Communism

Healthy competition between systems to see what works best to improve the lives of the people would be a more productive framework of engagement between China and the US, which each have their flaws, says US academic Zhu Zhiqun. A little cultural humility in the process of self-exploration and self-critique will go a long way.

Vietnam appears to be drawing closer to the US with the recent upgrade in ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. This development, however, should not be overestimated as Vietnam-China relations, especially party-to-party ties, remain strong.

While the ruling system in China, carried over from ancient history, has the features of power combined with moral authority, recent events show that change is happening in Chinese politics. With netizens increasingly challenging the central authority openly, refuting official views and commentaries, will there be greater adjustments to Chinese state-society relations?

China is far from possessing the ability, experience and resources to maintain and safeguard the global order. Thus, it is in its own interest to continue supporting the US as the global leader. Even so, amid a challenging international climate, China can no longer maintain a low profile. It needs to improve its global image and quell fears of the China threat. More importantly, the CCP should resist its internal urge to go all out on its fighting philosophy, which may likely win itself more enemies than friends.

East Asian Institute senior research fellow Lance Gore observes that the recent protests in China have highlighted the deep generational gap between the leaders of the country and the protesters. In tandem with the modernisation of society, there needs to be the modernisation of politics, allowing greater room for political participation and dialogue.

Thai academic Sittithep Eaksittipong explains how the Thai rulers of the past used emotion as a political tool to assimilate the Chinese overseas in Thailand. Fast forward to today and the Thai Chinese are more confident of their identity, and feeling Chinese has less to do with developments in China. If anything, the latter is used as a means to chastise the Thai government.

The US’s recent release of its new National Security Strategy (NSS) represents its vow to outcompete its rivals, especially China, on the international stage. Political commentator Jin Jian Guo says that the ideological tussle between China and the US is becoming a new Cold War and for the NSS to be released during the period of China’s 20th Party Congress, the starter’s pistol has been fired in a strategic competition where there can only be one winner.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was sudden and shocking, not least for China, with which it once shared a similar ideology. Commentator Zhou Nongjian explores what China can learn from the missteps of the Soviet Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev that ultimately led to the country’s downfall.

Commentator Lew Mon-hung notes that recent public opinion in China has been advocating a closed-door policy, sharply diverting away from the national policy of reform and opening up taken in 1978. Will China change course and reverse its decades-long process?