Martin Jacques writes about the “world-transforming” effect of China’s economic growth on Europe and the US (This decade belonged to China. So will the next one, 1 January). Arguably, he’s referring to states and corporations rather than citizens, though individuals and companies are likewise enmeshed in global capitalism.
Recently, Arsenal’s distancing from Mesut Özil after he raised awareness of the persecution of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and Tesco’s complicity in alleged forced prison labour, have shown how western corporations have disdained humanitarian basics in favour of international profit – perhaps an indication of what to expect from future power shifts.
However, the “existential crisis” of climate collapse might prompt global bodies to respond to the growing number of world citizens who are demanding entirely new structures. It may be that “we” westerners are less afraid of economic fragmentation and more eager to meet with the best of China’s “rich and intellectually endowed civilisation”, even as we hold the country to account.
Libby Ruffle
Waldringfield, Suffolk
• Martin Jacques’s paean to the Chinese ruling class noticeably fails to mention “democracy”, “human rights” and “free trade unions”. Nor does it mention a million Uighurs in internment camps. None of this may matter to Mr Jacques, because he believes the global dominance of China is “ultimately irresistible”.
I am reminded of Orwell’s comment about James Burnham (an intellectual who admired authoritarian regimes): “Power worship blurs political judgment because it leads, almost unavoidably, to the belief that present trends will continue. Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.”
Jim Denham
Birmingham
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