The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

Jacques: The next “China” is still China

Joel Wong • February 23, 2024

In 2009 Martin Jacques authored a book “When China Rules the World” that predicted that China will become the dominant global power in the 21st century, not by replicating the Western model.

Instead, Jacques argues that China’s rise will reshape the world order in its own image, leading to a new, multi-polar world with a different set of values and norms.

In the above video, Martin Jacques marveled at the pace that china has developed in a mere four decades. He explained that China has always been a Civilization State and the next China will still be China with its own civilization characteristics.

• Jacques explains that China’s long history as a civilization-state and its distinct understanding of race and modernity will continue to influence the way China interacts with the world.
• As China’s economic power grows, it will increasingly project its values and interests onto the global stage, leading to a more multi-polar world.
• Jacques argues that Westerners often misinterpret China because they apply their own frameworks to China’s behavior. He emphasizes the need for a deeper understanding of Chinese history, culture, and political system to navigate the coming changes.

According to Martin Jacques, China’s civilization-state differs from the Western nation-state in several key ways:

• Nation-state: Identity primarily stems from shared ethnicity, language, and history. Civilization-state: Identity emphasizes cultural unity, shared values, and a long historical continuity within a specific civilization. For China, this means belonging to the Chinese civilization, not just being Han Chinese.
• Nation-state: The state is seen as a tool serving the nation. Individuals hold rights and freedoms separate from the state. Civilization-state: The state embodies and upholds the civilization itself and Individuals’ identities and well-being are intertwined with the state’s role in preserving and advancing the civilization.
• Nation-state: Emphasizes national sovereignty and self-determination, views itself as equal to other nations on the international stage. Civilization-state: May see itself as distinct from other nations, belonging to a different cultural and historical sphere and may view its role as contributing to global order based on its own values.
• Nation-state: Relatively recent concept, emerging in Europe around the 18th century. Civilization-state: China’s civilization, for example, sees itself as having existed for thousands of years.

Some scholars think that Martin Jacques thesis may be an oversimplification of Nation-states, Civilization-states and our world.

What do you think?

~ by Japheth on April 1, 2024.

Posted in BYD, CATL, China