The Silk Road Economy

The passages are the inland road and the maritime route, the former going through Central Asia, and the latter sailing through the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea on to Europe.

Of the articulated civilizational dreams, Europe’s Dream was exemplified by the claim that the “sun never sets on the British Empire.” The American Dream had been a two-century experiment on political arrangement that allowed individuals to achieve goals in a country that encourages talent and will to go on merit rather than status and family connection; sadly, deteriorating to police insolence in turning their backs on their own city mayor at a funeral for two of their colleagues. (We’ll stick to the “dream” rather than NYC and the new nationwide police movement.)

China’s President Xi Jinping refers to the China Dream, traceable to the history of the PRC though of varying emphasis since Sun Yat-sen (aka Sun Yixian) deviated from the imperium of the Qin to the Qing dynasties and their claim to heaven’s mandate. Mao Zedong focused on peasants and workers to lead party decisions, denied by the social elite in academe, thus the Cultural Revolution. Deng Xiao Ping released the power of the economic jugular arteries to allow some to get rich first before others. Beijing now pulls together a three-pronged dream.

First, a democratic impulse invites all 1.3 billion Chinese to be part of the dream, not just the 80-million member CPC; the critical sectors of energy, military and finance are being pruned of wayward branches. This impulse is up against the comfortable accommodation to CPC’s decision-making that curtailed initiative. But the impulse is in place.

Second is an egalitarian yearning meant to counter China’s struggle with the elitist intelligentsia, a mainstay in China’s society. This is systemic as the registration hu kuo system favors the urban dwellers against the rural. While PM Li Keqiang looks at a 60 percent urban population in the next decade, 15 percent of China’s population that are registered in the countryside live in cities where they work but are deprived of urban amenities that their urban registered kin enjoy.

Aside from revamping the system, the current strategy to remedy the situation is two-pronged. One is to bring urban features to the rural, a tall order as expensive infrastructure and housing are beyond affordable. The other is to make the city a place where nature thrives; verdant commons, roof gardens and “green” parks to prevail, the maintenance of traditional practices that remarkably hold ecological ethos.

Third is a win-win outcome of economic exchanges, international and intra-country. This is really not just equity in numbers as it is an affirmation of the ancient wisdom of yin-yang, valuing harmony and cooperation, collaboration and mutual trade even in the midst of differences.

If the democratic impulse invites reforms, this last requires deep cultural roots of fairness and justice, of course, with «Chinese characteristics.»

The last Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing saw the China-Japan lukewarm handshake, the signing of the China-USA Free Trade Agreement, and an OZ Tony Abbott vowing to «front shirt» Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Xi stuck to promoting an Asia Pacific Dream of shared destinies in glocal development, peace and mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly working for the prosperity and progress of the region.

The dream can be just a PR jingle with a squirm and a giggle; it can also be held in mutual trust, pursuing win-win cooperation, building on open trade and economy. Premier Li took the same to Myanmar for the ASEAN meeting, President Xi to G20 in Brisbane, signed an FTA with OZ, affirmed Kiwi that the 6-year-old FTA is still in place, and conferred with eight Pacific Island leaders in Fiji. The Silk Road Economic Circle maritime route just drew in Oceania!

On territorial disputes, the U.S. protects Japan/South Korea from being gobbled up by China, much the same way it kept Eretz Israel from being overwhelmed by the Arab states. In both cases, the politics of oil is slick and sleazy.

The WH and the Pentagon are separated by more than just the Potomac. Obama campaigned to close down Guantanamo’s military prison but six years into his term, he has yet to get civil law into martial compounds, and not for lack of trying. BHO’s strength is his ability to flaunt military machismo without losing political points, or compromise his wit in the haze of uniformed oxymoron. He avoids deploying GI Joe and Jane into conflict grounds. The media claims that U.S. male whitey gave Obama a trumping in the last election.

The U.S. has a fourth of China’s population, one in every five humans. China has the longest continuous civilization on the planet, and its China Dream is on. The Opinion page last Friday had two articles on China. So, why not let the Dream play the full course? Better yet, why not join ‘em and add one’s two-cent piece in the process?