Tony Blair: China's New Cultural Revolution
[Mr. Blair was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1997-2007.]
Yesterday, just a week after the 60th anniversary celebrations of the People's Republic, China kicked off its first World Media Summit. It shows how far China has come—and how far it has to go.
First, understand the problem. We all know China is a nation of 1.3 billion people, but that is just a statistic. Think of how we regard the United States—how different California is from Ohio, for example. Then quadruple it. Think of trying to meld China's 56 native ethnic groupings into one cohesive state. Think of the disaster, not just to the Chinese, but to ourselves, if it fractured.
Understand also how dramatic and daunting the challenge of China's development is. The U.S. has 4% of its population employed in agriculture. Almost 60% of Chinese make their livelihood farming, and more than 150 million live on $1 a day. They need to shift from farming to industry, and they need to do so desperately. The East Coast of China, especially around Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, may look, in parts, like the First World. But rural China, inland and to the West, is in the beginning stages of development. It will have to change at a pace the world has never seen before.
Are China's leaders concerned about ensuring that this happens with minimum chaos and maximum stability? Of course, and so they should be. Disorder is their enemy and ours.
Today, we analyze feverishly whether China will be able to help rebalance the world economy; whether it will play its full part in the Copenhagen negotiations on climate change; and what its position may be on Iran. Imagine we were analyzing the consequences of a threat to China's stability and cohesion. And then be glad we are not.
None of this means that we should stop posing tough questions to China's leaders. It simply means that we should appreciate how their country looks to them from the inside. We may criticize the speed of political reform, and raise concerns about human rights and the rule of law. But we should at least understand that their political and economic endeavor is unique in human history. Its magnitude is beyond the comprehension of most Western leaders, and its complexity should be recognized.
Prior to 1949, China was a deeply riven and unequal society. There was a reason for the civil war and the multiple invasions of foreign powers. There was a reason for the upheaval of 1949. In the first 30 years came the completion of the revolution and the establishment of the People's Republic. But then came the Cultural Revolution...
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Yesterday, just a week after the 60th anniversary celebrations of the People's Republic, China kicked off its first World Media Summit. It shows how far China has come—and how far it has to go.
First, understand the problem. We all know China is a nation of 1.3 billion people, but that is just a statistic. Think of how we regard the United States—how different California is from Ohio, for example. Then quadruple it. Think of trying to meld China's 56 native ethnic groupings into one cohesive state. Think of the disaster, not just to the Chinese, but to ourselves, if it fractured.
Understand also how dramatic and daunting the challenge of China's development is. The U.S. has 4% of its population employed in agriculture. Almost 60% of Chinese make their livelihood farming, and more than 150 million live on $1 a day. They need to shift from farming to industry, and they need to do so desperately. The East Coast of China, especially around Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, may look, in parts, like the First World. But rural China, inland and to the West, is in the beginning stages of development. It will have to change at a pace the world has never seen before.
Are China's leaders concerned about ensuring that this happens with minimum chaos and maximum stability? Of course, and so they should be. Disorder is their enemy and ours.
Today, we analyze feverishly whether China will be able to help rebalance the world economy; whether it will play its full part in the Copenhagen negotiations on climate change; and what its position may be on Iran. Imagine we were analyzing the consequences of a threat to China's stability and cohesion. And then be glad we are not.
None of this means that we should stop posing tough questions to China's leaders. It simply means that we should appreciate how their country looks to them from the inside. We may criticize the speed of political reform, and raise concerns about human rights and the rule of law. But we should at least understand that their political and economic endeavor is unique in human history. Its magnitude is beyond the comprehension of most Western leaders, and its complexity should be recognized.
Prior to 1949, China was a deeply riven and unequal society. There was a reason for the civil war and the multiple invasions of foreign powers. There was a reason for the upheaval of 1949. In the first 30 years came the completion of the revolution and the establishment of the People's Republic. But then came the Cultural Revolution...