The Great Will of China

The Olympics are over and China has not only emerged as the new sporting superpower but has also managed to organize arguably the most impressive Olympics show in recent times. A few years back the Chinese had declared that they will win the largest number of gold medals in the Beijing Olympics. China has won the largest number of gold medals by any country in any Olympics in the post soviet Olympic era.

A nation that was labeled a third world country a couple of decades back has emerged as one of the key players in the global economy and politics and now has also demonstrated a similar capability in the sporting arena. The world has been speaking of India and China as the emerging super powers of this century and with this Olympics China has truly arrived at the world stage.

So where does that leave India? I am afraid the answer to that question will not please most Indians. India has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to be spoken about in the same breath as China in the international arena again.

The first time this thought struck me was when I arrived in Beijing and Shanghai 2 years ago on a business trip. The impression I had in my mind of China was formed based on media reports of its rapid economic growth and modernization and I was quite prepared to see a reasonably modern nation and not the kind which you see in the typical Chinese Kung Fu movies. Yet, I was taken aback on seeing the level of development in the two cities. There has been talk of making Mumbai the next Shanghai, well its going to take a few years for Mumbai to even come anywhere close. Shanghai is in the league of global cities like New York with its beautiful high rises and cosmopolitan culture. As a foreigner I felt as comfortable in Shanghai as I would feel in any city in my country.

I visited China for a couple of years on a regular basis and what impressed me the most was there single minded determination to succeed. This determination is seen in an average citizen of the country. He wants to succeed in whatever he does for a living. I always felt that this will to succeed in spite of odds is perhaps the key reason why China has gone so far ahead of India.

I also discovered that the origin of this quality has some interesting factors behind it. In the middle of the last century, China came under communist rule and all aspects of religion were abolished from the life of its citizens. The nation was the only religion and the party leaders were the priests. Everything was decided by the party including where you lived and what you did for a living. All decisions were taken for the common good of the country, or so the citizens thought. But as it happened in other communist countries, the people started becoming disillusioned with the party and its leaders. The leaders were after all mortals and fought for power and the riches that being in a powerful position brings and corruption became a way of life. By the mid eighties the common public had realized that all that the party was preaching about socialism was a farce and the leaders themselves were after money. So why should the common man stay behind? Gradually earning money and living a good life became the key mantras for most Chinese citizens.

At the same time the party decided to start opening up the economy to the world and more money poured into China. This drove further growth and there were huge opportunities for the average Chinese people. And there was no religion, and no value systems apart from the communist value system which the people did not believe in anymore. In most societies, religion plays the role of building the value system of its inhabitants. Forty years of communist rule had destroyed the religious systems in China that had been there for centuries and the current generation had no exposure to the same and the ancient value systems.

Success had become the new religion the success was measured in terms of money and career growth as well as a good lifestyle. These were the values passed on to the children by their parents who were completely disillusioned with the communist system and wanted their kids to have the good life that they could not.

The strong Chinese will comes across in everyday life when you deal with them. Chinese will typically negotiate hard in any business deal especially when working with another partner from a different country and usually end up with a deal on their terms. This is also demonstrated in all their negotiations in the international trade and political arena.

I would like to close this post with a key thought that I often have about the Chinese. At this point in time the nation is riving full steam towards development and most Chinese want to focus on being economically successful. In the next few decades the Chinese will achieve this dream. What will they strive for then? With no value systems that most societies have will they decline and degenerate or try and rediscover religion?