风萧萧_Frank
以文会友
China Is Not Our Enemy: Understanding China In Context To Create A More Harmonious World – December 8, 2021
by Tai P Ng (Author), Wah-Won Ng (Editor)
https://www.amazon.com/China-Not-Our-Enemy-Understanding/dp/1039125379
About the Author
TAI P. NG is a Ph.D Geophysicist born in Hong Kong who studied, worked, and lived throughout Australia, the United States, and Canada for over 65 years. Wah-Won Ng is a Canadian-born tech executive and advisor, culture and company builder who endeavors to share her father's lifelong passion and insights into Chinese culture and history with a wider audience. Together they dream of a more harmonious and cooperative world.
China Is Not Our Enemy: Understanding China In Context To Create A More Harmonious World
In a time where the USA seems frantic to maintain their world domination by funding a crusade for democracy, it is easy to paint China as an enemy that needs to be kept in check. But is world domination the right goal? What about world peace and harmony for all people? The greatest challenges facing humanity now are global in nature, crossing countries and cultures. The world doesn't need another religious or ideological battle such as democracy vs communism. It needs all the citizens of our world, but in particular our world leaders and advisors, to truly lead in building empathy and mutual trust, promoting cooperation over competition for the benefit of all humanity.
As such, a greater understanding of China is no longer optional in our global village. It is necessary if we want to tackle global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or face critical world issues such as climate change, world peace, and collaborative governance. As China returns to its original path and reinstates itself as one of the key world leaders, it demands to be treated with respect and as an equal. China is not our enemy. Their Confucian roots are strongly grounded in building harmonious human relationships, and we in the West must build our empathy and knowledge so we can see more shades of grey in this complicated world. We all share this planet and its future destiny together, and confrontational Western thinking will only lead to war.
This macroscopic view of Chinese civilization and cultural development will help Western educated readers better interpret world events through a broader and deeper understanding of:
? Chinese ways of thinking and behaving
? China's historical trajectory and trends
? Current developments and the context behind and around them
The authors suggest that we need to view the Chinese way as complementary instead of focusing on the differences. We should spend our energy and resources improving our world instead of minimizing others to maintain superiority. Each of us can change the world for the better. Let's replace "us versus them" thinking with more "we" and more trust, as mutual understanding and tolerance will enable all of us as humans on Earth to live in greater harmony with each other, and with ourselves.
Top review from the United States
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2022
This book about China is unique of its kind in that it is not written by traditional pundits such as journalists, foreign affairs specialists, or academic professionals. The lead author is a Western-educated geophysicist born in Hong Kong. Retired and driven by concern about the future of the humankind, he has studied the civilizations of China and the West and written down his thoughts in this book with the help of his daughter as coauthor. His background endows him with fresh looks at the relation between China and the West. He conducts his analysis from a macroscopic viewpoint, focusing on large trends instead of particular issues or norm-deviating aberrations. The main thesis of the book is that as humanity faces the daunting challenge of increasing globalization, deep-rooted contention of ideologies, existential threats of climate change, and recurrent pandemics, to avoid conflicts, cooperation rather than competition should be emphasized, and the adoption of some aspects of the Chinese outlook and approach to life would be beneficial.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part begins with a description of the molding of the Chinese ways of thinking and culture by the natural environment that includes climate, geography, fauna and flora, and contrasts them with those in Europe. As a result, the Chinese ways of thinking tend to be holistic and correlative while those of the West analytic and rational. It then delves into an in-depth account of the essence of Confucianism, and how its emphasis on ethics and order in human relationships has pervaded the Chinese society for more than two thousand years.
Except for a brief narration of ancient Chinese history, the second part is devoted to the politics and economy of the PRC. It takes note of the failures of several social experiments in the Mao era. It chronicles the success of economic reform and opening-up initiated by Deng, and points out some problems arising from uneven developments such as inequality, corruption, and environmental degradation that are being addressed currently. The nature and method of governance of the CCP is seen to parallel those of past dynasties. Just as emperors received the Mandate of Heaven by keeping peace and livelihood for their subjects, so the CCP recognizes that it derives its legitimacy by maintaining and improving on the satisfaction of the citizens. The tasks of governing rely on a meritocratic bureaucracy officiated by ethical and learned individuals who were selected in the past through court examinations but nowadays through education and the acquisition of work experience as they rise through the ranks.
The third part is concerned with how a harmonious world society in the future can be built. Drawing extensively from existing political and social science writings and lessons from recent history, the authors advocate the adoption of viewpoints that shun zero-sum, cold war, and self-righteous mentalities, encourage connectivity and mutual understandings, and selective infusion of traditional Chinese wisdom into the dominant Western culture.
As an example of how long-formed tradition can inform recent events, the authors ascribe the willingness of the Chinese citizens to accept the government imposed strict measures to control Covid-19 to the emphasis on social responsibility that has arisen from the need to govern a much larger geographic area than Europe since the dawn of the Chinese civilization. Another example is the Belt and Road Initiative. It fosters the interconnectedness of world communities embodied in the ancient precept of Tianxia, which, misunderstood as hegemonic by some, actually promotes harmony over the world.
Perhaps the widespread negative view of China in the West is unlikely to be changed without directly addressing the perceived threats of territorial expansionism, unfair economic practices, human rights violations, and authoritarian rule. The consequence of escalating hostility would be dire for the world. By informing the readers of the cultural background of China and thus facilitating understanding of the motives behind the policies and actions of the Chinese government, the authors have made valuable contributions toward the prevention of unresolvable conflicts. Two hundred pages long and fluently written, this book can be read in a relatively short time, but the messages it delivers should register in the mind of readers.
One person found this helpful
