I agree with Fareed Zakaria’s latest column in the Washington Post:
Ever since China abandoned its Maoist isolation in the 1970s, its guiding philosophy was set by Deng Xiaoping. At that time, China needed to learn from the West, especially the United States, and integrate itself into the existing international order. According to Deng, it should be humble and modest in its foreign policy, “hide its light under a bushel,†and “bide its time.†But the time has now come, in Xi’s view, and he said the Middle Kingdom is ready to “take center stage in the world.â€
Xi’s speech is important because this party congress made clear that he is no ordinary leader. He ascended to a second term in office without naming any obvious successors from the next generation of party officials, thus maintaining a grip on power far more secure than his immediate predecessors. More important, the party enshrined his thoughts in the constitution, an honor previously accorded only to Mao Zedong in his lifetime. (Deng’s thoughts were added, but only posthumously.) This means that for the rest of his life, Xi and his ideas will dominate the Communist Party of China.
and
Meanwhile, consider how the United States must look now to the rest of the world. It is politically paralyzed, unable to make major decisions. Amidst a ballooning debt, its investments in education, infrastructure, and science and technology are seriously lacking. Politics has become a branch of reality TV, with daily insults, comebacks and color commentary. America’s historical leadership role in the world has been replaced by a narrow and cramped ideology. Foreign policy has become a partisan game, with Washington breaking agreements, shifting course and reversing policy almost entirely to score political points at home.
in one particular. I think we should be worrying a lot more about our own problems, what kind of country we want to be, and how to become (or remain!) that country than we are about China or any other country for that matter. Every single pragmatic problem he lists, i.e. debt, investments in education, infrastructure, and science and technology,are much graver problems in China than here. China has problems of its own with which it has shown little inclination to come to terms.
