Latest news with #RoryTruex
Time of India
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Nationalism in China has grown with Xi Jinping— many citizens think economic showdowns with the US are part of China's rejuvenation'
Rory Truex is Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University . Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das , he discusses what's driving China — in the era of Donald Trump : Q. What is the core of your research? A . I study Chinese politics — I've researched public opinion in China, how citizens think about the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ) and the regime. I've worked on US-China relations and how American foreign policy makers think about US-China ties. Finally, I've been working increasingly on authoritarianism in general and particularly authoritarian trends in the United States and elsewhere in the democratic world Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Q. Which main features define the US-China relationship today? A . The US-China relationship has undergone a significant transformation starting with Donald Trump's first administration. We saw the end of the broad idea of engagement with China then and a shift towards 'strategic competition', which sees these as rival countries, competing economically, in science, military power, international influence, etc. Some in the US policy arena even believe we are in a Cold War with China — we just haven't realised it yet. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Linda Kozlowski, 67, Shows Off Her Perfect Figure In A New Photo Today's NYC Undo Q. How do most Chinese view America under Donald Trump? A . There is a general decline in attitudes towards the US — and a rise in nationalism, which corresponds with Xi Jinping 's ascent. The party has used external competition to foster nationalism at home and frames geopolitical competition with the US as a foreign power trying to contain China's rise — this resonates with Chinese history and the idea of the 'Century of Humiliation'. There are some pockets of admiration for Trump — some Chinese view him as humourous and appreciate his off-the-cuff style. However, these aren't particularly large constituencies. More common is the idea that Trump is eroding American competitiveness and, in turn, helping China's rise. Q. Can China actually afford to decouple economically from America? A . My understanding is that full economic decoupling would be costly for both sides. I think this rhetoric from the CCP is a bargaining chip to show resolve before heading into talks. More broadly, the Chinese government has been preparing the population psychologically for war with the US and economic showdowns — Chinese citizens have been socialised into thinking any of those costs are part of the struggle for national rejuvenation. Live Events Q. Does an authoritarian state like China have politics? A . Yes — it's just difficult to observe. The machinations which occur at the elite level, between Xi Jinping and other leaders in the Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee, cannot be readily observed — so, the degree of disagreement at that level isn't really known beyond signals in state-owned newspapers, etc. There is also mass-level politics — occasionally, the population engages in collective action that shifts policy-making. The 'White Paper Revolution' occurred in 2022 on the back of the long 'Zero-Covid' period in China which became increasingly draconian. Citizens protested then and the government had to roll back some of those policies. The citizen voice is muted — but it has an impact. Q. Are most state decisions mainly diktat? A . Of late, the CCP has tried to emphasise 'consultative processes' — this is 'consultative authoritarianism', where a government isn't just ruling by diktat but tries to incorporate public preferences. We see this in China's People's Congress System — every year, deputies convey different suggestions to the government. Laws put forth through the National People's Congress are posted for comment. Citizens can contact municipal governments through Mayor's Mailboxes. There are ways for people to express grievances — the question is, whether the government responds. My assessment is under Xi Jinping, we have not seen a strengthening of such channels. They exist but overall, there's been a relative closing of politics under him. Civil society organisations have been gutted — increasingly, this process is just lip service. Q. China has some of the world's most capitalistic billionaires — how do they view life under a communist state? A . Importantly, the CCP shifted its strategy about business elites in the last few decades — under Mao and the early years of Deng Xiaoping, the party was for peasants and workers. Jiang Zemin introduced the concept of 'The Three Represents ' which sought 'advanced productive forces' — that's code for 'capital' —– to be brought into the party. Since then, the CCP has been quite cosy with business interests. Since the 2000s, the CCP is quite an elite party — it is nominally communist but in key levels of leadership, you'd be hard-pressed to find working-class people. Q. Has the drive to become a global superpower reduced dissent in China? A . It's important to note there are many people in China who dissent. It's hard to see them and several face real consequences. However, people in Xinjiang or Tibet, for instance, would take issue with the CCP, which is basically a Han-dominated regime. Young feminists in China understand the CCP as a traditional patriarchal authoritarian regime, while parts of the periphery, like Hong Kong, are not fully on board. In democracies, disagreements are front and centre — they are organised into parties that raise funds and compete electorally. In China, the party claims to represent everyone but glosses over dissent. Also, the Chinese's government's repressive capacity has increased so much in the last decade that a large-scale mass protest — a Tiananmen 2.0 — is almost impossible today, given the Orwellian level of surveillance. This has implications for its governance and other authoritarian governments.
The Star
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Most mainland Chinese citizens oppose use of force to unify with Taiwan: survey
More than half of mainland Chinese citizens oppose the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The study, designed jointly by the Atlanta-based Carter Center and Emory University, found that 55.1 per cent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that 'the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances', while 24.5 per cent disagreed or somewhat disagreed. A fifth of respondents were neutral. Yet on Russia respondents expressed more hawkish views: 66.1 per cent said it was in China's national interest to support Russia's actions in Ukraine, while 5.8 per cent disagreed and 28.2 per cent felt neutral. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. On India, 79.7 per cent of respondents supported maintaining Beijing's border claims with the South Asian country even at the risk of conflict, while the rest, about a fifth, preferred a more diplomatic approach. Similarly, 81.1 per cent believed that the Philippines and Vietnam should respect China's sovereignty claims over the South China Sea and cease their objections, regardless of what international law says. The online study of 2,211 Chinese citizens aged 18 and 54 was conducted between September 1 and 25 by survey company Dynata. The sample was designed to reflect the demographic distribution of the country's internet-using population. Surveys of Chinese citizen views on foreign policy are rare, and experts have voiced concern that respondents may hold back in conveying their true beliefs for fear of government retaliation. It is 'becoming increasingly difficult to get good representative samples' in China, said Rory Truex, a political scientist at Princeton University, adding that researchers must often therefore rely on convenience samples. Exact percentages in Wednesday's survey should be interpreted cautiously, said Truex, who was not involved in the study. But he believed the results clearly indicated there may be significant public opposition to a Taiwan takeover by Beijing. And that opposition may matter to Beijing. 'Increasingly, in the China field, there's a sense that this regime does have a real responsiveness to it,' Truex said, while noting that the attention was selective and not consistent across all issues. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to arming Taiwan. In recent years, Washington has grown increasingly anxious about a mainland takeover of Taiwan, with some officials eyeing 2027 as a possible window and warning that Chinese President Xi Jinping might use an invasion to divert attention from mounting economic troubles. Despite results showing high opposition to the use of force, Wednesday's survey also revealed that many Chinese may accept eventual military action. Only 18.1 per cent of respondents said there was 'no military action needed' when asked how long China should wait to resolve the Taiwan issue before using force. Given the option of waiting for one, five, 10, 25 or more than 25 years, the most common response – selected by 33.5 per cent – was 'within five years'. An earlier survey, conducted in two waves between late 2020 and early 2021 and later published in the Journal of Contemporary China, found that a slim majority of Chinese citizens – 55 per cent – backed a full-scale war to achieve unification with Taiwan. That result came alongside similar levels of support for military coercion short of war (58 per cent), economic sanctions (57 per cent) and maintaining the status quo (55 per cent). Respondents in the Carter Center-Emory University survey were not explicitly asked about a potential conflict with the US. But when asked what they thought of the US and its people, only 23.5 per cent said they had a favourable or somewhat favourable view. About 70 per cent, however, were found to support 'friendly and peaceful' relations between the two countries 'to continue China's prosperity and economic development'. More from South China Morning Post: For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
