Tips from a tiger

.Learn Common prosperity plan to build a fairer society in China

 

AH, it’s my turn in the Chinese zodiac to make my presence felt in the world of humankind.
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Some of you have treated me in a negative light – fierce and dangerous, a beast that stalks in the night, a fearsome icon.
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I am so glad I do have fans who see me as a symbol of strength, with sturdy leadership, as the king of the jungle. You can learn a lot from me if you can spare the time ... yes, time for the tiger to teach you a thing or two!
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Let’s start with times when you feel a bit down, when you lack confidence: Now picture yourself as a cat looking into a mirror and seeing the image of a tiger there. That’s it, straighten your posture, give a stern look from the eyes, radiate power from the body. Then get up, stride steadily out, and face the world!
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There may come a time this year when someone tries to bully you with a word or act. Well, just picture the tiger’s majestic look in your head and stay nonchalant, show you have no time for such company and walk away with your head held high.
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I heard someone say “A tiger doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep” – so discerning! My leadership qualities are validated! Yes, do not be misled by those not qualified to participate in your projects or aspirations.
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Mark your territory and guard it well – keep pretenders and parasites away! You don’t want delaying distractions (though you should not leap into action too hastily either).
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When things are not going well, someone may say or imply you are a loser. Remind them it’s the year of the tiger – let my fiery energy rub off on you and persevere. With new challenges there may be pain and hardship – just accept it, learn from it, lick your wounds and keep moving. We tigers are known for our survival skills.
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Unlike lions and some others in the wild, we tigers are known to share our kills with other tigers. Likewise, when you do well, be quick to share with and care for those less privileged. You will be enriched by a grateful heart that exudes a generous spirit.
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Last but not least, tigers do know how to enjoy life too – we love to swim and play in the water. So you too should occasionally take time off from work. Relax in a peaceful setting, have more time for a good sleep, leisurely meals, with good company or none at all, as your mood moves you.
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Even if you were not born in the year of the tiger, be inspired by my courage and strength. With the strong attitude of a tiger (tigritude?!), you should have a roaring tiger year! I’m with you, tiger!
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(Perhaps this is a good time to make a plea for a greater effort in saving the Malayan tiger, our national animal, which is on the verge of extinction. Tigers appear on the country’s coat of arms, on emblems of private companies and logos of clubs and societies, in folktales and proverbs, and even the national football team is named Harimau Malaysia. We should actively campaign for more publicity and support for protecting the tiger.)
`
TAN LING SUAN, `Kuala Lumpur

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Who are the world good leaders?

. Learn Common prosperity plan to build a fairer society in China  Who are the world good leaders? Illustration credit: Wuheqilin)    

 

 

 

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Who are the world good leaders?

 

Trustworthy friends; good brothers; sincere partners. These phrases are frequently found in Chinese President Xi Jinping's phone conversations, letters, messages and talks with leaders of various countries.

This is not just formulaic politeness, but the truth. Over the last seven-plus decades, the number of countries having diplomatic relations with China has increased from 18 in the early days of the People's Republic of China to 181 today.

 .Boris Johnson, Scott Morrison and Justin Trudeau.

Illustration credit: Wuheqilin)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a topsy-turvy world out there. The world cries out for leaders who can steady the ship of state. Instead, we have a parade of fools like Boris Johnson, Scott Morrison and Justin Trudeau.
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Boris is, undoubtedly, a gift to the entertainment world, but he doesn't belong in government. Previously, he has parlayed his non-seriousness into his personal brand, from which he can wriggle out of any scandal. But this time, with "partygate", the party is over. Like a kite dancing in the hurricane, he is crashing to earth. No one can trust a single word coming out of his mouth. With zero interest in the mundane business of government, he only comes to life at parties or in front of the camera.
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Every time, when he opens his mouth, only hot air comes out. This time, not even his unruly, carefully curated, tousled hair can save him. Clueless about how to govern, and callous to the sufferings of others, he ordered the evacuation of pets over endangered people in the chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. Who knows what lurks in his dark heart? To him, life is just a game, to be played by his rules. He is the living embodiment of Etonian entitlement.
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In foreign affairs, he is a one-trick pony, his sole role being a docile US stooge. He follows at his master's heels into potential armed conflict where Britain has no business to be. He has forgotten the shame that has been visited upon Tony Blair in Iraq and looks likely to repeat that folly. Having decoupled from the EU, Britain's most important partner, unfriended China, the world's major rising power, and betrayed France, he now faces a country that demands its pound of flesh. What kind of drug-addled leader would send his country's newest aircraft carrier out to the South China Sea, looking for trouble, in a region that has long ceased to be Britain's sphere of influence, endlessly burning precious dollars his country can't afford—all for the sake of reliving Britain's imperial past?
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Boris, you were born two centuries too late!
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Without an ounce of common sense, or an iota of strategic sense, the best that can be said about Boris is that he is never dull. He is unprepared to govern, and unfit to lead. Woe betide any nation that picks Boris as helmsman. He has no clue where Britain is heading, only that he wants to go back to the past. But Winston Churchill he is not, with no idea about the future, no heart for the present and only an obsession with the past. I nominate Boris the geopolitical clown of the world, an expensive joke that Britain can ill-afford, good for boozy parties, but not for party politics.

`Sitting one notch below Boris in the totem pole of fools is Canada's Justin Trudeau. Despite his lineage, his CV is alarmingly thin. Trading on his name, this former bar-room bouncer has become top leader. For once Trump was right, calling the Canadian prime minister "weak and stupid", allowing his country to be played like a pawn and dragged into a prolonged tug-of-war with China over Huawei's CFO, whereas his father had studiously cultivated China as an ally. Under Justin, Canada has become the 51st state of the US, with none of the rights, and all of the complications of union. Under his father, neutral Canada refused to live in the pocket of the US, and had a moderating influence on its neighbor's China policies. With his son's total tilt towards the US, not a scintilla of that influence remains. It's gone with the Trumpian hurricane. Foolishly, Trudeau signed up for 5-Eyes to contain China, sending Canadian naval vessels to the most combustible region in the world, the South China Sea. The US has an agenda on containing China which Canada ostensibly doesn't share. No good can come out of this. If you go looking for trouble, you will find it, sooner or later. All it takes is an accidental cannon and you will find Canadian ships at the bottom of the ocean. And for what?
`
Trudeau's one weapon is his good looks. But looks don't amount to a hill of beans in building relationships. Yes, his looks can charm the pants off the wives of foreign leaders, cuckolding buffoons like Trump. Maybe that's why Trump has a visceral dislike of Trudeau. But the world needs global leaders with brains, not political 'gigolos' with brawn.
`
Where Boris is funny, Trudeau is weak. Despite being a former bouncer, Justin is seen by Trump as a soft bullying target. Both Boris and Justin share a disinterest in the future, devoid of vision, of strategic awareness, of long-term planning. Both gravitate to photo ops. For this duo, style trumps substance. They are exemplary shallow leaders.
`

What about the leader Down Under? Oh well, this one takes the cake for suicidal stupidity. One word sums up Scott Morrison: pig-headedness. Previously, Australia enjoyed a comfortable relationship with China, its largest trading partner, a relationship that had been enormously beneficial to both. But, without provocation, Morrison decides to buy into US accusations of China's abuse of human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. As a Hong Konger, I can tell him he is dead wrong about my city. Hong Kong is a misgoverned place, yes. But that is because Beijing has given local leaders too long a leash for 23 years, letting US-funded activists run amok: It was a total abuse of freedom, not lack of freedom. For nine months, chaos and violence raged. They are Hong Kong's Trump-like rioters.
`
As for Xinjiang, it is imported terror. The US response to 911 attacks was to invade Iraq on false pretenses, killing over a million innocent civilians. Where was Australia's moral outrage then? China did not invade any country, only rounded up perpetrators for reeducation and job-training, then released them back into the community. Morrison swallowed CIA propaganda whole. Then he doubled down and demanded a US-inspired push to investigate China as the source of the coronavirus. By upping the ante, Morrison has derailed Sino-Australian relations, to the detriment of both. Worse, he is committing billions to building nuclear submarines to counter China's military rise.
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Didn't he know that China must arm itself to fend off aggressive US containment? What has China done to earn Australian enmity? The militarization of the South China Sea islands is a matter of life-and-death struggle against US encirclement. In the history of the world, have you ever heard of one country, trying non-stop for 70 years to encircle another country? Should China fold its arms and wait for strangulation? What would Morrison do if Australia were in China's shoes? Australia would be entitled to the right of self-defense.
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With trade dollars dwindling, with billions siphoned off into building unneeded nuclear submarines for a non-existent conflict, where is mad Morrison taking Australia? China and Australia have never been at war. If war breaks out between them, Morrison can take full credit.
`
The Taiwan affair had long been a sleepy affair, until America nudges Taiwan separatists into poking the dragon's eye. As a Pacific country, Australia should do its part to cool the tempers, not fan the flames. So far, what has Australia gained from being a US pawn? Increasingly, Morrison looks like Australia's Iraq-tainted Tony Blair. Instead of reaping the benefits of the Pacific Century, Australia is swaggering its way into a major needless conflict. I cannot think of an act of geopolitical stupidity more stupendous and suicidal than this.
`
Western reporters have baselessly and reflexively called President Xi of China "authoritarian", misjudging him on how he handled the Hong Kong and Xinjiang unrest. They are too blind and biased to see that US judgments are nothing more than anti-China propaganda. Do you deny a sovereign nation's right to quell imported riots? Bye-bye Boris, so long Morrison, au revoir Trudeau. You have been proven unfit for office. As for Trump, this serial liar has been caught spouting over twenty thousand falsehoods during his four years in office, with over a thousand lawsuits under his belt. He may be out of office, but not out of the picture. With over 70 million Americans voting for a narcissistic madman, why are Australia, Britain and Canada still licking America's boots?
`
By his competence in coping with Covid-19 alone, China's leader, hands down, deserves an avalanche of accolades. No other leader has acted so decisively in "leveling up", which Boris boasted but never delivered, smashing up monopolies and ending oppressive profit-making after-school tutoring, promoting "housing for living, not for speculating", while lifting 800 million out of poverty and building the world's biggest network of high-speed trains. If you go by achievements, there is only one clear winner in good government. If you call massive and unceremonious sacking of corrupt officials and keeping streets midnight-safe "authoritarian", then give me "authoritarian" any day. With so many failed states littering the globe, only one leader thinks long-term and promotes "common prosperity"---and he lives and leads in China.Learn Common prosperity plan to build a fairer society in China

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by Philip Yeung | School of Education | University of Leeds London

Read more articles by Philip Yeung:

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Learn Common prosperity plan to build a fairer society in China

Cheah Cheng Hye: Malaysians should find this campaign of special interest because China, like Malaysia, is trying to break out of the “middle income trap”, a phenomenon faced by much of the developing world. Although Malaysia and China are different in many respects, they do share a common feature: an almost identical level of average incomes.

CHINA has launched a new campaign, called “Common Prosperity”, to improve the living standards of its people and make its society fairer.

Malaysians should find this campaign of special interest because China, like Malaysia, is trying to break out of the “middle income trap”, a phenomenon faced by much of the developing world.

Although Malaysia and China are different in many respects, they do share a common feature: an almost identical level of average incomes.

According to the World Bank, per capita gross domestic product in Malaysia and China were US$10,402 (RM43,517) and US$10,500 (RM43,927), respectively, in 2020. Thus, both are currently middle-income countries seeking to achieve developed-nation status in the medium-term future.

China’s plan is based largely on enlarging its middle class, by creating opportunities for the lower-income people, who currently make up a majority of its population, to become more productive and earn higher incomes. ADVERTISING

Already, China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 340 million middle-class people, larger than the entire population of the United States. Some estimates put the Chinese middle class at more than 400 million, using a looser definition of “middle class” status.

Beijing aims to increase the middle class to 500 million by 2025 and about 750 million by 2035. Put another way, Beijing is looking for roughly half the mainland Chinese population to be middle class by 2035, compared with less than 30% today, using a conservative definition.To realise the plan, the Chinese economy will need to double in size by 2035, having just doubled from 2010 to 2021.

In recent months, the Common Prosperity plan has caused concern among some investors, who worry that it is a kind of “Robin Hood” campaign. This is simply wrong. One only has to look at the “Zhejiang Plan”, announced in mid-2021, to get a detailed picture.

Zhejiang province (population: 65 million), located in the Yangtze River delta in central China, has set 52 performance targets to achieve Common Prosperity. The government has stated that Zhejiang is a “demonstration zone”, intended as a model for the nation.

Investors can rest assured.

The plan supports private enterprise, innovation, market development and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The plan takes aim against monopolistic business practices, supports the concept of a level playing field in the economy and aims to deflate the real estate market.

As officials have repeatedly stated, the overall objective is to create a society that is olive shaped, not pyramid shaped.

The plan does not emphasise wealth distribution but aims to make society more productive and fairer, with measures added to promote social mobility and better welfare for the needy. It confirms that Beijing remains committed to “state capitalism” (a Chinese version of the concept of “stakeholder capitalism”, currently gaining support in the West).

Clearly, the market-opening, pro-business reforms of the past four decades are irreversible.

Currently, the private sector (China has about 40 million SMEs) provides 50% of tax revenues, 60% of gross domestic product, 70% of patent filings and more than 80% of urban employment.

China’s domestic stock market, which trades through exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, is today the world’s most active, with a daily trading volume about four times that of second place New York. Indeed, there is no turning back the clock on using capitalism to help socialism.

Over the past several months, Beijing has launched restrictive regulations against Internet platforms, property developers, after-school tutoring and so on. These are aimed at problems that can’t wait for longer-term solutions.

But the reality of Common Prosperity is that it is mainly about long-term structural reforms to create a more sustainable and inclusive society. President Xi Jinping himself has stated that the objectives will take decades to achieve.

Over time, stock markets and other capital markets are to be encouraged so that more savings can be channelled into manufacturing, innovation and green energy. Real estate development is a different matter. The government is sticking to its restrictions on real-estate investments as housing seems over-built and bubbles have formed.

So, will it work?

The Chinese public, it seems, is confident that Common Prosperity targets can be achieved, given the party’s strong track record, with 800 million people – roughly 10% of the global population – lifted out of extreme poverty over the past four decades.

Indeed, China has already come a long way; as recently as the early 1960s, parts of the country suffered from starvation.

But the obstacles to Common Prosperity cannot be under-estimated, ranging from geo-political tensions to an ageing population and the overheated property market.

Undoubtedly, Common Prosperity represents a shift leftwards in Chinese politics, after decades of liberal policies that enabled a privileged few to make a lot of money. Capital flight could become a persistent problem for China (as it is for Malaysia) as the rich move money to offshore shelters.

Furthermore, for Beijing, real estate is a particularly difficult balancing act, as the property sector represents about 25% of the Chinese economy and 40% of people’s savings.

In urban areas, 80% of households already own their own property, and 40% have second homes. Home prices are up 50% over the past decade.

The property boom is financed by heavy debts, putting financial stability at risk. Beijing has to find ways to cool down the property sector but avoid a hard landing for house prices.

China’s ageing population, too, is a headwind.

But the impact can be offset by improving productivity and innovation.

Here, China’s great success in education is helpful. Each year, China produces more than nine million university graduates, exceeding the combined total of the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan and South Korea. The Chinese graduates are concentrated in science, math and engineering.

In addition, about five million people complete vocational school each year with technical and trade skills. Chinese talent is on an upward spiral, meaning many problems can be overcome.

Common Prosperity is driven by the Communist Party of China, which has been in power since 1949, and has always identified itself as a party representing workers and peasants.

But now, the party has staked its brand on the success of the prosperity plan and in the process, it is transforming itself into a party for the middle class.

If successful, the party will lift China into the ranks of developed nations by 2035.

Datuk Seri Cheah Cheng Hye is the head of Value Partners Group, an asset management firm in Hong Kong. He is also an independent non-executive director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. He started his career as a reporter in The Star.

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Why American presidents matter

 

Strong leaders club: Lee Kuan Yew was an admirer of Reagan and Nixon.— AP Photo/File 

 

 The zeitgeist of the world is infused by the character of the US leader. Biden will bring back the civility and generosity that the American spirit is associated with.

THE first American president to enter my personal consciousness was John F. Kennedy. It wasn’t his stirring rhetoric that reached me as a child in Singapore. It was the news of his assassination. The sense of loss was globally palpable. History has been kind to him.

He was succeeded by Lyndon Baines Johnson. As a child, I was puzzled. How could someone so ugly succeed someone who was so attractive? Indeed, he was boorish. Legend has it that he would summon his staff to meetings while sitting on his toilet seat, doing his business.

Still, history will be kind to him. His bold and massive civil rights legislation changed the course of US history. Which may explain why he has the most voluminous and still unfinished biography of any recent American president, in the four volumes by Robert Caro.

History has been unkind to Richard Nixon, his successor. Watergate killed him. The liberal media has not forgiven him. Yet there’s no doubt that he changed the course of human history. Without Nixon, Henry Kissinger could not have gone to China.

Lee Kuan Yew named Nixon as the greatest American president he had met, saying: “But for the misfortune of Watergate, I would say Richard Nixon. He had a realistic view of the world. He was a great analyst, realistic, but also a tactician to get things done.”

When Nixon stepped down, Lee lost a true friend in the White House, a major asset for the leader of a small country.

This partially explained the contempt Lee had for Jimmy Carter, whom he considered naive. In Tom Plate’s book, Giants Of Asia: Conversations With Lee Kuan Yew, Lee named Carter the worst president, saying of him: “Your job as a leader is to inspire and to galvanise, not to share your distraught thoughts. You make your people dispirited.”

Fortunately, Carter was succeeded by the two-term Ronald Reagan, another admirer of Lee. I was present when they met in the White House. Still, as a Singapore diplomat in Washington and New York during Reagan’s era, I experienced the condescension the liberal media displayed towards him. However, history has been very kind to Reagan, especially because of his spectacular victory over the Soviet Union.

Reagan was succeeded by another great friend and admirer of Lee, George H. W. Bush. I was present in a small room in St Petersburg, Russia, in the late 1990s, when Bush confirmed that the No 1 leader he admired in the world was Lee.

I reported this to him. Sadly, Bush became a one-term president, and his departure was another huge blow to Lee.

The point of these stories is a simple one. The selection of an American president has huge consequences for the world, including Singapore.

What Biden offers

Indeed, given the overwhelming power of America, especially in the media and communication dimensions, the zeitgeist of the world is infused by the character and personality of the American president.

Donald Trump’s narcissistic and self-absorbed personality has deprived the world of a major source of inspiration, especially after Barack Obama.

So what does the election of Joe Biden bring to the world? Will good times return? The short answer is yes and no.

Biden is a truly decent human being. He will bring back the civility and generosity that the American spirit is associated with.

However, Biden also knows that he is taking over a deeply divided country, as demonstrated by the huge numbers who voted for Trump even though he was defeated. His priority is to heal his country, not create a better world.

Nonetheless, Biden has at least three opportunities he can capitalise on to retain his positive glow.

First, he can bring back some boredom to the White House. Both America and the world have become exhausted by Trump’s tweets and in-your-face presence. Some calm and reticence by the Biden administration will help to return the world to a certain degree of normalcy.

Biden knows that he cannot do this alone. Fortunately, he has assembled a formidable transitional team of real American heavyweights. They share Biden’s distress over the divisions in the country. Repairing the wounds in American society and bringing back a happy America will be the main priority.

The second opportunity is geopolitical. Biden cannot reverse the US-China geopolitical contest, for reasons I have documented in my book, Has China Won? He would be persecuted if he is seen to be soft on China. Yet, even if he cannot reverse course on China, he can press the pause button on the contest.

Americans believe in common sense. Simple common sense would say that Americans should first deal with the pressing challenges of Covid-19 and economic slowdown, not to mention global warming.

All these problems would be better handled with some degree of cooperation with China. Just as Winston Churchill partnered an adversary, Joseph Stalin, to defeat Adolf Hitler, Biden can partner a competitor, China, to defeat Covid19. Both Nixon and Lee would have approved such a Machiavellian manoeuvre against a common foe.

The third opportunity lies in stopping America’s drift towards a plutocracy. One key reason why Trump was elected in 2016 was because of the “sea of despair” among the white working classes. This is because America is the only major developed economy where the average income of the bottom 50% has gone down. The anguish of these white working classes must be dealt with. Some redistribution must take place.

Reagan delegitimised taxes. Biden must re-legitimise them. And, if America’s many plutocrats are wise, they would support him.

In short, Biden can apply some gentle soothing balm on the many wounds generated by the Trump presidency. His greatest asset is his decency. Plain decency will bring a lot of healing to America. Trump may have been cruel to call him “Sleepy Joe”. Yet a “Sleepy Joe” and calm American presidency may be good for America and the world. 

 By KISHORE MAHBUBANI Kishore Mahbubani is a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, and the author of ‘Has The West Lost It?’ and ‘Has China Won?’-ANN

 

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It pays to learn from China

Malaysia can achieve high income nation through Belt and Road initiative, says minister

https://youtu.be/IjEEOkPW8Zc

MALACCA: Malaysia can learn from China which is skilled in attracting and profiting from the knowledge and skills of its human capital, said Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said China was creating an innovative economy and not just a high-income one driven by strong domestic consumption.

“China’s leadership is building on ambitious growth targets based on equality, efficiency and evaluation. We need to emulate this trait,” he said. Dr Wee was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 8th World Chinese Economic Summit (WCES)

WCES is organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) with the aim of promoting global and regional dialogue on the emergence of China as the world’s largest economy and bringing together the global Chinese diaspora.

Dr Wee said that Malaysia, through its participation in China’s Belt and Road initiative, would be able to achieve its aim of becoming a high-income economy by 2020.

Movers and shakers: Dr Wee (centre) flanked by former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (Wee’s right) and WCES founder and patron and Country Heights Group of Companies founder Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew cutting ribbons at the opening ceremony of the 8th WCES in Malacca. Also joining them are (from left) WCES co-chairmain Datuk Seri David Yeat, Asli CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Asli and Sunway Group chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former Thai Deputy Prime Minister Dr Surakiart Sathirathai, Quest International University Perak chief operating officer Nicholas Goh, Mah Sing Group marketing and innovation general manager Lily Lee and Star Media Group Bhd editor-in-chief Datuk Leanne Goh.

“China can appeal to a variety of demographics within Malaysia. By utilising the diversity and skills of the multi-ethnic Malaysian workforce, China can further capitalise on business ventures in the region.

“This can include leveraging on the country’s Mandarin-speaking citizens in order to effortlessly conduct business, or using Malaysia’s large Muslim population to expand investment into the Middle East,” Dr Wee said.

One of the projects that came into the picture as an effect of Belt and Road was the Melaka Gateway that attracted an investment of RM43bil from China.

China’s southern province of Guangdong, which has established a friendly state and province relationship with Malacca, has expressed its interest in investing RM8bil in an energy project in the state that will create between 5,000 and 20,000 jobs for the locals, Dr Wee said.

On e-commerce, which currently contri­butes 16% to the GDP, he said that only 55% of local consumers use the Internet for shopping.

The appointment of Chinese Internet billionaire Jack Ma of Alibaba Group as the Government’s digital economy adviser will help tap the vast potential of that market.

The e-commerce market (excluding e-services) in Malaysia for this year was expected to reach US$991.1mil (RM4.3bil) in revenue, while the global e-commerce industry was projected to surpass US$3.5 trillion (RM15.3 trillion) within the next five years, said Dr Wee.

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World doubts the leadership of Uncle Sam: expert

The culture of guns

As the US has lost more international status and influence since the global financial crisis in 2008, the international community is raising doubts about its leadership and ability to contribute to the world, an expert said, analyzing that such a decline of influence can be attributed to some deep-seated reasons, including its self-willed overseas military operations.

Since the financial crisis, the US can neither provide effective solutions to a host of global challenges, nor sustain its control over other countries, Zhang Ruizhuang, Director of the Center of American Studies at Nankai University, wrote in an article published in the People’s Daily on Sunday.

In the commentary titled “The City upon a Hill is not there any more,” he gave an in-depth analysis on the reasons of such changes.

Zhang says that “A City upon a Hill,” often cited by American politicians as their political creed, verified the self-labelling of the arrogant Americans as “God's Chosen Ones” to lead the world. After the Cold War, the preaching about the superiority of its values brought US much popularity and pulled the country to a commanding stage.

But it over-consumed its accumulated political capital during the last quarter of the 20th century, which resulted in a decline in its global influence, Zhang said, adding that the most destructive threat to its dropping status can be attributed to overseas military operations.

After the Soviet Union collapsed with the end of the Cold War, the US dominated the world and launched a series of capricious measures. With the excuse of protecting democracy, human rights and the world order, Uncle Sam trampled on the post-war international law based on the UN Charter and norms governing global relations by bringing the flames of war to many parts of the world.

Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Kosovo are all victims of such wars waged by the superpower. With a made-up excuse, it pulled Iraq into a war and this political farce finally brought the latter millions of civilian casualties, endless terrorist attacks and ceaseless disturbance.

What the US gained, after it paid a price of trillions of dollars for the war, was a hotbed for terrorist organizations which in turn threatened the security of itself and other Western countries. The war against Iraq ultimately turned out to be a foolish one that not only crumbled its diplomatic morality, but undermined its own strategic interests, Zhang concluded.

Despite the lessons, the US never gave up every opportunity to start “color revolutions.” Its attacks on Libya and Syria, once again, dragged these nations into raging wars. What’s worse, as a result of the wars, a number of regulation vacuums provided ISIS and other religious extremist organizations a bed in which to grow stronger.

The US, its Western allies, as well as the whole world, are now swallowing the sour fruits resulted from its self-willed deed, he added.

According to the scholar, apart from its frequent diplomatic mistakes, its economy, politics and society, in which the Americans once took pride, are all in a predicament, arising more doubts over the superiority of the US system.

The global financial crisis breaking out in 2008 exposed the defects of capitalism once again. It brought to light not only the failure of Keynesian policy to narrow the wealth gap and boost effective demand, but the greed and corruption of financial executives, the ineffectiveness of financial supervision, plus the government’s shielding of tycoons.

The US public felt shock, despair and anger towards such defects, and the ensuing “Occupy Wall Street” movement is one of their ways to express dissatisfaction. The protest wave later spilled to other part of the world, triggering worldwide query over the US system and its values.

Zhang also criticized US domestic politics, citing its notorious presidential election system as an example.

Manipulated by capital, the “winner takes all” election system in many states gives no chance to other newborn parties besides the two major parties. The American elections of the past two to three decades have been more like technical games.

The candidates now focus more on technical details for the sake of more votes rather than their political ideas and governance philosophies, and the whole process has fallen into personal attacks between the two candidates, he added.

Coupled with some other faults, the US and even the whole world began to question on the effectiveness of US democracy, as well as its leader selected in such a flawed way.

The article analyzed that one key reason for its flopping election lies in a lack of innovative governing ideas.

Barely stimulated by major crisis, US society tends to be mediocre and conservative about its ideas, the commentary further explained, adding that the prevailing philosophy of so-called “political correctness” also created an unfavorable environment for the candidates to come up with new ideas acceptable to the public.

Lack of foresighted candidates with outstanding capability is another reason for its unsuccessful election, Zhang wrote.

He explained that some capable politicians are not willing to embarrass themselves on the election stage at the cost of their privacy and that of their family as the butt of jokes.

“As a result, the world was presented with an election farce performed by the two unqualified and big-mouth candidates selected by the two parties,” the author concluded.

“It is obvious that the US is seeing a decline in terms of both prestige and influence, but such a drop is not so eye-catching as it has no strong competitors yet. It would be a complicated historic path,” the scholar said, calling for more attention to the course of the world pattern.

 (People's Daily)

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