Tree of Knowledge

Christopher Patten (former governor of Hong Kong and current Chancellor of Oxford University) writes in today’s Times about the West’s relationship with China:

I find it difficult to understand why some people regard the rise of China as a threat. China’s success is good for the world. One of the main contributors to the rapid economic growth from 2001-2007 - despite terrorism, wars and the rise in the price of oil - was that China and India had joined the more open world economy. Would the rest of us be better off if China was still dirt poor? Would we be well served by a collapse of the Chinese economy? It is lousy economics to argue that when China gets richer, the rest of us automatically get poorer.

What is clear is that we should seek to work with, not against, China. That does not mean giving up our own views on human rights and the rule of law. Chinese officials are often contemptuous of those who give the impression that they are prepared to sacrifice what they really believe for some usually illusory gain. But China deserves the respect of trying to understand and know it better.

Sounds like a good description of the Rudd Govt’s China Policy.

China | RSS 2.0 | Comment it , or trackback this post.