Thoughts on China's Rise

It's no secret that China's not a favorite of the American public.

In a very insightful paper on trade politics I recently read in class, there was a survey of public opinion on trade with various countries.The exact statistics escape my mind, but I remember being struck by the fact that over 70% thought trade with Canada was a positive thing, 50% thought trade with Japan was a positive thing, and only 15% felt good about trade with China. Why is that? Bear in mind that these people are already ardent supporters of free trade.

If trade is about maximizing welfare gains and benefiting American consumers and producers, does it really matter THAT much who you trade with? Americans are practical, so what makes Japan ok and China utterly unacceptable? You could make an argument about Mao, communism, blah blah blah, but that's in the past. 50 years ago Japan was the yellow peril and got the A-bomb treatment, now Japan is a key ally in the Asia-Pacific region.

So apparently China is a threat. The most popular villain in campaign adds now are not greedy Wall Street Bankers or Al-Qaeda, it's Beijing. This hostility is worrying. Although many optimists feel that this is just a case of "lack of understanding", it is inherently more than that. China is rising, but it is not intending on upsetting the global balance of power. I can't speak for the future, but right now the Chinese government has a lot more to worry about than becoming a superpower to rival the US. Maybe when we solve our own problems of unequal distribution of income, development in rural areas, the gender gap, then we can start thinking about dabbling in global affairs.

It is understandable why China's actions are perceived as threatening. True, we are the cause of massive trade deficits and we spend a bit too much on military expenses, but shouldn't a state have the right to the belated growth that it should have had 100 years ago? China is not an upstart, in fact as one of the oldest civilizations in the world it has the right to be a powerful country like its western counterparts. If a few events had one differently in 1644, our path to growth and modernization would not have been blocked until 1979, but that's evoking too much history and regret. For now, we would appreciate being left alone. Prosperity is a natural right of nations, so why deem it anything else?