China Counting by Alex Mackinnon & Barnaby Powell

Author:Alex Mackinnon & Barnaby Powell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2009-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

The three main strands

Of the main strands or components of Chinese power, the three most prominent would appear to be mercantile, military and mental capacity (knowledge and ‘intelligence’), and of these three the most important and the strongest is undoubtedly mental capacity. In terms of military might – deployment of land, air and naval forces – China probably has parity with the USA relative to its strategic interests. Its accumulated wall of monetary reserves – and its ability to mobilize these more-or-less to any purpose it wishes – gives it massive economic clout. But the real edge it enjoys, the best weapon in its arsenal for competitive advantage and advancement, is the grasp that the Chinese generally have of Western languages (particularly English) and the insight this gives into habits of mind and Western values. The extraordinary level of cognition this affords of countervailing strategies, empowering technologies and the latest research findings and writings in science, medicine and philosophy – much of which may be painlessly obtained via overseas study and the internet rather than through diplomatic guile and industrial espionage – makes their combination of monetary muscle with wide-ranging knowledge and well-sourced information a powerfully combustible one.

And that power commands the capacity to mobilize 10,000 soldiers for two weeks to clear the sea off Qingdao of algae for the Olympic sailing races – a feat no other country could or would have accomplished. To field such a force is not merely a matter of available manpower. It is an illustration of the remarkable pragmatism of Chinese actions, rooted as they are in a steely resolve to solve physical problems by human means, where mechanical or technological means are unserviceable. This power is also the consummate skill of the archer who draws his bow string back to the point of maximum tension and holds it precisely long enough to loose his arrow with the truest and deadliest aim. These are powers of mind concentrated on the exertion of physical pressure to assert the supremacy of the will. Both examples serve as metaphors for China's alertness and latent military prowess.

By the same token, its current economic clout and power to affect foreign economies is clearly evidenced by its default underwriting of American debt and its fearsome stockpile of foreign exchange reserves, its huge investments in Australia, Africa and Latin America and its ability to acquire key strategic holdings in major multinational corporations. The force of a nation's expansionary and foreign policy is exerted through pressure and physical presence, but its effect can be much reduced and blunted by the extent to which recipients may yield to its impact and parry or absorb its advances. The balance of probability is that China's overtures in these sectors will be more than welcome, particularly in the developing world.

The subtle, lasting spread of a country's power and influence is achieved much more indirectly through the open manifestation of its culture, language and values as attractive forces for change and good in the world. How ‘cool’

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