Summary of Elizabeth C. Economy's The World According to China

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 China’s pandemic diplomacy is not just about responding to a humanitarian crisis, but about challenging the position of the United States as the world’s dominant power.
#2 Xi’s strategy reflects his domestic governance model: a highly centralized Party-state system that takes as its central priority preservation of its own power at home and realization of its sovereignty ambitions abroad. It is a system that grants Xi a unique capability to mobilize and deploy political, economic, and military resources across multiple domains.
#3 China’s robust response to the coronavirus marked a defining moment in Xi Jinping’s almost decade-long drive to reclaim Chinese centrality on the global stage. He and the rest of the Chinese leadership are not satisfied with their country’s position within the international system, the values and policy preferences that the system embodies, how power is distributed, and how decisions are made.
#4 China’s leaders want to reclaim their country’s centrality on the global stage. They believe that the last two centuries in which China was not the dominant global economy were an historical aberration. The current period, in which China’s economy will soon surpass that of the United States, will mark a return to its rightful place.

Sujets

• International relations
• Général
• Politique

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 21 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669356837
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Elizabeth C. Economy's The World According to China
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

China’s pandemic diplomacy is not just about responding to a humanitarian crisis, but about challenging the position of the United States as the world’s dominant power.

#2

Xi’s strategy reflects his domestic governance model: a highly centralized Party-state system that takes as its central priority preservation of its own power at home and realization of its sovereignty ambitions abroad. It is a system that grants Xi a unique capability to mobilize and deploy political, economic, and military resources across multiple domains.

#3

China’s robust response to the coronavirus marked a defining moment in Xi Jinping’s almost decade-long drive to reclaim Chinese centrality on the global stage. He and the rest of the Chinese leadership are not satisfied with their country’s position within the international system, the values and policy preferences that the system embodies, how power is distributed, and how decisions are made.

#4

China’s leaders want to reclaim their country’s centrality on the global stage. They believe that the last two centuries in which China was not the dominant global economy were an historical aberration. The current period, in which China’s economy will soon surpass that of the United States, will mark a return to its rightful place.

#5

Chinese influence and power extends through the Asia Pacific, which is seamlessly integrated through Chinese-powered trade, technology, infrastructure, and shared cultural and civilizational ties. Chinese leaders promote the value of integration through trade, but also emphasize the value of security cooperation.

#6

China has long claimed that it supports the international system, but it has also argued that it was left out of the development of the post-World War II Bretton Woods System, as its political system was not compatible with the mainstream of the existing international order.

#7

China’s desire to reorder the world order is a tall one. American leadership on the global stage, its democratic alliance system, and the post-World War II liberal international order are deeply entrenched.

#8

China’s centralization of power and control over information allowed the government to lockdown Wuhan and prevent 11 million people from leaving the city, but it also allowed the government to silence doctors and scientists who were warning the public.

#9

The Chinese government’s response to the pandemic was successful, and the country emerged as the only major economy to post positive growth rates. However, China’s pandemic diplomacy resulted in a very different outcome on the international front.

#10

On New Year’s Eve, two separate WHO offices sounded the alarm bells. The WHO requested more information from Chinese authorities, who acknowledged the existence of a cluster of cases but provided very little additional insight.

#11

By mid-March, the Chinese government had largely arrested the spread of the virus. They shifted their focus to promoting China as a leader in pandemic response.

#12

Chinese leaders used the COVID-19 pandemic to promote traditional Chinese medicine, which is both lucrative and an important source of potential Chinese cultural or soft power influence.

#13

While China was praised for providing PPE, its Wolf Warrior diplomacy tactics, which included leveraging the country’s control over PPE, began to negatively impact its reputation.

#14

China’s mask diplomacy, which used coercive mask exports to foreign countries, backfired and international media began to portray China as a bully.

#15

The WHO was a critical ally for Beijing as the pandemic progressed. The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, consistently downplayed the potential threat of the virus and any Chinese responsibility for its spread.

#16

The WHO’s support for Beijing throughout the pandemic raised eyebrows in other countries. Some staffers claimed that China was not sharing information in a timely manner.

#17

China’s unwillingness to put its conflict with Taiwan aside in 2020 was a clear indication of how far China was willing to go to reinforce its sovereignty claims.

#18

China joined the COVAX vaccine initiative in late 2020, but the country’s lack of transparency in its vaccine trials raised questions about the efficacy and safety of the vaccines.

#19

China’s foreign policy demonstrates how Xi has adapted his domestic governance model to pursue his strategic ambitions. He used the Chinese market to try to coerce countries into thanking China for its PPE and into dropping their calls for an investigation into the origins of the virus.

#20

China’s Belt and Road Initiative is the heart of chapter 4. It is a sprawling network of global physical and technological infrastructure, as well as political and security influence. The BRI has helped China realize its ambitions for a reordered world, but its continued success may be derailed by discontent within host countries over Beijing’s weak governance practices and low environmental and labor standards.

#21

The final chapter discusses how the United States and the rest of the world should respond to China’s strategic ambitions. While there is room for cooperation between China and the United States on global issues such as climate change, this will not alter the contest between two different sets of values and visions.

#22

China’s strategic priority is to maintain sovereignty and social stability in the near term, and to realize the unification of China over the longer term. Xi is willing to tolerate significant disequilibrium in the international system to achieve these ends.

#23

China has made significant progress in realizing its strategic vision, but continued success is not guaranteed. The very characteristics that have enabled China to achieve its foreign policy objectives in the near term now risk undermining its future progress.

#24

China’s assertiveness has resulted in increased political and economic costs for many developing and middle-income countries. China does not appear prepared to supplant the United States as the world’s sole superpower.

#25

The fundamental challenge presented by China is to the broader values, norms, and institutions that underpin the current rules-based order. As China’s senior-most foreign official, Yang Jiechi, stated in March 2021, What China and the international community follow or uphold is the United Nations-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, not what is advocated by a small number of countries of the so-called rules-based international order.

#26

China’s officials talk about the rise of the East, and the decline of the West, which is a common Chinese narrative.

#27

China was also accused of exporting faulty masks and tests to other countries.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Chinese government and business community reacted very negatively to Daryl Morey’s tweet, which was quickly taken down, stating that he did not speak for the Houston Rockets.

#2

The NBA was not the first international business or foreign government to encounter the sharp edge of China’s power. Beijing frequently uses its market leverage to coerce other countries and foreign businesses to do its bidding.

#3

China’s willingness to use its economic leverage extends beyond considerations of sovereignty.