Martin Jacques says that to understand the rise of China we need three building blocks:
1. It’s not a nation state but a civilisation state which is to say that it is shaped by 2000 years of history. Its culture has unity at it’s core and yet, given it’s internal diversity, different parts are ruled in different ways.
2. The Chinese conception of race is very different. 90% belong to the Han race who have a superiority complex. It’s multiracial only at the margins.
3. The relationship between the state and society in China is different. The Chinese state, despite not being ‘democratic’, enjoys more legitimacy and more authority among it’s people than any western state. The state is considered as a guardian of it’s civilisation state. For 1000 years the state has not been challenged.
Akshat Rathi 