Document Type
Paper Series
Publication Date
2023
Abstract
The Chinese economy’s meteoric rise has caused alarm in the West. An article published online on the CNN website states, “China’s rapid technological advances have also made it a strategic threat to the United States and its allies. It’s steadily pushing American rivals out of long-held leadership positions in sectors ranging from 5G technology to artificial intelligence.” This, in truth, is the nature of the “threat” perceived by politicians in the West. It was also pointed out that “Until recently, some economists were predicting that China would become the world’s biggest economy by 2030, unseating the United States.” If China is to continue to grow at three times the rate of the US on average, it will leave the US in the dust before long. This is basic to the fear that worries American politicians. Another strand of the fear, of course, is the apparent inadequacy of the western model of governance that is billed as democracy. American politicians, unable to address problems at home, turn to a strategy of “divide and rule”: dividing the world between the “democratic camp” and the “totalitarian camp”, creating fear among their constituents about an external enemy. All the talk about the China threat is in order that voters will turn their attention away from problems at home.
Recommended Citation
Ho, L. S., & Hung, W. L. (2023). From more growth to better growth : the challenge and the way out (PSEI/CERP Working Paper Series). Retrieved from https://commons.ln.edu.hk/pseiwp/3