为什么西方对中国的怨恨毫无道理？
2024-02-27 08:28阅读：
最近几年，一些西方评论家宣称“中国衰落”。他们认为中国经济在衰退……人口变化意味着中国永远不会崛起并超越西方强国。一味强调中国问题的潜台词是西方对世界的统治将继续，从而证明西方政经意识形态的优越性。
但西方国家自身存在许多根本性问题。西方经济学家连西方经济都没完全搞明白，更不用说指点中国经济了。当前，中国在向新经济发展模式转型，正经历一些不利因素，与此同时还在与西方实施的经济和技术破坏作斗争。
我们需要对中国经济进行客观分析，但来自西方的负面声音让我们很难做到这点。其中一些是美国资助的宣传，旨在削弱最大竞争对手。这种趋势凸显西方世界的焦虑，以及对自身失败和衰落的极度不安全感。
数百年来，西方利用帝国主义和暴力构建了确保其繁荣和利益优先的国际体系，使“全球南方”被迫顺从以欧洲为中心的世界秩序。中国崛起是现代史上第一个不受西方控制的非欧洲国家在经济上超越西方。如今西方再也无法简单粗暴地将自己的意志强加给“全球南方”，尽管美国针对中国的行动就是为此。
美国日裔政治学家弗朗西斯·福山认为，冷战结束意味着自由民主资本主义是所有国家最终和最好的政府形式。按这种逻辑，以西方（尤其是美国）为代表的政经制度是通往成功的唯一道路。而中国推翻了此种说法，以空前速度实现了非凡的经济和技术发展，且是通过走自己的道路实现的。中国是世界经济的主要参与者，但拒绝成为西方的附庸。
与此同时，西方世界在许多方面的失败显而易见。欧洲面临经济停滞、人口减少、日益有毒的政治等问题。西方衰落的最显著和最有影响的例子是美国。表面看，美国经济表现还不错。但实际上，就业不足和经济不平等正带来重大问题。许多美国人愤怒、失望，社会两极化、政治功能失调。而美国政府仍对国内的巨大问题视而不见，反而继续在世界
各地挑起暴力和动荡。
过去20年，中国的转变令人惊叹。中国的现代化城市干净安全，拥有令人惊艳的建筑、完备的基础设施、广阔的公共空间。与之形成鲜明对比的是美国一些城市破败的基础设施和危险的街道。中国制造业总产值占比达全球的35%，而美国仅占12%……若中国真的（如西方声称的那样）崩溃，将给世界其他国家带来严重后果。
西方对中国的敌意凸显他们不情愿地意识到西方可能终究不是成就顶峰。但西方一些人非但不尝试从中国的成功中汲取经验，反而因优越感受挫而产生怨恨。现代世界是多元化全球体系，不同国家会走不同发展道路。对世界当前面临的诸多问题，西方并没有全部解决方案，或许没有任何解决方案。中国追求自己的经济和社会目标。为中国遇到一些挫折而欢呼，并不会让世界变得更加和平或合作，更掩盖不了西方的失败。
Why the West's resentment of China is so
misguided
Shaun Narine
Professor of International Relations and Political Science, St.
Thomas University (Canada)
Over the past few years, some western commentators have proclaimed
the “decline of China.” They argue China’s economy is failing, its
youth are alienated and unemployed, it abuses human rights and
represses its people and its demographic decline means that China
will never rise to surpass western power.
The subtext of this focus on China’s problems is that western
domination of the world will continue, proving the superiority of
the West’s political and economic ideologies.
These eulogies for China are premature, at best.
Economists in the West don’t fully understand western economies,
let alone China’s, and western states have numerous fundamental
problems of their own.
Drumbeat of negativity
China is experiencing economic headwinds as it transitions to a new
model of economic development. It is also contending with western
economic and technological sabotage.
How well China manages these forces remains to be seen.
An objective analysis of China’s economy is required, but the
constant drumbeat of negativity emerging from the West makes that
difficult. Some of it is a concerted propaganda campaign, financed
by the United States, to undermine America’s biggest competitor.
But the trend also reflects the western world’s racial and
political anxieties and its profound insecurities about its own
failures and decline.
For hundreds of years, the West has used imperialism and violence
to construct an international system that ensures its prosperity
and prioritizes its interests. Keeping the Global South subservient
to a Eurocentric world order has been critical to this
strategy.
Israel’s attack on Gaza, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians
— along with the associated American and British bombings of Yemen,
Iraq and Syria — are contemporary manifestations of this
phenomenon.
China’s rise is the first time in modern history that a
non-European state beyond western control is economically eclipsing
the West. The “yellow peril” is back, and the West will now need to
compromise and negotiate with a powerful, non-western entity.
It cannot simply impose its will on the Global South, though the
American campaign against China is an effort to re-establish this
status quo.
To the West, this was not how it was supposed to be.
China forged its own path
According to American political scientist Francis Fukuyama, the end
of the Cold War was the “end of history,” meaning that liberal
democratic capitalism is the final and best form of government for
all nations.
This political and economic system, embodied by the West
(especially the United States), was supposedly the only path to
success. The West was held up as pinnacle of achievement that the
entire world should emulate.
China disproved this narrative by achieving extraordinary economic
and technological developments with unprecedented speed, and it did
so by following its own path. It is a major player in the world
economy, but has refused to become a western vassal state.
At the same time, the western world has failed in many measurable
and obvious ways, particularly since the 2008 financial crisis.
Europe is facing economic stagnation, demographic decline and
increasingly toxic politics.
Western youth are alienated and pessimistic. The West’s failure to
destroy Russia’s economy with sanctions following its invasion of
Ukraine is evidence of decreasing western economic power. Its
absolute moral failure in Gaza is tragically apparent.
American decline
But the most spectacular and consequential example of western
decline is the United States. On paper, the U.S. economy is
performing moderately well. In practice, under-employment and
economic inequality are posing major problems.
Many Americans are angry, disillusioned and polarized. American
politics are dysfunctional and blatantly corrupted by money. Even
the highest judiciary has been accused of corruption.
In the next presidential election, Americans may well re-elect
Donald Trump, someone who epitomizes this corruption.
The U.S. government also continues to stir up violence and
instability around the world rather than dealing with its own
enormous domestic problems.
China’s achievements
Over the past 20 years, China’s transformation has been
astonishing. Its modern cities feature marvels of architecture,
well-constructed infrastructure, phenomenal public spaces and are
clean and safe, in contrast to the crumbling infrastructure and
dangerous streets of some American cities.
By purchasing power parity, China’s GDP is currently 25 per cent
bigger than that of the U.S.; the International Monetary Fund
estimates it will be 40 per cent larger by 2028.
China is responsible for 35 per cent of the world’s manufacturing
compared to 12 per cent for the U.S. China’s economies of scale and
technological advancements mean that renewable energy may become
affordable to billions of people all over the world, offering
viable climate action.
If China really does fail — something those western commentators
perpetually claim is imminent — it would have serious consequences
for the rest of the world.
Western hostility towards China reflects the grudging realization
that the West may not be the pinnacle of achievement after all.
Rather than possibly learning from China’s successes, westerners
have chosen resentment borne of a sense of frustrated
superiority.
The modern world is a pluralist global system. Different states
will follow different paths to development and experiment with
different forms of government. The West does not have all — or
maybe any — solutions to the many problems the world is currently
facing.
China is pursuing its own economic and social goals. These may not
accord with western models, and China may stumble as it follows its
own path.
But cheering on those stumbles won’t make for a more peaceful or
co-operative world, nor will it compensate for western
failures.
