Dazzled by the great Chinese puzzle

A quick trip to the country throws up many answers - and just as many questions

I am in the high-speed train from Shanghai to Yangzhou, jet-lagged yet exhilarated as the Chinese countryside - or rather the endless urban sprawl - rushes past me at approximately 300 kilometers an hour. Everyone around me is staring at his/her iPhone.

I am the only foreigner in the carriage. Once in a while, someone looks up at me with a shy smile and then quickly retreats to the minute screen on his/her phone. I smile back tiredly - I want to get to my hotel as soon as possible. But there is another hour and a half of train travel ahead, following on the heels of the 11 hours I have spent on the Brussels-Shanghai flight and the two hours of patient wait at the Shanghai railway station. I am exhausted.

I keep dropping off to sleep, waking up only when the train screeches to a halt at a station and travelers get on and off. They do so without much noise. In fact, it is eerily quiet although a few old folk break into chuckles once in a while.

I reach Yangzhou,in Jiangsu province, right on time and my hosts speed me to my hotel and much-needed rest. I have only been in the country for about five hours and already I know: China is punctual, efficient and courteous. It is also big, bright and shiny - and it is doggedly forging ahead at still-impressive growth rates that are the envy of the rest of the world. Just like the train I have just been on.

China's hold on the global imagination is nothing new. Many years ago, I remember my father coming back from an official trip to China with stories of the country's determined drive for growth and development. I hung on his every word, devouring his descriptions of the banquets he attended, the factories he visited, the disciplined workers he met - and the Chinese leaders' commitment to eliminating hunger and poverty.

Of course, it was not that simple. China was, and still is, a complicated and complex country that amazes, bewilders and fascinates. It is multi-faceted and difficult. Warm and breezy when it wants to be nice - but cold and intimidating when it turns its back on you. My job requires that I not only try to unravel the mysteries of the country from my perch in Brussels and through conversations with Chinese scholars, journalists and diplomats, but also that I visit China to see the evolution of the country first-hand.

This time I am attending a conference in Yangzhou, a "small" town of about 4 to 5 million people, where modern skyscrapers and factories have not yet totally overtaken vestiges of Chinese history and ancient civilization. Discussions with my Chinese colleagues inevitably turn to global - and especially European - perceptions of China. Why, they ask, is China so misunderstood?

China, they tell me, is committed to a peaceful rise, wants friendly relations with its neighbors and, even if it wanted to rule the world - as some contend - the domestic challenges facing the new leaders make it impossible that Beijing would embark on a foreign adventure. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang are to fight corruption, combat pollution and improve food safety and security.

As Chinese cities grow bigger, the focus is on improving the lives of China's "urban billion" and making Chinese urban centers more livable for all. Certainly, China is "misunderstood", with foreign observers of the country still undecided on its future direction. There is no agreement on whether the current growth trajectory will be maintained or if China will fall into the middle-income trap of economic stagnation.

There are, in fact, three competing Western narratives on China in the 21st century that mix confusion, admiration and fear. Foreign scholars, journalists and policymakers are confused and puzzled by China. The country breaks the mould; it is a Communist state with a dynamic, capitalist economy; it is the new kid on the block that is at the same time massively rich and hopelessly poor.

Europeans and Americans want to do business with China but cannot decide whether it is a rival or a partner, a force for good or bad. They worry about China's rising economic dominance and influence over its neighbors but also recognize that without Chinese trade and investment, the rest of Asia would still be largely undeveloped.

Even as they try to make sense of China, many observers admit to strong admiration for the gigantic growth and development strides made by the country in the last 30 years. They admire China's emergence as a regional and global power - but also profess fear at the country's future direction.

European views of China are colored by recent developments in the South and East China seas and Beijing's approach to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Significantly, Europe's economic troubles are also affecting perceptions of China, with public opinion torn between a view of cash-rich China as a potential savior for ailing European economies and fear that Beijing is planning to buy up European assets and use its expanding economic power to influence European policy.

As I head back to Europe after days of intense discussion with my Chinese friends, my head is buzzing with facts, figures and impressions. I worry that I am still no closer to really understanding modern-day China. But then as a Chinese friend asks me consolingly: "Tell me, who is?"

The author is head of policy at Friends of Europe, Brussels. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily 05/10/2013 page8)