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BOOK REVIEW: China’s World
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China’s World
What Does China Want?
By Kerry Brown

BT 201802 Book review 02      英国前外交官克里•布朗(Kerry Brown)是伦敦大学国王学院(King's College, London)汉学研究教授和“刘氏中国研究院”(Lau China Institute)院长。此前他曾是悉尼大学中国政治教授和中国研究中心主任。他在2011年至2014年曾领导欧洲中国研究咨询网络(ECRAN)。他还曾任伦敦亚非学院国际外交研究中心、诺丁汉大学中国政策研究所、剑桥大学和伦敦政治经济学院的访问学者。此外他还是伦敦英国皇家国际事务研究所(Chatham House)亚洲项目高级研究员。

      在将近20多年的时间里,克里•布朗(Kerry Brown)工作的方向都是围绕着中国在展开。他凭着对中国的深入了解,曾写过很多与中国有关的文章著述,例如他曾出版以习近平为主题的书《中国CEO:习近平的崛起》(CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping),《China and the EU in Context: Insights for Business and Investors》,《China and the New Maoists》,《The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings in China》等等,同时,克里•布朗(Kerry Brown)还在众多知名期刊上常常发表文章,可谓著作等身。

      此次克里•布朗(Kerry Brown)先生在他的新书《China’s World》(“中国的世界”)中主要探讨了“What Does China Want?(“中国想要什么?”)这个问题。目前大家都非常关心中国将从今天走向何方。经济发展和反腐运动带动了人民对政府的支持,中国公民也越来越担当起社会责任人的角色,中国人的收入提升更是有目共睹。克里•布朗(Kerry Brown)教授在书中就每个区域与中国的关系写了一个章节,他讨论了与中国有关的各个关键地区。例如谈到中国对东南亚地区及非洲的援建项目时,少有外国人会将其视为是无私援助。另外里•布朗(Kerry Brown)教授指出,走出去的中国企业面临的一大困难是很少有人会将之视为真正的合作伙伴。但无论世界如何发展,大家都将注意到,中国的崛起不会也不可能被忽视。

BT 201802 Book review 01

Kerry Brown


The question “What Does China Want?” - the subtitle of Professor Kerry Brown’s new book, China’s World - has never been so relevant. Just a few decades ago, there was almost no Chinese interaction with the outside world, so to become one of the biggest global trading nations, and have risen almost from the ashes geopolitically, is truly a remarkable journey. But the point is not so much “How did China get here?” but “Where does China go from here?”
 

Brown first discusses the principles of Chinese foreign policy. To perhaps naive surprise, China has not followed the path imagined when it joined the World Trade Organization in 1999. It was thought economic development would lead to property ownership, demand for having a say in its disposal and thus greater influence in the government. However, economic development and anti-corruption campaign have solidified popular support for the party. Chinese citizens have thus become “responsible stakeholders” in their own system of government, by which they have become even wealthier as party rule is undiminished, and even strengthened.
 

Brown discusses China’s foreign strategies through a framework of zones of decreasing importance. Zone 1 is the USA; Zone 2 is Asia; Zone 3 is the European Union; and Zone 4 is the rest of the world - Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and even the polar region. Each zone is given a chapter to itself, in which Brown discusses the various key areas for China. For Zones 1 and 3 (the US and the EU), this is organized by theme, such as “US insecurity”, “mutual dependency” and conflicts concerning “values, markets and knowledge”; for Zones 2 and 4 (Asia and the wider world), this is done geographically, from the South China Sea to Latin America. Brown shows that difficulty for China is that even though it talks about mutual benefits and “win-win” actions, few regard it as a genuine partner. There remains a large gap between perceived values and desired outcomes of China and its foreign peers, making many suspect its altruistic actions, such as the construction of infrastructure.
 

As an overview of Chinese current foreign policy moves, China’s World is excellent: clear, well organized, and detailed. As China’s power surges, it is less inclined to consider the desires or self-regard of other international players, whether nations or associations such as ASEAN. The reality is that power will continue dictating international relations, as usual. The rest of the world is cognizant of the fact that a rising China cannot and will not be ignored.

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