When I wrote the post about The Economist’s cover for the November 13 issue, The Fear of Mao Buying the World, I had not yet read the feature story the cover represented.
Now that I have seen China buys up the world, And the world should stay open for business, I’m not sure who designed the cover but I don’t believe it was the same person that wrote the feature.
This may have something to do with the unique way The Economist does business.
The Economist describes itself as “a political, literary and general newspaper.… Articles … are not signed, but they are not all the work of the editor alone.… Nowadays, in addition to a worldwide network of stringers, the paper has about 20 staff correspondents abroad.”
In the Western media, I’ve read a few pieces about China that were well done and many that sounded as if someone suffering from Sinophobia wrote them.
This feature in The Economist comes from someone that seems to know China well.
He or she says that the world should not lock China out from buying up businesses in other countries. As is, China owns just 6% of global investment in international businesses compared to both Britain and America that have owned about 50% (Britain in 1914 and the US in 1967).
The Economist says that creating hurdles for China’s state-backed firms from buying companies outside China would be a mistake because most of China’s state-owned companies compete at home and their decision-making is consensual rather than dictatorial.
In fact, I’ve said that “most” decisions in China were consensual and that China is not a dictatorship by definition. The Chinese just make decisions differently than “most”.
However, what does “consensual” mean when doing business?
When doing business, consensual means with permission, without coercion, arriving at a decision or position by mutual consent, involving the willing participation of both or all parties, performed with the consent of all parties involved.
The Economist also says, “not all Chinese companies are state-directed. Some are largely independent and mainly interested in profits.”
The conclusion to the feature demonstrates a rare genius, “As it (China) invests in the global economy, so its interests will become increasingly aligned with the rest of the world…”
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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The Economist is one of the most antichina news paper in the world. Go to every Chinese american forum and ask them about The Economist they laugh at how pathetic it is.
Thank you. What you say about The Economist is correct but they may lose out to the New York Times, which is also anti-China along with other major Western media and some major Blogs with evident political agendas (far right conserative Blogs tend to be worse). I know a Chinese born author now a US citizen that was asked to write something for the NYT. When that author wrote a positive piece about the changes taking place in China instead of bashing China the NYT killed the piece because they wanted anti-China.
In fact, I suspect the reason The Economist prints so much that is anti-China is that they have roots to the 19th century as far back as the time of the Opium Wars and may have played a role in smearing China then.
I’d sure like to find out what they were saying about China in the 1840s.
However, the be fair, every once in a while, The Economist actually writes something about China that is almost balanced.
Every time they do, it surprises me so I write about it. I also cannot (always) resist pointing out their bias when they do that too and do it badly, which is usually the case. Anyone that knows the real China can see those bad pieces as if it were a malignant melanoma covering a nose. When that happens, they are only feeding on racial prejudice, Senophobia and contributing to the ignorance of the many.