Inside Out | Why is China so misunderstood? Here are 2 reasons
- The focus on China’s megacities can blind observers to the policy experimentation done at lower levels and in the country’s interior
- Meanwhile, far too many China ‘experts’ have been focused on trying to change China than understand how it works and why it succeeds
In a brief column, it is impossible to provide a comprehensive answer to these very big questions. Let me examine what I believe are two significant forces for misunderstanding and one way of understanding better.
I do this in humility, because even though I have been trying to understand and describe China for almost 50 years, there is an entire industry out there of experts who make ambitious claims to understanding. Some are awesomely good, some do more harm than good.
First among the reasons for misunderstanding is the “Beijing-centricity” of most analysis. China’s leadership shares some blame in this; since coming to power in 1949, China’s leaders have, for many reasons, been obsessed with unification of a fiercely diverse and divided country.
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