ANALYSIS: The diplomat and the dissident: Two competing views of China with the same paradox at their core
This week I have heard two very different assessments of China: one, that it is "dogged by insecurity" with a "siege mentality"; the other, that it is brutal, authoritarian and, in the battle for power, winning.
Ai Weiwei has no illusions about the West or democracy, just as he has no illusions about the Chinese Communist Party. The West, he says, is no longer dominant while China is upending liberal orthodoxy — a nation rich but not free. Adamson believes the Chinese Communist Party has a "deeply defensive mindset". Perhaps — it is certainly sensitive to criticism. But it could also be said to be supremely confident and assertive.
The West is deeply linked to China's economy. To Ai Weiwei, they are part of the same system of exploitation. He sees the tough talk coming from the likes of US President, Joe Biden, as little more than "propaganda". He says the West no longer rules the world. The West has maintained that conceit for decades, yet all the while China has grown more powerful, more emboldened, turning away from liberal freedom and doubling down on authoritarianism.
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