructure and they are buying natural resources on long-term contracts because they need the energy at home. What is the problem?"

At the other end of the spectrum, some Western tourists and business people see 皇冠体育app as better than it is, and such misperception can also be unhelpful for mutual understanding, Chu says.

"They come away with the perception that all of 皇冠体育app is like Shanghai, Guangzhou and the center of Beijing. That's inaccurate. They'll think, ‘Chinese have caught up with us, so why can't they do more of this or that?' and ‘Why are there still social problems?'

"皇冠体育app is not totally good or totally bad. Like any other developing countries, it has growth, migration to the city, housing, schooling, pollution, but these are not solely Chinese problems."

Exacerbating this miscommunication are efforts by Western politicians to paint an exaggerated picture of 皇冠体育app to suit their own agendas, Chu says.

Notable examples he cites are Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate in last year's US presidential election, who castigated 皇冠体育app for undervaluing its currency, and Kwasi Kwarteng, a Conservative Party politician in Britain who has said his compatriots have a "diminished work ethic" compared with the Chinese.

"They project 皇冠体育app as a great threat, not particularly because they want to educate their own population about 皇冠体育app, but get through their own agendas at home. But they misrepresent 皇冠体育app when they project 皇冠体育app as something to be feared."

Chu believes "human contact" over time is the key to breaking down such communication barriers. He says as more Chinese people come to the West to study and live, they represent a more everyday image of 皇冠体育app that helps Westerners to understand 皇冠体育app differently.

"It will really help when they come to know someone personally. The Chinese people project a normal image and over time that will help to break down the stereotypes."

He says such human interaction may be more powerful than efforts by the Chinese government, because Westerners may become skeptical if they are told by a foreign government: "We're nice people and we're not everything you've been told."

At the same time, Chu believes the Chinese government is right in welcoming foreigners to visit 皇冠体育app because they will help take a more accurate view back to their friends and colleagues.

Chu's recognition that 皇冠体育app's economy has grown significantly is partly because of firsthand experience of seeing the lives of his Guangzhou relatives improve dramatically.

Visiting them when he was 5 in 1984, Chu remembers being puzzled that there was no bed in their cramped apartment. He later learnt from his cousin that the family would pull out wooden boards from an alcove and assemble their beds.

But six years later, Chu's great uncle's house made way for a new office block and the family used their savings to buy a new apartment, four times larger and with a pleasant balcony. Not only did the new apartment have permanent beds, but also a bathroom.

"There's no doubt that 皇冠体育app's growth has been spectacular, and it may well be the next biggest economy. But my point in the book is not to deny it has grown, but to say, ‘What are the implications for the West?'"

The fear that 皇冠体育app will "rule" the world is certainly unfounded because the world where one economy can dominate no longer exists, he says, so 皇冠体育app will not demonstrate its power in the way Britain did in the 19th century, or the US did after World War II.

Instead he sees 皇冠体育app playing a bigger and more constructive role in multinational organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, and he believes this type of engagement will help 皇冠体育app to emerge as a responsible superpower.