Chinese economist Keyu Jin discusses the misconceptions about China's economy and political system. Topics include China's declining birth rate, brain drain, human rights record, and aspirations regarding Taiwan. They also explore the lying flat phenomenon, developments in Hong Kong, and the need for competition and collaboration in US-China relations.
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Lived Experience Of China's Transformation
Keyu Jin grew up in China during rapid transformation from poverty to urban growth.
She witnessed mass migration from farms to cities and argues Western narratives miss this lived change.
insights INSIGHT
Liberalization ≠ Western Democracy
Political systems don't automatically converge with economic liberalization.
Cultural history and institutions shape whether market reforms lead to Western-style democracy.
insights INSIGHT
Different Social Contract Shapes Priorities
Jin argues China's governance rests on a long historical social contract linking order and provision.
She claims many Chinese prioritize security and material improvement over Western-style freedoms.
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My guest today is Keyu Jin. Keyu Jin is a Chinese economist currently teaching at the London School of Economics, and she just published a book called "The New China Playbook". Keyu gave a TED Talk about a month ago, the same week that I did, and that's how I became aware of her.
So Keyu has an unorthodox stance on China, at least to a Western audience. It's now a bipartisan consensus that China is our main geopolitical rival and that we ought to treat China as if not an outright enemy than at least a major adversary. From trade wars to theft of our intellectual property to spy balloons, most American politicians would endorse a tough on China stance, at least in principle. Keyu Jin believes that this is the wrong approach. She thinks that America and the West have misunderstood and unfairly villainized China.
As you'll hear in our conversation, I don't share her view, but I'm always interested to hear the arguments of the lone voice willing to buck a consensus. So we talk about China's economy, its strengths and its weaknesses. We discuss China's political system and why it differs from countries like South Korea and Japan. We talk about China's declining birth rate. We talk about the problem of brain drain from China. We talk about China's current human rights record, including its detention of around a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang. We talk about China's aspirations to annex Taiwan and much more.
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