Latest weblog entry from 2009-09-22:
China walking its own path
Welcome to our blog. It took a while. But now that China’s Megatrends, The 8 Pillars of a New Society, has been be published in German (Hanser) and Chinese (Jilin) in the first days of September, and will be published in English in January (HarperCollins), this a good reason to begin.
Why a book about China?
Why not?
Is there any other country in the history of the world that has undergone such dramatic change in so short a time as China?
Some think China will soon dominate the world. An American might say that America with its $14 trillion economy is still far ahead of China. A European might say that China has to first straighten its human rights approach and then we’ll see.
What do we say? What was our purpose in writing this book? It’s easily said: To paint a picture of China with an inside out view and to analyze China on its own terms.
How did a dirt poor country with a population of 1 billion intellectually and literally starved people become the world’s third largest economy in only 30 years? What made such rapid change possible? What are the driving forces behind the economic success and what can we expect from China in the next decades?
China can be heavily criticized, but that does not stop it walking its own path, nor does it bring its increasing role in the world to a halt. We are all affected. Analyzing China on its own terms is the key to understand it.
Understanding does not mean approving but looking at things as they are. A tiger stays a tiger even when you think it is a pussy cat. You might like that or not, but handling the tiger as a tiger will show much better results. We are looking forward to a dialogue about the many questions the rise China’s raises.
Why a book about China?
Why not?
Is there any other country in the history of the world that has undergone such dramatic change in so short a time as China?
Some think China will soon dominate the world. An American might say that America with its $14 trillion economy is still far ahead of China. A European might say that China has to first straighten its human rights approach and then we’ll see.
What do we say? What was our purpose in writing this book? It’s easily said: To paint a picture of China with an inside out view and to analyze China on its own terms.
How did a dirt poor country with a population of 1 billion intellectually and literally starved people become the world’s third largest economy in only 30 years? What made such rapid change possible? What are the driving forces behind the economic success and what can we expect from China in the next decades?
China can be heavily criticized, but that does not stop it walking its own path, nor does it bring its increasing role in the world to a halt. We are all affected. Analyzing China on its own terms is the key to understand it.
Understanding does not mean approving but looking at things as they are. A tiger stays a tiger even when you think it is a pussy cat. You might like that or not, but handling the tiger as a tiger will show much better results. We are looking forward to a dialogue about the many questions the rise China’s raises.
You can find the complete Weblog here