The BEST way to live with China is to strengthen multilateralism

How to understand a modern China and its evolution from the 5,000-year-old ancient Chinese civilization? How to decode China from an academic point of view? And how is an opening China to contribute to the human civilization? ShanghaiEye talks to global experts at the World Conference on China Studies Shanghai Forum.

Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore's former UN ambassador and the head of the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, shares his insights on the best way to live with China as China's renaissance of "brining back its culture, strengthening its society and developing itself is obviously a source of inspiration for many other countries."

Mr. Mahbubani is here in Shanghai to attend the World Conference on China Studies Shanghai Forum and to promote his book "Has China Won?", which is now published in Chinese.

【sctript】

Well, I think, I’m not giving away a big secret, if I tell you that the China’s relations with the United States of America are in a very challenging phase. Because many people in the United States want to keep United States as the number one power in the world, and they believe that the way they can keep United States number one power in the world is to stop China. And, so as a result of that, the US-China contest will accelerate over the next ten years, and we should be ready for some rocky times. But at the same time, it’s clear that most countries in the world, don’t want to take sides in this US-China contest. For example, ASEAN, the 10 ASEAN countries in my region, in Southeast Asia, have made it very clear they want to be good friends with China, and they want to be good friends with the United States, and they don’t want to take sides in this contest. So, I hope, as more and more countries declare that they don’t want to take sides in this contest, then hopefully the United States will decide it’s better to learn to live with China, rather than to try and suppress China’s growth. And the best way to live with China is to strengthen multilateral institutions, multilateral rules, multi-lateral norms and so on.

The past 200 years of Western domination of world history have been an aberration. All aberrations come to a natural end. So, it’s perfectly natural to see the return of China, India, and the other Asian societies. And the fact that China is able to have a kind of a renaissance, bringing back its old culture, to strengthen its society, to develop itself. It’s obviously a source of inspiration for many other societies who say ‘hey, if China can do it, I can do it too’. So in that sense, it’s important for China to continue succeeding, because by your success, you’re not just developing your own people, you are inspiring other people around the world.

Therefore, in the field of science and technology, I sadly, again, I think it’s a mistake for the United States to cut down on science and technology cooperation with China. As you know, the US Congress is not sure whether or not to renew the Science and Technology Agreement, which has been around since 1980 with China. That will be a mistake for the United States not to extend that Science and Technology Agreement with China.

China has shown that it can keep progressing, even though efforts are being made to stop China. So, I think it may slow down China’s growth a little bit in some areas, but it will not change the fundamental trajectory, because all the countries that have made efforts to stop China’s growth in science and technology have failed.

I’m very happy to be back in Shanghai, because in the year 2018, when I took a sabbatical to write my book “Has China Won”, I spent two months in Fudan University, so I got to know this beautiful city very well. And this is my 1st time to come back since Covid, and I’m very happy to be back.

2023中國學貢獻獎得主馬凱碩：

與中國的最佳相處之道是加強多邊機制

馬凱碩 新加坡國立大學亞洲研究院卓越院士、前新加坡駐聯(lián)合國大使、2023中國學貢獻獎獲獎者：“與中國相處的最佳相處之道是加強多邊合作機構(gòu)、多邊機制、多邊規(guī)范等等?！?/span>

“我想我不是在泄露秘密，中美關系正處于一個非常具有挑戰(zhàn)性的階段，因為許多美國人希望美國能保持世界頭號大國的地位。他們相信，保持世界第一的方法就是遏制中國。因此，美中競爭將在未來十年加速。我們該為其間的起伏做好準備?！?/strong>

“但與此同時，很明顯，世界上大多數(shù)國家不想在這場美中競爭中站隊任何一方。比如，東盟、東盟十國，我所在的東南亞地區(qū)，已經(jīng)非常明確地表示，他們既希望與中國成為好朋友，又希望與美國成為好朋友。他們不想站隊。我希望，隨著越來越多的國家聲明不愿在美中競爭中站隊，美國能認識到，它更好的做法是去學習與中國相處，而不是試圖遏制中國的發(fā)展?！?/strong>

“過去200年，西方國家對世界的主導，并不是一種常態(tài)。所有非常態(tài)的東西總有結(jié)束的時候。因此，看到中國、印度和其它亞洲社會的強勢回歸，這都是很自然的。事實上，中國也有能力去實現(xiàn)一種復興，復興其文化，強健其社會，并發(fā)展自己。顯然，這將啟發(fā)其它很多國家。那些國家將認為，既然中國可以做到，那么我也可以。所以，從這個意義上說，中國繼續(xù)取得成功是很重要的。因為中國的成功，不僅令本國人民得到發(fā)展，還激勵啟發(fā)了世界各國人民?！?/strong>

“在科技領域，我再次很遺憾地認為，美國減少與中國的科技合作是一個錯誤。如你所知，美國國會可能不會續(xù)簽1980年前后與中國簽訂的《中美科技合作協(xié)定》。美國不延長這一科技協(xié)議將是一個錯誤?！?/strong>

“中國已經(jīng)顯示了其（在科技領域）繼續(xù)進步的能力，即便一些人在遏制中國方面下了功夫。我認為，這可能會使中國在某些領域的成長速度有所放緩。但不會改變基本的發(fā)展軌跡，因為所有那些試圖遏制中國科技發(fā)展的國家都失敗了?！?/strong>

“我很高興再次來到上海，2018年，我抽了一段時間來寫新書《中國的選擇》。當時在復旦大學待了兩個月，對這座美麗的城市了解頗深。這是我自新冠疫情以來第一次回到上海，我很高興能夠回來?！?/strong>