The writer Alain Peyrefitte, Mandarin diplomat of the French Republic, published exactly 50 years ago When China wakes up… the world will tremble, essay with a premonitory title, using a formula attributed to Napoleon Ier.
The main thesis of the work (sold in nearly a million copies, only in French) explained that, by its history, its geography, its demography and its desire for techno-industrial modernization, this continent country, then under control of Maoist totalitarianism, would inevitably impose itself as a superpower. A sequel to the bestseller, published in 1997, announced another obvious fact: China has awakened.
It has effectively become the factory of the world, and its formidable, sprawling capabilities span across everything from digital to transportation. The Chinese high-speed rail network runs over more than 40,000 km, the equivalent of one circumference of the Earth, while Montreal is still and always waiting for a simple rail link between its airport and its city center…
China has indeed woken up. Does the world tremble for all that?
In any case, the dynamics of relations with the new superpower have changed, as demonstrated by the Canadian journalist Joanna Chiu in her essay China and the New World Disorder (VLB). The work translated, a year after the publication of the original in English, focuses on relations and tensions with the “middle powers”, including Canada.
“These states have a lot to teach us about Beijing’s strategies to expand its political and economic influence, because Chinese leaders believe they have a status ‘inferior’ to that of the great powers on the international chessboard,” she writes. in the preface to the new edition. Thus, China’s actions seem all the more daring because it believes these states to be less able to parry its attacks. »
Jan Wong 2.0
Canada knows this all too well. The Huawei-Meng Wanzhou saga has focused tensions which are growing with the appearance of interference in the 2019 federal elections, the presence of surveillance posts for Chinese-Canadian communities as far away as Quebec and concerns around the social network TikTok . “I hope that my translated book will help to analyze and understand the context of what we learn about China in the media,” said Joanna Chiu in an interview with the Duty.
She is a reporter for Toronto Star after working in Hong Kong for years as a correspondent for several media outlets and news agencies. Her Chinese origins (from parents speaking Cantonese in Hong Kong) and her mastery of Mandarin (learned as an adult) made her a terribly effective field reporter.
She is actually reminiscent of Montreal-born Jan Wong, the first Chinese-Canadian journalist to serve as Beijing bureau chief for The Globe&Mail at the end of the last century. The connection pleases him.
“I met Jan before starting my first job in Hong Kong for the South China Morning Post, she said. We are both graduates of the Columbia Journalism School. She gave me excellent advice recommending me to go out of town, to see ordinary people. »
The track has been followed. The book of M.me Chiu constantly oscillates between personal confidences, stories of encounters and encompassing analyzes to shed light on the information.
“My family, like many others around the world, left Hong Kong because they were worried about Chinese control after 1997. love freedom and that some even regret the time of the British colony. Mainland China has had a different story. The Cultural Revolution left deep traumas. »
That advanced, she stresses that she did not write a book against China or even the Communist Party. From the first lines of her essay, she explains that she especially does not want to nurture distrust of Beijing, “distrust which, although necessary, often leads people to confuse the Chinese government and the Chinese people”.
In an interview, she adds that her essay is as critical of the West as of this Eastern country. For her, the Western leaders have simply not done their job properly, since the Web is full of information on the objectives and activities of the expanding Middle Kingdom in its peripheries. Canada has half a million citizens of Chinese descent, and many have been sounding the alarm for years about the strategy of the country of their ancestors.
“After years of covering Chinese news from all over the world, I have come to the conclusion that if the United Front has been able to continue its activities for so long without encountering obstacles, it is because that Western leaders have not done their job properly”, summarizes Mr.me Shit.
The empire is getting worse
What is this strategy actually? On March 21, before Vladimir Putin in Moscow, President Xi Jinping declared: “At this very moment, there are changes like no one has seen for a hundred years, and it is we who are driving the whole thing. »
But still ? What does that mean? What exactly does China want? “China wants to be respected by the rest of the world and wants to be seen as a leader,” replies Ms. Chiu. The country presents itself as a superpower capable of counterbalancing the United States. China tells its partners that it does not care about their political systems which, for it, should not be a source of discrimination in international relations. »
China is also concerned about its internal stability. Xi Jinping does not tolerate criticism. He repeats that the USSR disintegrated because it made too much room for dissidence.
The President of the People’s Republic is now the equivalent of an Emperor Plenipotentiary for life. Is his country imperialist for all that?
Mme Chiu manipulates the political concept with analytical tweezers, especially when she examines the New Silk Road project with its effects in Italy and Greece, two other “middle powers”, like Canada. In Palermo, for example, she met Italians enthusiastic about the idea of counterbalancing American hegemony with China. The new government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, on the other hand, is reluctant to renew the memorandum of understanding with China for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) already signed by 18 countries.
“Even if China is sincere when it asserts that its massive investments in the global infrastructure of the “New Silk Road” are not part of a strategy to increase its political influence, a national vigilance towards of this type of agreement should go without saying”, writes Mme Shit.
Caution and realism seem better accepted now with China awake, alive and well. Westerners realize that the liberalization of economic exchanges with this country is getting worse, and that its rapid enrichment and modernization will not lead to political liberalization.
“I have a love-hate relationship with the subject of China, says Mme Shit. I have only seen the situation deteriorate. Hong Kong’s democratic future seems blocked. Human rights will not improve in the country. These topics do not bring joy to journalists who cover Chinese affairs. Having said that, I believe that Canadians need to be more interested in international affairs. China is a bad player on the international scene, but there are others, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India too…”