Author: Tan Kong Yam
Affiliation: Professor at Nanyang Technological University
Organization/Publisher: Think China
Date/Place: July 6, 2021/Sydney, Australia
Type of Literature: Article
Word Count: 2000
Link: https://www.thinkchina.sg/how-china-might-just-win-china-us-competition-governance-systems
Keywords: China, US, China-US Competition
Brief:
The competition between the US and China is not just a struggle between two armies and two political powers, but is a competition between two governmental systems. A fear that China might win the competition continues to grow. After the storming of the Capitol on January 6th, the US has gone into an unprecedented level of political polarization and domestic divisions. On the other hand, China is able to prevent domestic division at home by managing and controlling social media; moreover, its development of the high-tech sector has helped China boost national cohesiveness through patriotic education and social governance. Accordingly, this condition puts China on the advantage side of the competition. The author draws an analogy of the competition as a boat race between China and the US: the US boat may be more capable and innovative, but the internal disunity and polarization makes the boat slower due to different objectives and not rowing in the same direction; although the China boat may be less innovative, because they row in unity and in the same direction as the helmsman, China gains more advantage in this race. The author suggests that China should keep low-key in the competition, as it’s not wise for China to underestimate the US’ powers of recovery.
By: Salman Nugraha, CIGA Research Intern
