Rising Asia

[waltky]

Asia comin' uo in the world...

China’s global standing rises rapidly, poll finds
Fri, Jul 19, 2013 - The US is still viewed as the world’s leading economic power in many countries, according to polls in 39 nations by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. However, as the Great Recession has buffeted the US economy, China has gained rapidly in the eyes of the rest of the world, and many say it ultimately will replace the US as the world’s top global economic force.

In 22 of the 39 nations polled, the US is seen as the top global economy, while China is viewed as having the upper hand in eight countries, including US allies Canada, Britain, Germany and France. Surprisingly, US citizens are about evenly divided over which country has the stronger economy, with 44 percent saying China and 39 percent the US. Since 2008, the population share that calls China the world’s top economy has just about doubled in Spain, Germany and Britain, nearly tripled in Russia and gained 22 points in France. Of the 20 countries Pew surveyed in both 2008 and this year, all but two are now significantly more likely to say China is the world’s leading economic power.

In 18 of the countries polled, half or more believe China has replaced or will replace the US as the world’s top economic force, while majorities in only three believe the US will maintain its top economic position. The surveys, conducted before news emerged about the US’ National Security Agency surveillance programs, also found that 37 of the 39 countries saw the US as a good steward of individual liberty. Before leaks of classified documents revealed widespread US tracking of Internet communications among people in other countries, many said they were confident that US President Barack Obama would do the right thing in world affairs. That included 88 percent in Germany and 83 percent in France, two allies whose official reactions to the spying program have been negative.

In other findings from the surveys, the US is viewed favorably by a majority in 28 of the 38 other nations tracked in the poll. The US fares worst in the Middle East, where most have an unfavorable opinion in five of seven nations surveyed Majorities in just three of the 39 countries say they approve of the US use of drones to target extremists: Israel (64 percent approve), the US (61 percent approve) and Kenya (56 percent approve).

China?s global standing rises rapidly, poll finds - Taipei Times

See also:

Think again, mister — Taiwan isn’t actually ‘small’
Wed, Jul 17, 2013 - Fresh from months lecturing across Europe and North America, Taiwan hand Bruce Jacobs, professor of Asian languages and cultures at Monash University in Melbourne, argued in Taipei last week that size doesn’t matter — or to be more precise, that Taiwan isn’t, despite the popular view, “small.” As he sees it, the realization that Taiwan is in fact a “middle power” could have implications not only for how we look at Taiwan, but perhaps more importantly, for its ability to forge a path for itself.

With Typhoon Soulik homing in on Thursday, its structure more than twice the size of Taiwan proper, it was easy to think that Jacobs had perhaps lost all sense of proportion after traveling large expanses of territory in recent months. Or maybe not. “Its [Taiwan’s] population, equal to that of Australia, is larger than two-thirds of the world’s nations and its area is greater than two-fifths of the world’s nations,” Jacobs told the foreign correspondents’ club in Taipei, adding that combined with its advanced economy, Taiwan was — and should act as — “an important world ‘middle power.’” In saying so, he was clearly contradicting what other academics who have written about Taiwan, including the eminent Shelley Rigger in her book Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse, had argued.

Jacobs was on to something here, and perhaps he was reminding us of the mistake we had all committed — Taiwanese included — by looking at Taiwan solely from the perspective of the 800lb gorilla in its immediate neighborhood. Size is indeed contingent on what an object is compared to. In other words, it is relative. And it is also as much a term of geography as it is a state of mind. He didn’t say much more about size, but a few hours before he was set to return to Australia, I contacted him again and sought to hear more of his views on the subject.

Starting from the position that the Ma Ying-jeou administration behaved as if Taiwan was in fact a small power, I asked Jacobs whether attempts by the Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian administrations to behave like a middle power, with their emphasis on official diplomacy, had backfired and perhaps forced the Ma administration to downsize Taiwan for the sake of better relations with China and the rest of the world. Put differently, I asked him whether the international community itself wanted Taiwan to be small. Of course, what I really was doing was tiptoeing around the adjective that Washington has often used to describe Chen — “troublemaker” — and Jacobs saw right through my tactic. “I don’t think that is correct. Chen was called a troublemaker because he was seen to have interfered in the China-US relationship. I don’t believe the George W. Bush administration’s attitude was correct,” he said.

Paul Wolfowitz, Bush’s deputy secretary of defense, had told me something similar when he described Washington’s attitude toward Taiwan during those heady years. The Bush administration, busy waging two wars, had not paid enough attention to Taiwan’s needs and had perhaps treated Chen unfairly by calling him a troublemaker. So perhaps Taiwan would get away with it if it sought to punch at its weight for once. But for this to be possible, Jacobs tells us, a whole mindset needs to be changed through articles, books and the willingness of Taiwanese officials — the very same people who when representing the nation abroad constantly use the terms “small” and “tiny” to describe their country — to recognize the fact that their employer is in fact a sizeable member of the international community.

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[editec]

Yup. ASian nations are finally catching up economically to the west

Except I think that you are missing the grander story in MACRO ECONOMICS.

NATIONS (national economies) matter less and less every day.

NGOs are becoming the DOMINANT ECONOMIC force of the 21st century.

 

[Unkotare]

Yup. ASian nations are finally catching up economically to the west.

"Finally"?

 

[ipaps]

Asia comin' uo in the world...

China’s global standing rises rapidly, poll finds
Fri, Jul 19, 2013 - The US is still viewed as the world’s leading economic power in many countries, according to polls in 39 nations by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. However, as the Great Recession has buffeted the US economy, China has gained rapidly in the eyes of the rest of the world, and many say it ultimately will replace the US as the world’s top global economic force.

In 22 of the 39 nations polled, the US is seen as the top global economy, while China is viewed as having the upper hand in eight countries, including US allies Canada, Britain, Germany and France. Surprisingly, US citizens are about evenly divided over which country has the stronger economy, with 44 percent saying China and 39 percent the US. Since 2008, the population share that calls China the world’s top economy has just about doubled in Spain, Germany and Britain, nearly tripled in Russia and gained 22 points in France. Of the 20 countries Pew surveyed in both 2008 and this year, all but two are now significantly more likely to say China is the world’s leading economic power.

In 18 of the countries polled, half or more believe China has replaced or will replace the US as the world’s top economic force, while majorities in only three believe the US will maintain its top economic position. The surveys, conducted before news emerged about the US’ National Security Agency surveillance programs, also found that 37 of the 39 countries saw the US as a good steward of individual liberty. Before leaks of classified documents revealed widespread US tracking of Internet communications among people in other countries, many said they were confident that US President Barack Obama would do the right thing in world affairs. That included 88 percent in Germany and 83 percent in France, two allies whose official reactions to the spying program have been negative.

In other findings from the surveys, the US is viewed favorably by a majority in 28 of the 38 other nations tracked in the poll. The US fares worst in the Middle East, where most have an unfavorable opinion in five of seven nations surveyed Majorities in just three of the 39 countries say they approve of the US use of drones to target extremists: Israel (64 percent approve), the US (61 percent approve) and Kenya (56 percent approve).

China?s global standing rises rapidly, poll finds - Taipei Times

See also:

Think again, mister — Taiwan isn’t actually ‘small’
Wed, Jul 17, 2013 - Fresh from months lecturing across Europe and North America, Taiwan hand Bruce Jacobs, professor of Asian languages and cultures at Monash University in Melbourne, argued in Taipei last week that size doesn’t matter — or to be more precise, that Taiwan isn’t, despite the popular view, “small.” As he sees it, the realization that Taiwan is in fact a “middle power” could have implications not only for how we look at Taiwan, but perhaps more importantly, for its ability to forge a path for itself.

With Typhoon Soulik homing in on Thursday, its structure more than twice the size of Taiwan proper, it was easy to think that Jacobs had perhaps lost all sense of proportion after traveling large expanses of territory in recent months. Or maybe not. “Its [Taiwan’s] population, equal to that of Australia, is larger than two-thirds of the world’s nations and its area is greater than two-fifths of the world’s nations,” Jacobs told the foreign correspondents’ club in Taipei, adding that combined with its advanced economy, Taiwan was — and should act as — “an important world ‘middle power.’” In saying so, he was clearly contradicting what other academics who have written about Taiwan, including the eminent Shelley Rigger in her book Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse, had argued.

Jacobs was on to something here, and perhaps he was reminding us of the mistake we had all committed — Taiwanese included — by looking at Taiwan solely from the perspective of the 800lb gorilla in its immediate neighborhood. Size is indeed contingent on what an object is compared to. In other words, it is relative. And it is also as much a term of geography as it is a state of mind. He didn’t say much more about size, but a few hours before he was set to return to Australia, I contacted him again and sought to hear more of his views on the subject.

Starting from the position that the Ma Ying-jeou administration behaved as if Taiwan was in fact a small power, I asked Jacobs whether attempts by the Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian administrations to behave like a middle power, with their emphasis on official diplomacy, had backfired and perhaps forced the Ma administration to downsize Taiwan for the sake of better relations with China and the rest of the world. Put differently, I asked him whether the international community itself wanted Taiwan to be small. Of course, what I really was doing was tiptoeing around the adjective that Washington has often used to describe Chen — “troublemaker” — and Jacobs saw right through my tactic. “I don’t think that is correct. Chen was called a troublemaker because he was seen to have interfered in the China-US relationship. I don’t believe the George W. Bush administration’s attitude was correct,” he said.

Paul Wolfowitz, Bush’s deputy secretary of defense, had told me something similar when he described Washington’s attitude toward Taiwan during those heady years. The Bush administration, busy waging two wars, had not paid enough attention to Taiwan’s needs and had perhaps treated Chen unfairly by calling him a troublemaker. So perhaps Taiwan would get away with it if it sought to punch at its weight for once. But for this to be possible, Jacobs tells us, a whole mindset needs to be changed through articles, books and the willingness of Taiwanese officials — the very same people who when representing the nation abroad constantly use the terms “small” and “tiny” to describe their country — to recognize the fact that their employer is in fact a sizeable member of the international community.

MORE

There're still many disadvantages deep in the culture that can drag Chinese down. For example, authoritarianism can bring about quite some mess around even in private companies.

Ma Ying-jeou thinks Taiwan is part of china and hence no emphasis on diplomacy needed.