YCC Blog: Reading China in 10 Words

Ardi Bouwers — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 08:34:51 +0000

Reading China in 10 Words, a book by Hua Yu and translated by Allan Barr.

by Claire Selbeck

In my perpetual quest to understand China more and on a deeper level, I recently picked up the book, China in 10 words. In 10 words/characters, Hua Yu is able to paint an enticing and compelling picture of how China and he himself are able to move through revolution toward its contemporary state. Each word has a corresponding chapter and each chapter is filled with anecdotes from Hua Yu’s past & present, historical and contemporary events, and notes on the social, political and economic landscape of China.

The book is a self-examination of Hua Yu’s youth in China and his later years as he seeks to make sense of what happened in his village and the greater part of China. It is poignant narration and Yu Hua is able to concisely explain how events in his past correlate to grand events under communist rule in China. He doesn’t judge. He simply recounts in a manner which suggests that no other experiences could have been his. Nor would he want, apparently, any other experiences. With a deeper context and his ability to draw on social, cultural and political narratives, you are left in awe at Hua Yu’s ability to keep a solid and neutral perspective in his work. I greatly recommend without reservation for anyone interested in learning more about how traditional China developed into a contemporary and modern China, and those who appreciate strong writing and skill in translation.

1. People (人民) Ren 人 means human being, person, people and Min 民 means people

“The people are Chairman Mao, and Chairman Mao is the people,” was a saying that Hua Yu came up with in his youth. But when the saying became commonplace, and Hua Yu tried to claim ownership, he was told that “everybody says that.” During the Cultural Revolution, there was only the People, but since China’s rise, new vocabulary to describe the segmenting of the population has arrived. There are netizens, stock traders, fund holders, celebrity fans, laid-off workers, migrant laborers and so on.

2. Leader (领袖) Ling 领 means neck, collar and Xiu 袖 means sleeve

There is only one leader in China, and his name is Mao Zedong. In this chapter, Hua Yu seeks to make sense of the importance of Chairman Mao and Tiananmen to his country.

3. Reading (阅读) Yue 阅 means to read, go-over and Du 读 means to read, read aloud.

“If literature truly possesses a mysterious power, I think perhaps it is precisely this: that one can read a book by a writer of a different time, country, race, language, culture and there encounter a sensation that is one’s very own.” During the Cultural Revolution, all books were banned and only Mao’s book and Lu Xun’s work were available.

4. Writing (写作) Xie 写 means to write, compose and Zuo 作 means writings, work

In his youth, Hua Yu did not write a lot as most literature was banned. The one thing which was recurrent in his life were the Cultural Revolution-era big-character posters (dazibao 大字报). In the 1960s, a poster started to circulate Beijing which maintained that the university was counterrevolutionary. The poster came to the attention of Mao Zedong, who had it broadcast

nationally and published in the People’s Daily. 大字报 became a crucial tool in Mao’s struggle during the Cultural Revolution. 大字报 were soon ubiquitous, used for everything from sophisticated debate to satirical entertainment to rabid denunciation; being attacked in a big-character poster was enough to end one’s career. Hua Yu recounts writing 大字报 in his youth at different times.

5. Lu Xun (鲁迅). Lu 鲁 means stupid, dull, rash, rough and Xun 迅 means fast, swift.

鲁迅 is one of the earliest and best-known modern Chinese writers.鲁迅 was a favorite writer of Mao Zedong and during his rule, people would either say, “Chairman Mao teaches us…” or “Mr. Lu Xun says…” The words of Lu Xun held a great weight for Chinese people. In his chapter, Yu Hua recounts a story from his youth where he would pick a topic for debate with his friend. The debate would last the whole year and they would go back and forth and try to win surrounding friends to their side. Twice, Hua Yu realized that he could win the debate by pointing out “well, Mr Lu Xun says … and he agrees with me.” As his words held so much weight, his counterpart would be inclined to believe him and the words Mr Lu Xun had spoken. When he was younger, Hua Yu used the words of Mr Lu Xun to win arguments and debates, but he never thought twice about the meaning of the words he spoke. That is until he was much older when he started to re-read his works on his own account. At a later stage in life, Yu Hua realized “at the same time I feel that for a reader to truly encounter an author sometimes depends on finding the right moment.” In his youth, Mr Lu Xun and his words had devolved into a catchphrase for Hua Yu, and it was only later when reading Lu Xun’s work was not mandatory, that Hua Yu was able to enjoy and appreciate his work.

6. Revolution (革命) Ge 革 means change, transform, remove from office and Ming 命 menas life, fate, order/command, to assign a name.

This chapter speaks to the different ways in which China has tried to pursue different forms of revolution and the hidden stories behind the high growth numbers. There was the Great Leap Forward which enticed the people of China to abandon everything and pursue steel production. This caused a devastating blow to the agriculture industry, which had been left abandoned. There has also been a revolution of education and infrastructure. There has been a skyrocketing increase in college admissions (price) without employment guarantee and there have been enormous infrastructure projects which remain underutilized. In China, a culture of Revolution was born during the Cultural Revolution and has persisted to this day; stellar growth with hidden consequences. “What is Revolution?” Hua Yu asks, “Revolution fills life with unknowables, and one’s fate can take an entirely different course overnight; some people soar high in the blink of an eye, and others just as quickly stumble into the deepest pit.”

7. Disparity (差距) Cha 差 means difference, dissimilarity and Ju 距 means distance, apart

In today’s China, there are huge social disparities between rich and poor, city and village, differences between religions, income inequalities, income level and allocation, and so on. Unequal lives give rise to unequal dreams. In 2000, CCTV interviewed Chinese children on Children’s Day, asking them what gift they would like to most receive. A boy in Beijing wanted a jet of his own and a girl in Northwest China answered a pair of sneakers. Both dreams seem unreal and like China today; Chinese “live amid huge disparities between recent history and contemporary history, and from one dream to the next”.

8. Grassroots (草根) Cao 草 means grass, straw, (dated: countryside) and Gen 根 means root (of a plant)

Grassroots attempts to give a straightforward answer as to how China was able to propel forward through its economic miracle – people were willing to do the things nobody else was willing to do. Chinese people were inspired to seize every possible opportunity to turn a profit once the reforming socialist economy allowed them to do so. There are those who have been able to make a great profit because they are willing to capitalize on a single – and heavily necessary – item such as paper napkins or cigarette lighters. At the same time, China’s legal system has not developed fast enough and there are plenty of legal loopholes to exploit. However, of the many grassroots millionaires, many have been arrested for crimes of corruption and misappropriation of funds. In China there exists the line – “what goes up comes down even quicker.” Heroes who rise to prominence are there for all to see, and for all to investigate once the tide turns.

9. Copycat (山寨) Shan 山 means hill, mountain, massif and Zhai 寨 means stockade

To copycat is to have freedom from official control and it has given the word imitation a new meaning. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in China. There has been a race to develop look-alike cellphones of European brands and shows to find Mao’s look-alikes. These look-alikes often are able to achieve a celebrity status of their own. The rise of the Copycat is owed to the paradoxes that exist in Chinese society, according to Hua Yu. During the 08 Olympics, Beijing advertised their Games as the most Green to ever exist, even though there were countless accusations of environmental degradation and pollution as an effect of the Games. For example, the passing of the fire produced streets full of car exhaust. In a small Chinese city, a similar copycat fire was being passed around, producing no environmental degradation. The copycat has gained acceptance, and has sometimes even been more beneficial or useful than the original. Hua Yu tries to conceptualize the copycat phenomenon as a form of revolutionary action initiated by the weak against the strong, similar to the Revolution which happened in China over 40 years ago during the Cultural Revolution. To copycat is then to merely rise up against the oppressors.

10. Bamboozle (忽悠) Hu 忽 means neglect, overlook, ignore and You 悠 means long-drawn-out

To bamboozle someone, has become a staple in China, a part of its cultural lexicon. Did you make someone show up to an event of yours, you have successfully bamboozled them. Did you ask your cousin to do something for you, you have successfully bamboozled her. It is to play a con trick and to rip somebody off – but its definition has grown wider. The rapid rise of using words such as bamboozle, or even copycat, show that Chinese now live in a society where there is a “breakdown of social morality and a confusion in the value system in China today; it is an aftereffect of our uneven development these past thirty years.” Hua Yu indicates that in a society where everyone is trying to bamboozle, they end up bamboozling themselves and he recounts a ‘scarring’ event from his youth. He would so often pretend to be sick with either a fever or a stomach ache that at one point, his doctor father took him to the operating table, to perform an appendectomy.

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The China Challenge report

Ardi Bouwers — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 15:19:35 +0000

China Circle and Krijger & Partners conducted a joint study, commissioned by the LeidenAsiaCentre, examining how the current, highly politicised Chinese economic climate is influencing Dutch companies that are doing business in, and with, China. The report combines the analysis of trends with experiences and insights of business people (often with many years of China experience) themselves.

The report Alex Krijger and I worked on these past few months, interviewing many CEOs from Dutch businesses active in China, is available now. With recommendations for government and a China Checklist for companies. The report The China Challenge: Impact of the politicised business environment on Dutch companies in China is downloadable on the LeidenAsiaCentre website‬: https://leidenasiacentre.nl/en/the-china-challenge/

No ‘business as usual’ anymore
Dutch businesses prefer to avoid navigating sensitive political waters, leaving this to the political establishment. It has become clear, however, that this is no longer possible in the current Chinese context, due to a combination of geopolitical and Chinese political factors. It is not ‘business as usual’ anymore. The authors conclude that Dutch business would welcome additional guidance and support from government, employers’ organisations and other professionals.

Discretion and anonymity
The research report is based on a comprehensive review of scientific studies, business papers, and journalistic sources, as well as a series of conversations with senior Dutch business representatives. Discretion proved important, as many interviewees chose to remain anonymous. As a result of our approach and our joint network, the report offers many concrete examples of the experiences of Dutch business people in China and concludes with a China Checklist which might serve as a guide for Dutch companies that operate in China, or are preparing to do so.

An interview by LeidenAsiaCentre’s Lily Sprangers with both authors can be found here:

You can contact Ardi Bouwers or Alex Krijger for more information on the report and also for interactive China Business or Policy Lunches and inspiring China Masterclasses and Keynotes.

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YCC webinar on media

Ardi Bouwers — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 13:36:29 +0000

The West vs China: Media narratives and the role of propaganda in the COVID-19 crisis

On June 25th, Young China Circle hosted its first ever webinar. For the inaugural webinar, YCC invited Bei Wang. As a self-proclaimed activist at heart, Bei Wang currently is the co-founder and Chairman of Five Degrees. Five Degrees is an organisation that aims to connect the EU/Europe and the US with China. For almost two decades, Five Degrees has helped Western organisations and companies tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services to the Chinese. Before starting her own company, Bei worked in Dutch media for more than 10 years.

Globalization and media

Since the start of globalization, technology has sped up and media has become a rapid-fire of mass (dis)information. There are many advantages to globalization, we are able to communicate more effectively and efficiently with people all over the world and social media allows us to stay in touch with different cultures. International media can make us more aware of what is happening on the other side of the world. But the spread of mass media all over the world has not been without its challenges. Globalization is expensive and it is highlighting the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Most terrifyingly, countries under authoritarian rule have seen an increase in the restriction of freedom of press. This happens increasingly as “liberal” or “western” media can propagate their own ideas and views. The 24-hour cycle of media has made us incapacitated in the amount of information we are able to consume and process.

Five lenses for media

In effect, as someone who is trilingual, Bei derives her own form of sport; setting up games to see how different media portray similar events. In her webinar, Bei challenges us to do the same.

Take a look at these headlines and try to derive its source;

Why it’s time to re-roll the US-China relationship
A new history of being Asian-American
China battles to control nationalist narrative on social media
China is mobilizing its global media machine in the coronavirus war of words

When looking at these four headlines, Bei tells us that it is important to keep in mind 5 lenses. Much like her organisation Five Degrees, Bei jokes that she likes to count in 5s. Who owns the newspaper in which a publication has appeared, what is its ownership? Is it a Chinese state-owned newspaper company or is it owned by an American conglomerate. Next, it is important to consider sources. Who is quoted in the article? Do those quoted have degrees in their respective fields?

Third, take a look at perspectives. Does the author consider both sides of a dilemma? Fourth, what does that author use as their narrative. Is it an op-ed or a commentary, or does the article merely state facts. A last consideration is nuance. This consideration can be the most difficult - what does the author try to imply in her/his article? Is she/he trying to make a point? Is their point overt and transparent, or is it implicit?

Bei ends her webinar with an interesting think piece - and some homework. Recently, on the 22nd of June, the EU-China summit took place via video conference. Using the tools Bei has provided us with (5 lenses to analyse media), we can now come up with our own views. Much like a diet, Bei suggests we can become more mindful of what we consume.

YCC would like to thank Bei for her interesting input, and we hope to see you at our next seminar/webinar!

Find Bei Wang:

www.beiwang.nl (personal website)

www.five-degrees.com (company website)

Mail: bei@five-degrees.com

This article appeared on Sixth Tone and is written by Josef Gregory Mahoney, a Professor of Politics at East China Normal University. Sixth Tone is an online magazine owned by the Shanghai United Media Group, a state-owned enterprise.
https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1005385/why-its-time-to-re-roll-the-u.s.-china-relationship
A cultural comment appeared in The New Yorker by Hua Hsu. Most readers of the New Yorker hold “consistently liberal” political views according to Pew Research. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/a-new-history-of-being-asian-american
This article appeared in the SCMP and is written by Kinling Lo. SCMP is a Hong Kong English-language newspaper and Hong Kong’s newspaper of record, currently owned by Alibaba Group. Before it was owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3086698/china-battles-control-nationalist-narrative-social-media
An article by Hadas Gold and appeared in CNN Business. CNN is owned by America’s conglomerate AT&T. Upon its launch in 1980, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/15/media/china-coronavirus-global-media/index.html

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China’s ambassador scolds the West to flatter Xi

Ardi Bouwers — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 15:45:54 +0000

In 2019 China ushered in a new era for its public diplomacy. Its ambassadors – armed with new Twitter accounts – opted for confrontation with Europe and North America. The conventional explanation is that these swipes are a consequence of China’s rise to prominence. But to understand China’s assertive public diplomacy in the decade ahead, Joris Teer and Ardi Bouwers argue that one has to look at internal party politics inside the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

‘Millions of innocent lives lost in Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria because of US military actions. Want to mess up China’s Hong Kong & Xinjiang? No way!’ This is what China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted when the US Senate adopted a bill to support demonstrators in Hong Kong. China’s state media and representatives happily shared the message.

Shotguns for enemies
It is not just the United States that has been confronted with China’s new assertive approach. PEN-International, a Swedish non-governmental organisation (NGO), gave a free speech award to a Swedish book merchant incarcerated in China. In response, China’s ambassador warned on a public radio channel: ‘We treat our friends with fine wine, but for our enemies we have shotguns.’

And then there is Canada. The Canadians arrested the top financial executive of telecom giant Huawei, who is also the daughter of the company’s founder. China’s ambassador accused Canada publicly of ‘Western egotism’ and ‘white supremacy’. He received a promotion and is now his country’s ambassador to France.

Through these acts, China is making a radical break with its public diplomacy of the past, which has traditionally been conflict-averse. Diplomatic rows were not deemed beneficial to China’s main task of building up its economy. Now that China has become a major power in the world, it is in a position to adopt a more self-aware and nationalistic tone. This is the broadly understood explanation.

Internal party politics
However, by merely focusing on China’s foreign relations, an important factor remains overlooked, namely: internal party-political manoeuvring. For Xi Jinping, loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its ideology – and in the end, to himself – trumps everything. This forces ambitious party officials constantly to prove that they are his best-behaved pupils. Opting for confrontation with the West is an excellent way for diplomats to get their boss to notice them.

Within other professions in China too, ambitious officials attempt to outdo each other in following Xi’s commandments. ‘Freedom of thought’ was removed from the charter of a top Chinese university. A pledge of loyalty to the CCP was added to the same university’s charter and to several others as well. A discussion about this measure was immediately deleted by the censors of Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.

Losing touch
Although this is an effective way to silence criticism, the party leadership risks losing touch with what is actually taking shape in society as a consequence. Such far-reaching dedication to Xi therefore mostly represents a risk to China itself. It inhibits the Chinese state’s ability to be self-critical in assessing its policies.

When Deng Xiaoping inherited an impoverished country from Mao Zedong, he encouraged officials to adopt a pragmatic and results-oriented approach to develop China’s economy. ‘Cross the river by touching the stones, be careful’ he instructed them. They conducted economic experiments in their respective regions and reported the outcomes. A feedback loop came into existence: officials learned which policies actually were successful, on the basis of which Beijing again adjusted national policy. It led to impressive results; between 1980 and 2015 hundreds of millions of Chinese were raised out of (extreme) poverty.

Army of yes-men
Crucial elements of this feedback loop were its relative openness and a willingness to learn from mistakes. Local party officials did not have to fear failure. In contrast, by demanding absolute loyalty Xi is creating an army of yes-men: party officials who welcome every policy proposal – however faulty – with cheers of approval. Daily news broadcasts underscore this development, as ordinary Chinese look and listen to the Chinese leader in awe. Xi Jinping guides the way and elaborates on his policies. No-one asks questions. Nobody initiates proposals.

Disastrous consequences
This development can have disastrous consequences, as China’s history has shown. During Mao’s Great Leap Forward in the middle of the last century, local party officials reported one record harvest after another. Anyone who had the guts to say that Mao’s economic policy of collectivisation was a disaster (in full accordance with the facts on the ground) was labelled a counter-revolutionary or a ‘rightist’, fired and prosecuted. Criticism of party officials and attempts to point out shortcomings went unheard. Failed harvests led to a massive famine, killing tens of millions of people.

Are decisions in Beijing really taken solely on the basis of what sycophants think Xi wants to hear, or are they also reached using the – less pleasant – facts? No information comes out about the internal discussions at the top of the CCP and so we cannot be sure. But the fact that Xi likes to refer to Mao (and rarely mentions Deng) seems bad news for the decade to come. Of one thing we can be sure, however: if we want to explain the new aggressive tone of China’s diplomats abroad, we need to look beyond the external relations of the PRC.

Joris Teer is the founder of Teer Strategy, an Amsterdam-based firm for strategy development and geopolitical analysis. Ardi Bouwers is the director of China Circle (based in The Hague) and a sinologist.

Published on the Asia Dialogue website of Nottingham University on 29 January 2020.
And in Dutch in De Volkskrant on 26 December 2019.

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The Great China Debate

Ardi Bouwers — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 08:46:41 +0000

What are the consequences of China’s rise for the Netherlands? That was the central question during the Great China Debate in De Balie in Amsterdam in September, organized by the Leiden Asia Centre and Clingendael. Perceptions of China seem either black or white: people describe the country as ‘dystopian’ or as ‘amazing’. Middle ground is hard to find.

We tend to look at China from a European perspective, but what is China’s perception of Europe and the Netherlands? And how does China view itself, both in the past and in the 21st century? China Circle’s Ardi Bouwers also discussed the need to understand the diverging perceptions of political values: the Western world order emphasizes rights, whereas China points to responsibilities.

Photos: Jan Boeve – De Balie

Is it possible to develop a new vocabulary where the two can meet? We live in the 21st century and we can’t afford to just cling to ideas and agreements of the 20th century (‘victor’s justice’ in the eyes of Xi Jinping’s China). We need to define our priorities – and red lines concerning human rights – again. What do we stand for? What do we want to fight for? Millennials rightly point out that climate change is a collective problem – our common responsibility – and it can only be solved by collaborative action. Therefore, the climate crisis presents an opportunity to establish common ground.

Watch the keynotes of Ardi and the other participants here (in Dutch), with Arjen van Dijkhuizen (ABN Amro), Frans-Paul van der Putten (Clingendael), and three members of parliament: Bram van Ojik (Green Left), Wybren van Haga (Liberal party) and Martijn van Helvert (Christian Democrats).

For just Ardi’s keynote, click here. And you can also watch the whole debate here.

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Storytelling from Confucius to Social Media

Ardi Bouwers — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 13:08:25 +0000

Storytelling Masterclass on delicate issues and striking speeches
– Are you dealing with delicate issues or a minefield of sensitivities?
– Do you want to get your message just right?
– Are you great at elaborate explaining, but not at clear convincing?
– Can you clearly explain ‘what’ you do, but do you tend to omit the ‘why’?
– Do you find it difficult to come up with a powerful pitch?
– Are you looking for a way to put your core message into a striking speech?

Does this sound like you?
Then this interactive full-day Masterclass on Storytelling from Confucius to Social Media that will be presented in The Hague (or in-company, if you want to practice with your team) is perfect for you!

We will deal with questions such as:
– Why is the age-old art of storytelling relevant for business?
– What are the most important characteristics of storytelling?
– What is the impact of social media on storytelling?
– How do you tell stories with and without words?
– How can you customize your story to the needs of audiences in Europe and Asia?

Old stories and modern movies can help us open our eyes to effective storytelling techniques. During the first part of this Storytelling Masterclass, we teach tips & tricks from as diverse a field as Chinese and Greek philosophers, Disney scriptwriters and social media influencers. We examine effective examples of storytelling (including simple but powerful company ‘origin’ stories) and we will share ideas and best practices in different cultural settings. On top of that, we will analyse international marketing blunders. There is a lot to learn from those mistakes, especially when you deal with sensitive issues in a politicized environment.

In the second part of the Masterclass, we will examine what’s really important for you, your team or your company. We will discover your core message – and use that as a basis to develop a new, strong narrative. Our decades of experience in journalism, management and China will help you avoid pitfalls and convey your core message effectively across cultures.

During the 1-day Masterclass:
You will get to know our 6-C model which will guide you through the storytelling process, so that by the end you will have created your own inspiring story.

This will be a day full of learning, discussing, connecting and creating. You will draft and refine your personal or business story during the Masterclass. After completing the workshop, you will receive a certificate.

And as a bonus, we will review the story that you continue to develop after the Masterclass, and provide you with personal 1-on-1 feedback in a coaching call.

Ardi Bouwers and Tao Yue welcome you in our light workshop space in the centre of The Hague, with a garden and – according to participants – a ‘Zen atmosphere’. Or, if you have a group of at least 5 participants, we will come to you.
We work in small groups and provide an open, friendly and safe environment.

Your investment?
Only 295 Euros (excl. VAT) for this 1-day-session, including drinks and lunch.

We work with small groups so make sure to reserve your seat by sending an e-mail to: ardi@chinacircle.nl

Date: Friday October 11, 2019
9.30 Welcome tea & coffee
10.00 Masterclass part 1: Examples, tips and tricks
12.30 Lunch
13.30 Masterclass part 2: Developing your own story
16.30 Informal drinks
17.00 End

Place: Surinamestraat 38 in The Hague

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Has the West lost it? A provocation

Ardi Bouwers — Tue, 28 May 2019 15:34:57 +0000

Professor Kishore Mahbubani from Singapore likes to cast stones into the pond, albeit gently. On May 23rd, in The Hague, the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs organised an event in cooperation with Krijger & Partners and China Circle, with professor Mahbubani as keynote speaker and Dutch ambassador in Beijing Ed Kronenburg presenting reflective remarks on the speech. Students from the universities of Utrecht, Leiden, Rotterdam, The Hague and Twente kicked off by offering their views on China: they showed great curiosity about China and its future role, a welcome addition to the omnipresent ‘fear or opportunity’ reactions to China’s rise. China Circle’s Ardi Bouwers moderated the event.

Original thinker

Professor Mahbubani is an academic at the National University of Singapore and a former diplomat. For years, he worked as Singapore’s permanent representative at the United Nations. He presents his arguments in a soft spoken and charming way. But his book titles do have a sharp edge. His most recent book is Has the West lost it? A provocation. It’s about how difficult it proves to be for the West (and the US, especially) to recognize historic worldwide changes. According to him, the West was the locomotive of world economic growth, but the explosive growth in China has reversed the order.

A provocative book title that struck me a long time ago was Can Asians Think? In that book, written many years ago, this original thinker tries to understand and explain the divide between East and West.

Good ally

In the Hague, Mahbubani started off with a prediction: How will the Netherlands choose its way in the current US-China global contest? He presented three scenarios, plus the likelihood of what The Netherlands would choose within 10 years:

Be a Good Ally of the US (60% chance)
Remain Passive and Neutral (30% chance)
Support the Voice of Reason (only a 10% chance).

Shifting balance of power

According to him, it would be best for the Netherlands and the West to adapt to the shifting balance of power, now that China and India are taking up their historic dominant economic roles again. Good news for the West? “The economic cake is not getting smaller,” he says. That almost sounds like what the Chinese would call a classic ‘win-win situation’. He coats his message in sugar: “Thanks to the West and Western ideas, the human condition was never better. Yet, at this moment of triumph, the West seems hopelessly lost.”

Good enough governance

Mahbubani does admit that in China and other fast developing countries there is no ‘good governance’. But he points out the fact that India, Indonesia and China have all managed to lift many millions of people out of poverty. So, he says, Modi, Jokowi and Xi Jinping can be described as ‘competent’ leaders and their standards of governance are good enough, providing ‘functional governance’. But when will this functional governance not be good enough anymore? That is still an open question.

New rules?

Not everyone would agree with Mahbubani’s assessment that China is not a threat to the liberal international order, as, in his words, it has “benefitted from the system”. The fact that China has benefitted, does not preclude it to start using its newly acquired position of strength by trying to set new rules for the international economic and political order of the 21^st century. He does not like the term ‘agressive’ when referring to China and prefers the more moderate ‘assertive’. Always the diplomat.

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New: Young China Circle

Ardi Bouwers — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 11:47:21 +0000

‘How do Dutch millennials view China’s rise?’
That was the central question of the China College Tour this spring. After lively discussions at universities all over the Netherlands, we presented the outcomes of the China College Tour to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 10.

Interactive and personal
At the interactive sessions, co-organised by Krijger & Partners, universities and student organisations and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we discussed issues such as:
– The two faces of China: techno-economic genius or command and control system?
– Understanding the giant: culture, politics and the innovative economy in China.

The personal experiences presented by students of Netherlands-Asia Honours Summer School were especially insightful. In addition, there were keynotes by Kathleen Ferrier, Xiaojia Xu, Ties Dams, Friso Stevens, Michiel Ebbing, Rene Cuperus and Ardi Bouwers. Their presentations formed the basis for questions and discussion.

Lack of knowledge
The most important overall conclusion was that millennials are very curious about what’s happening in China, but find they lack in-depth knowledge of that rapidly changing country. History lessons that focus on Europe and the western world, for example, tend to create a fear of China, instead of arousing curiosity (as a Dutch saying goes: ‘Unknown makes unloved’). Participating students were adament that both in secondary and higher education, more attention should be paid to China to fill this knowledge gap.

Curious, but critical
The China-debate should be broad, they say, and focus on values (both Dutch/European and Chinese), trade, innovation, climate, sustainability, privacy and cyber-security. So let’s not narrow it down to a struggle between merchant (‘koopman’) and preacher (‘dominee’). The conclusion? The millennial generation will face the challenge of a rising China and they want to adopt a curious, but critical attitude.

Krijger & Partners and China Circle decided to establish Young China Circle, a platform that wants to continue the China debate and secure the highly necessary input of millennials. All contributors to the China College Tour will be actively involved in this initiative.

Do you have a question or request for Young China Circle?
Please contact: tom@krijgerandpartners.com or ardi@chinacircle.nl

Stay tuned for new ideas, sessions and exchanges!

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China’s rise and Europe’s bias

Ardi Bouwers — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 13:31:51 +0000

Respect & admiration or fear & loathing? Mention ‘China’ and you will encounter widely different views and emotions. Not coincidentally, both the EU and the Netherlands are discussing a China strategy these days. China’s rise makes it imperative to form an opinion on the country and how to deal with its increasing economic and political influence.

Eurocentric
What strikes me in the current discussion, is that China did not really seem to exist before. Like it popped up in our consciousness out of nowhere. Our familiar world, the western liberal world order, is suddenly challenged by this rising power in the east. The surprise surely is a result of our very Eurocentric world view, taught in our history books and prevalent in western media.

A perfect illustration of the fact that China was always there (as was that other large Asian nation, India), is an animated bar chart on the most populous cities in the world, compiled by the Financial Times. I couldn’t stop looking at it. It makes perfectly clear that Asian cities were the largest in the world for centuries. We just seem to have forgotten or repressed it. For us, Western dominance is the norm, and that’s also what we teach our children in school. Now take three minutes to watch this brilliant FT bar chart animation, starting in 1500 AD.

Alternative narratives
Why are we oblivious to the fact that GDP of China and India combined amounted to about 70% of global accumulated GDP during the period we call ‘the Roman Empire’? Or that China’s economy was the largest in the world for centuries (but not in the past 200 years)? Why do we seem unaware of the fact that the rise of the US really only took off in the 20th century? Take a look at this insightful Visual Capitalist graph and try to deduce some alternative narratives about the world’s economic history (more info here: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/2000-years-economic-history-one-chart/)

As both graphs show, western dominance is not at all natural if we take a long historical view. Our vision somehow has become blurred by our Eurocentric bias – unconscious, of course – but a bias that blinds us nevertheless. We’ve adopted narratives of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British conquerors across all seas, of popular uprisings inevitably leading to democracy, of a world where western values would prevail. And that’s what we teach our children in school.

‘Western privilege’
But the world changes all the time. Over a century ago, voting for women was considered unacceptable and irresponsible by many. Now it’s difficult to imagine why the fight for electoral rights took so long. And just like the concepts of ‘male privilege’ or ‘white privilege’ prove difficult to accept for the privileged, those who profit from western dominance seem unaware of alternative world views and narratives – a phenomenon I propose to call ‘western privilege’.

Yellow danger
The EU uses the term ‘systemic rival’ to describe China, adding fuel to the ‘yellow danger’ narrative. Now, as an old Dutch saying goes, fear is a bad advisor. Of course, we should maintain a critical stance, but let’s not give in to cynicism. We should not be naïve when dealing with any rising power, but it would be more productive to offer an inspiring alternative: not the current bureaucratic EU vision, but an inspirational narrative based on values. Not because we’ve come to consider those values as ‘normal’, but because these values are so important that we want to fight for them.

Backbone
And if Europe can get its act together, it’s much easier to show backbone when dealing with Xi Jinping’s assertive China, spreading our ideas and convictions, instead of fearing the loss of market access and China’s intrusion into Europe.

Chinese are known as tough negotiators. They don’t expect us to be nice, in my experience they even appreciate a principled stand. Of course we should tackle the existing asymmetry in EU-Chinese relations by demanding a level playing field in economic relations and other areas. The Chinese make use of our open media system, for example, while it’s getter more difficult than ever for international correspondents to get access to China. Xi Jinping clearly likes to control the narrative, but we don’t have to accept that.

Curiosity
Back to the question I started out with: respect & admiration or fear & loathing when dealing with China? The answer is, not either-or, but a bit of both. Let’s respect what China has achieved since opening up in 1979 and let’s be critical, but not cynical. And most important of all, let’s be curious about that fast-changing and challenging country.

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Meetup April 12: Storytelling in the digital age

Ardi Bouwers — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 11:26:56 +0000

Without data we can’t do business today; we can’t manage public services; we can’t even enjoy entertainment. Data permeates our lives, creating opportunities and driving growth. But as we generate more and more data, a lot of it gets wasted or used ineptly. And as the gap in understanding between data experts and users widens, trust in data declines.

Storytelling – one of the oldest and most powerful means of human communication – can close this gap. It can speak to technical as well as non-technical people. It can inform the users what data means for them and how to act on it. It can bring forth the meaning embedded in data.

Stories are the SOUL of data.

So, after our Cross-cultural Storytelling Meetup, we now present the Storytelling with Data Meetup. Participants will get a discount on our upcoming workshops on these topics.

At this Meetup we will explore Data Storytelling with Tao Yue, a management school professional, business case study writer and novelist. We will look at how to tell a good story with data and how to use stories to create impact in business as well as in life.

When: Friday April 12, 2019, from 15.00 – 17.00, drinks and networking afterwards
Where: Surinamestraat 38, The Hague
Fee: € 10 (including coffee, tea and drinks)

Reserve your seat now at: https://www.ticketkantoor.nl/shop/datastorytelling

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