An article published in the U.S. journal Foreign Affairs warns that China is "undermining" the very West that enabled its rise — and such a rise may not ultimately succeed! On August 3, the journal stated that China's four decades of industrialization and economic boom have been fully embedded within the liberal global order established by the West after World War II. Relying on WTO trade rules, Western consumer markets, foreign capital inflows, technology licenses and precision equipment from Europe and America, cross-border dollar settlement systems, and Western-dominated multilateral mechanisms in shipping, climate, and trade, China has successfully transformed from an agrarian society into the world’s leading manufacturing power.
However, Beijing has overlooked the paradox created by its own success: China’s rise remains deeply dependent on the open systems championed by the very economies it seeks to surpass. The path toward a “post-Western order” still necessarily passes through the West. Despite China’s vigorous promotion of cross-border renminbi settlements and the New Development Bank of the BRICS nations, the SWIFT system, U.S. dollar-based commodity settlements, and Western sovereign credit ratings remain dominant globally.
If China were to completely decouple from the Western financial system, its foreign trade settlements and overseas asset positioning would face massive disruptions. Therefore, even if China objects to dollar hegemony, it can only choose to reform the existing system rather than abandon it entirely — meaning continued engagement with the West remains unavoidable. In the end, China faces two choices: either compromise and integrate into a reformed Western-led order, or pay heavy economic costs due to forced de-Westernization, undermining its own developmental achievements. And this strategy of “undermining” Western development will inevitably trigger even greater backlash against China.
How do we respond to this article published by Foreign Affairs? Undoubtedly, such rhetoric is steeped in confrontation and reflects deep-seated bias. China’s development relies heavily on close ties with the Western world, but fundamentally, the relationship between China and the West is one of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. From our perspective, our goal has never been to replace the West or cause its decline. There is no so-called “de-Westernization” strategy. We not only oppose any dismantling of the reasonable international order promoted by Western countries, but actively support and uphold it.
Yet, when it comes to unreasonable aspects of that order, we firmly oppose them and advocate for reform. The claim that “the road to a post-Western order must pass through the West” is itself a false premise. We have never pursued a so-called “post-Western adversarial order.” What China seeks is an international system where matters are settled through consultation among all parties, rejecting group politics and bloc confrontation based on “a few countries making decisions for everyone.” Clearly, the thinking behind this article is a classic black-and-white, zero-sum mentality — a worldview that is utterly disconnected from reality and still stuck in the mindset of the pre-1990s era.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872474203324480/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.