"Where in the world is China?" Closer Than We Think
--Ottawa Citizen report on Paul Evans' talk to the Canada-China Friendship Society
--Ottawa Citizen report on Paul Evans' talk to the Canada-China Friendship Society
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Closer Than We Think
Where in the world is China? China scholar Paul Evans posed that question at Monday's meeting of the Canada-China Friendship Society of Ottawa. Evans is director of the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia's Liu Institute for Global Issues.
To answer his own question, Evans looked back at the China of 35 years ago, which he said Canadians would have described as "inward-looking, exotic, far away and a little dangerous."
Today, China is here in Canada, he said, most prevalently in our economy. "Every time we fill up our gas tanks, the price of oil is in part determined by demand in China. When we negotiate our mortgages, China is present," Evans said.
To answer his own question, Evans looked back at the China of 35 years ago, which he said Canadians would have described as "inward-looking, exotic, far away and a little dangerous."
Today, China is here in Canada, he said, most prevalently in our economy. "Every time we fill up our gas tanks, the price of oil is in part determined by demand in China. When we negotiate our mortgages, China is present," Evans said.
Evans said that today, policy makers around the world have to be concerned with what Beijing will do next. "What do the Chinese think about the United Nations? What do the Chinese think about human security and conflict in Darfur, Burma and Thailand today? What does China think about the application of concepts such as human rights and democracy in some of the ways we're familiar with in the West?"
Such big questions, he said, are no longer the toil of academics, they're questions for people who are on the front lines of policy making.
Evans said Canada has to understand that the values it holds as universal are not necessarily also seen as universal by China.
"The assumption was that in due course, if we played our cards right, China would come around," Evans said. "I'm not sure that's the outcome. There will be experimentation with human rights and social justice in China, with democratic forms, but what's likely to emerge isn't identical to what we know.
"The challenge now of understanding China is more important than ever, but it's also more difficult. China is no longer a rule taker, it's become a rule maker."
Such big questions, he said, are no longer the toil of academics, they're questions for people who are on the front lines of policy making.
Evans said Canada has to understand that the values it holds as universal are not necessarily also seen as universal by China.
"The assumption was that in due course, if we played our cards right, China would come around," Evans said. "I'm not sure that's the outcome. There will be experimentation with human rights and social justice in China, with democratic forms, but what's likely to emerge isn't identical to what we know.
"The challenge now of understanding China is more important than ever, but it's also more difficult. China is no longer a rule taker, it's become a rule maker."
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