Netherlands scores own goal with perceptions of China
The Western world’s perceptions of China are counterproductive is what Prof. Peter Ho will claim in his inaugural lecture on Friday 27 January. Ho believes that the constant stream of inaccurate reports on China is disadvantageous to the Netherlands, when actually a great deal of good is possible.
One-sided discussions
Things you thought you knew about China but you don’t, the subtitle of Ho’s inaugural lecture speaks for itself. Ho, Professor of Chinese Economy & Development, is worried about how China is viewed in the Netherlands – or rather in the all of the West. He says, ‘Discussions on China in the Dutch House of Representatives are always only about human rights and never about how the Netherlands could take advantage of the growing Chinese economy.’
Yellow danger fever
Ho believes we are suffering from yellow danger fever. A symptom of this is fear: we see China as a big yellow danger, a sort of colonising superpower. At the other end of the scale, we tend to euphoria and welcome China as the economic fairy godmother who will solve all of Europe’s problems in one fell swoop. Both views are incorrect. ‘Enthusiasm is good but the reality is never that simple,’ says Ho. ‘Of course the Chinese economy is booming, but all those gleaming skyscrapers and fantastic motorways cause us to overlook the third-world aspect, which is definitely present there.’
Long term
Ho also advocates seeing China as more of an investor. ‘China really won’t try to save the euro on moral grounds. The Chinese only invest if it means a return for them in the long term, but that isn’t a problem because Europe will also benefit in the end.’
Clumsy and insulting
This is why knowledge and the public’s image of China are also so important, says Ho. The discord and ignorance in the EU does not just come across as extremely clumsy in the East but sometimes it is also insulting. And as long as Europe does not act en bloc, China will have a great strategic lead. Ho says, ‘In my lecture I will also reiterate the point that there must be an exchange of the information present in the EU but that the main thing is to expand this knowledge.’
Knowledge valorisation
Spreading this knowledge is a specific task that the Modern East Asia Research Centre (MEARC), of which Ho is joint director, will be taking on now that the Executive Board has given it the mandate to ensure the valorisation of the East-Asian research. This means that the MEARC is going to strive for more dialogue between the academic world, the business community and the media. Ho says, ‘This could mean, for example, holding training sessions, conferences and workshops for the business community and the public authorities but equally organising guest lectures. This will also be with the help of what are known as MEARC-patrons: carefully selected members of the business community and the public authorities, such as Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, the former Minister of Economic Affairs, and Philip de Heer, the current Dutch ambassador to Japan.’
Before Ho’s inaugural lecture on Friday 27 January there will be a congress with the theme of perception, but then of a larger part of Asia than China alone.
Congress
| Peter Ho’s inaugural lecture Will China save Europe or collapse? Things you thought you knew about China but you don’t will take place on Friday 27 January at 12.00 noon in the Large Auditorium of the Academy Building, Rapenburg 67-73 in Leiden. The inaugural lecture is open to the public. |
(23 January 2012/Coen van Beelen)
Links Peter Ho and Asian Studies
Studying in Leiden
Bachelor's degree in
Chinese Studies
Master's degree in
Chinese Studies
Chinese Economy and Business