BOSTON — Twenty years from now, will you be reading this column in Mandarin?
It sure felt like it this week as China dominated the global news cycle on just about every front — from economics, politics, culture and the Kingdom of Dwarves (more on that later).
Let’s start, as stories about China should, with the economics.
The news must have pleased U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who this week urged Chinese to spend more to help correct imbalances in the global economy — namely the U.S. trade deficit with China and an undervalued Chinese currency, both constant sources of political friction.
But China also gave Washington headaches this week after it took steps to impose new tariffs on nylon imports from the U.S. The nylon spat follows a string of simmering trade disputes over tires, auto parts and chicken.
Beyond trade and economics, the dragon is also sharpening its claws in global politics.
And let’s not forget culture, where China seems to be everywhere too.
So why is China dominating the news from Wall Street to Washington to Wakhan?
It starts, of course, with economic power. China’s handling of the global economic crisis has given it renewed credibility across Asia and throughout the world. Sure, thousands of Chinese factories closed last year, and as a result some 20 million migrant workers lost their jobs. But the government acted swiftly, rapid growth has returned, and with it, so too has the swagger of Beijing’s leaders.
That economic power, naturally, leads to greater political influence. As the most important buyer (along with Japan) of U.S. Treasuries, Washington’s ability to finance its dizzying spending is in large part dependent upon Beijing’s continued willingness to purchase, and hold, them.
But China’s rising influence also matters in Moscow, Tehran, Tokyo, Brussels, Brasilia, Caracas and across Africa and the Middle East, where Beijing is investing like mad to procure the natural resources it needs to fuel growth.
Hence the flood of China news from all corners of the world. Global media, after all, is a mirror on these economic, political and cultural realities. So in the weeks, months and years ahead expect China news to be the rule, rather than the exception.
And if you’ll pardon me going all History Channel on you, this 1803 quote attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte has become something of a cliche in 2009, but it still rings true:
"Let China sleep, for when the dragon awakes she will shake the world."
As we’ve seen this week, she’s awake. And while this new world will surely be bumpy and full of surprises — for China as much as anywhere else — we will all need to live in it without shaking.
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