The Altitude of the Attitudes

The Chinese often have referred to their country as the “Middle Kingdom,” which sounds innocuous enough, but it really means “center of the earth and we really don’t need you.” When that notion was initially developed, China actually was so far and away above the rest of the world that they really could make that claim with justification.

During the last great Chinese dynasty – the Ming (1368-1644), replaced by Manchurian invaders (1645-1911) – Chinese roamed the world flexing their muscle. Their “treasure fleets” of the 15^th century employed many massive vessels employing the latest technology – watertight compartments that made such boats virtually unsinkable. They extracted “tribute” from their ports-of-call, choosing wealth over conquest, but always showing their power to all to see. They didn’t bother traveling to visit the Europeans, whom they considered fairly barbaric. The Chinese notion of global superiority lasted well into the 19^th century, even after their losses to the West in the Opium Wars, refusing to accept a genuine ambassador from other nations (only “tribute ambassadors” bearing gifts), because that would apply an equality of nations that China continued to reject until they were overwhelmed at the end of that century.

But as Western modernity – later a Japanese military machine that had risen, mimicking Western practices – combined with the fractious War Lord period, China became a global also-ran. Japan’s cruel assaults and the battles between the Communists and the Nationalists further weakened a country that, post-1949, turned totally inward (and experiencing horrific man-induced disasters such as the Great Leap Forward program that may have resulted in the mass starvation of as many as 30 million Chinese), shutting out the rest of the world until the post-Cultural Revolution mid-1970s.

As Deng Xiaoping reinvented China in the 1980s and brought her into a vibrant market economy, as subsequent leaders (though peaceful succession) have continued China’s growth, heading towards having the greatest gross national product in the world expected in just a few short years (by 2016 according to the IMF), China once again has lifted her head, feeling the power of her centrally-directed socio-economic world in which all things stem from the Communist Party. A billion human beings left poverty as a result of this growth.

“Communism is what we say it is,” declared one senior Chinese politician explaining the apparent dichotomy between the Marxist/Leninist model and what appears to be a rather freewheeling capitalist marketplace. We see new billionaires, powerful new companies, and mistakenly believe that these are truly private structures, traded on international stock markets including the NYSE, that operate independently from government ownership or control. Many believe that half or more of China’s companies are so privately run. Knowledgeable sources suggest that truly independent companies make up no more than 20% of the total market, and that virtually all large structures wear a “red hat” (have direct government… or rather Communist Party… ownership and control). In short, China continues on the rise, albeit in a much more centrally owned and directed process than we generally understand.

Inevitably, despite the intimate trading linkage between the countries, many believe that there is a new footrace between the incumbent number one political and economic power – the United States – and the rising Asian tiger – China. China seemed to have the upper hand after the Western markets collapsed in the recent “Great Recession,” and she has been careful to cultivate relationships with secondary emerging nations all over the world, mustering output arrangement for all kinds of natural resources – from oil to foodstuffs – fuel her continued growth. So in this race for economic and political power, it is most interesting to wonder how the rest of the world perceives the United States versus China.

With a caveat that the following survey results occurred before the revelation by Edward Snowden that the United States National Security Agency has employed massive, seemingly unsupervised surveillance on almost all U.S. citizens as well as international communications and governments, the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project released a survey on July 18^th of thousands of people in 39 nations looking at how China and the United States were perceived globally. Here are some of their findings:

Overall, the U.S. enjoys a stronger global image than China. Across the nations surveyed, a median of 63% express a favorable opinion of the U.S., compared with 50% for China… Globally, people are more likely to consider the U.S. a partner to their country than to see China in this way, although relatively few think of either nation as an enemy. America is also seen as somewhat more willing than China to consider other countries’ interests. Still, both of these world powers are widely viewed as acting unilaterally in international affairs.

And the military power of both nations worries many. China’s growing military strength is viewed with trepidation in neighboring Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s use of drone strikes faces broad opposition – half or more in 31 of 39 countries disapprove of U.S. drone attacks against extremist groups…

Even in many nations where opposition to American foreign policy is widespread and overall ratings for the U.S. are low, majorities or pluralities believe individual rights are respected in the U.S. Across the nations surveyed, a median of 70% say the American government respects the personal freedoms of its people. In contrast, a median of only 36% say this about China…

Currently, more than six-in-ten in Italy, Poland, France and Spain have a favorable opinion of the U.S. European perceptions of China are much less positive – among the eight European Union nations polled, Greece is the only one in which a majority expresses a favorable view of China. Moreover, ratings for China have declined significantly over the last two years in a number of EU countries, including Britain, France, Poland and Spain.

As has been the case in recent years, America’s image is the most negative in parts of the Muslim world, especially Pakistan (11% favorable), Jordan (14%), Egypt (16%), and the Palestinian territories (16%). Only 21% of Turks see the U.S. positively, although this is actually a slight improvement from last year’s 15%. But the Muslim world is hardly monolithic, and America receives largely positive ratings in predominantly Muslim nations such as Senegal in West Africa and Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia… In three predominantly Muslim Asian nations surveyed – Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan – large majorities express a positive overall view of China. Additionally, many Pakistanis and Malaysians welcome China’s growing military power…

By a wide margin, the Japanese give China its worst ratings – only 5% express a positive view. Territorial disputes have increased tensions between these two historic rivals over the past few years, and 82% of Japanese describe these disputes as a big or very big problem… Territorial frictions with China are also considered major problems in South Korea and the Philippines, although unlike Japan, South Koreans and Filipinos are divided in their overall assessments of China. Even though roughly seven-in-ten Australians (71%) are concerned about the growing strength of the People’s Liberation Army, a majority (58%) nonetheless has a favorable opinion of China, their country’s largest trading partner.

The United States shouldn’t make the assumption that it can cling to “the good numbers” forever without some accommodation and sensitivity, often lacking in our foreign policy, to the needs and priorities of other nations. On the other hand, those aspects of our positive values should remain what we continue to grow and build on to enhance our future global political power without having to resort to the most expensive “pressure device” on earth: our military.

I’m Peter Dekom, looking at the world, how they view us… and keeping it real.