Why we know more of the US than we do of China

Just as important or at least should be as important to Filipinos is the 18th CPC National Congress. It is remarkable that China should be so near and its influence so pervasive in the Philippines, yet we know so little in general about the country. With the US elections and the 18th CPC National Congress happening so close to each other, we are able to compare our reactions to both events.

It is safe to say we knew more about Romney and Obama than we did about Hu Jintao and his successor, Xi Jinping, let alone how to spell their names. Why were we more interested in an American election than we were in a change of leadership in China? In my opinion it has to do with the colonization of the East. Inevitably we know little of each other than we do of the countries that colonized us.

I would not bang my head trying to change things insofar as that is concerned. It is time to admit that colonization played such a large part in our history it continues to this day. It is the longue duree, an expression used by French historians of events long gone but continues to assert its influence. Unless we view it as such, we would not understand why our attention should be more riveted to American rather than Chinese events.

China was an experiment, a bold move to change policy direction and structure in order to meet the problems of its multitudes. The Chinese call it “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” However it is called, the fact is it succeeded. China has pushed itself upward by simply conceding that they will use the ways that made the West so rich and powerful. So it was functioning on two tracks to create and distribute wealth in the best way they could. It is also sometimes referred to as the Deng Xiaoping formula.

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Reading from dispatches on both events, my own conclusion is that these were events as events and will not really mean a change in the trajectory of the paths America and China have taken. For a long time more America will continue as the lone superpower and China will continue in its catch up game. As some analysts said, it is no good trying to force it sooner than expected — China may be growing stronger and more prosperous but it is still a long way as second. It seems strange, if America, which has flourished because of market competition should now reject competition from China.

I would like to take up yet another difference between the two countries. It is about their attitude on democracy. I will venture a thought: To Americans, democracy is a given, an ideal or idea that has to be attained and its energies are directed towards achieving the ideal or idea not just in their country but elsewhere in the world.

‘To the Chinese democracy is a tool, a means that is used when needed and discarded when it does not serve the purpose of nation building.

Which of the two approaches will be more useful for the challenges in the coming days will be interesting to watch. Although there is speculation that the new leadership in China is expected to change in the face of the global financial crisis, it will really depend on just how these challenges develop.

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Elections are not the means through which the Chinese indicate whether they will maintain the status quo or take a leap for change. It is not the Chinese way. It is done through 10-year programs through CPC national congresses such as the one that recently took place.

“China is facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, it aims to build an all-round well-off society by 2020, or the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Party, so the time after the 18th CPC National Congress will be particularly crucial,” says a statement sent by the Chinese embassy spokesman.

It admits many difficulties and problems, including increased economic downward pressure. They fear the end of the miraculous era of nearly double-digit growth is perhaps coming to an end.

The last ten years under President Hu Jintao have been considered by the Chinese as a success. But like ebb and flow success has its own peril and unless it is managed judiciously it can turn into disaster. “Over the past 10 years, China has achieved average yearly economic growth of 10.7 percent, far above the world’s 3.9 percent in the same period. The country has taken second place in the world’s GDP rally, with an average per-capita annual GDP of $5,432, up from $1,135 in 2002.”

In infrastructure, the Hu Jintao administration points at several achievements: “lifting the urbanization rate to over 50 percent from less than 40 percent, completing the Three Gorges Project and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, and conducting manned space journeys and manned deep-sea expeditions.”

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Early in the week, I attended Federal Land’s Grand Hyatt Launch in Fort Bonifacio. It was held at the Lexus showroom, all glass and white walls and floors. It was like being at a grand opening of a 6-star hotel in Hong Kong where the power and the money reside. Congratulations to George Ty, father and sons, Alfred and Arthur, for continuing bold entrepreneurial projects. Who would have thought there could be a project as grand as building a 66-story Grand Hyatt hotel in Manila? It is expected to be a landmark site in Fort Bonifacio.

As one Grand Hyatt executive said to me, “We are not selling condominiums or putting up a hotel, we are selling a lifestyle.” We saw the models for the kitchen and luxurious bathroom and I was convinced. If you live in the Grand Hyatt Residences, you will be living in a home with all the amenities of a hotel. I saw George Ty walking around greeting guests headed by US Ambassador Harry Thomas and Manny V. Pangilinan (another bold entrepreneur), the Grand Hyatt executives and the prestigious Japanese builders Orix. He was beaming from ear to ear proud that it was his group that was selected as the local partner of a hotel of international renown.