Why does ‘China Collapse’ theory persist?

Source:Global Times Published: 2012-10-15 0:45:07

Francis Fukuyama, a famous American scholar, told AFP on Saturday that "China's system is going to blow up at some point" under pressure from a middle-class empowered by wealth and social networks such as Weibo. Media mogul Murdoch also tweeted on the same day: "China in crisis. Massive public anger at corruption." However, several hours later, he added, "Did not mean China in real crisis, at least yet. But big problems."

China's future prospects have attracted a great deal of attention around the world. The China Collapse theory appears from time to time. Fukuyama's argument is typical. It represents many elites' expectations about China.

China is not only a super power, but also a nation in an active period of contradictions caused by social transition.

How should one evaluate today's China? Because of its high speed of development, it seems that China is a bit chaotic. However, the key is whether this "chaotic level" is beyond normal and whether China's current system can deal with it.

We don't believe that these problems show China in crisis. These problems seem more like the diversification of Chinese society.

The top-down political tradition has met with serious challenges from the Internet, but this challenge is accepted by the political framework and functions as an incentive to advance reforms.

Is society seeking the country's collapse? It has to be noted that China's burgeoning middle-class is generally against the breakdown of the country's political system. Many yearn for reform, but very few would like to see a rebuilding of the system from scratch, because this is not in the interests of the middle-class, and also against the will of the majority.

The Chinese public loathes corruption, but this social ill will not be rooted out just by changing the political system. Many developing democracies are bothered by equally serious problems, and this has been realized by more people. The Chinese public is keen to find solutions to curb corruption, but a revolution is not one of them.

In recent decades, predictions of a China collapse have been accompanied by China's growth, which reflects the West's lack of understanding of the country and the emotional resistance against China's rise.

A lot of countries, in both East and West, can be stricken by disturbances. The West created the political civilization of democracy. Now the essences of this civilization have been adopted by many emerging countries. It is those old democracies that are perplexed by their accumulating social ills. Western countries too need tough reforms to adjust to them.

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