Is China creating dependency among developing countries?
Ever since Argentine economist Raúl Prebisch and German economist Han Singer proposed the "dependency theory" in the 1950s and 60s, there has been a heated debate between developing and developed countries on the merits of it. Dependency theory holds that after gaining independence, it is still very hard for developing countries to eradicate poverty in the long run, largely owing to an imbalanced international economic system. As developing countries lie at the bottom of the resource flow of international chain of enterprises, they have to depend on developed countries, which have abundant resources, advanced technology and human capital.
Thanks to these advantages, developed countries have tailored a series of international laws for their own needs, thereby constantly exploiting and oppressing developing countries, essentially entrapping them in poverty and underdevelopment. Since the publication of the theory, it has become an important weapon for developing countries to contend against their developed counterparts in the process of making international economic rules and norms.
Subsequently, dependency theory has become an important weapon to restrain advanced countries with regard to trade and other global policy formation. Sensing pressure from the developing world, some scholars from developed countries joined in to explain the theory and cited its aims to distract the attention of developing countries. Disguised in the coat of dependency theory, their real purpose is to attack China, and to accuse it of exploiting resources from developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and selling low-quality cheap commodities in developing countries.
More recently, they have accused China of using the "One Belt, One Road" (now known as Belt and Road Initiative) to develop a kind of new colonial relationship so that many developing countries have to depend on China. Deducting from those western scholars, in general, their logic is to locate the definite answer before looking for the evidence based on sample studies. Therefore, this kind of sample study not only distorts the original concept and principles of dependency theory, but also maliciously attacks the trade and commerce between China and developing countries. To some extent, it misleads media and public opinion resulting in adverse influence on the relationship between China and other developing countries.
Looking back in history, China has been the biggest developing country in the world. Since 1949, the country has risen from semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. When it was established as a people's democratic state, China was in a dependent relationship with developed countries because at that time China had to rely on import for things even as small as a match box.
Today, with the devotion and arduous struggle against poverty, the country has emerged as the second biggest economy in the world. According to the Xinhua News Agency, China has set up a complete industrial system that covers all the industrial categories classified by the United Nations. The country has contributed greatly to world economic development. China has made remarkable progress in improving the living standard of millions of people. The Chinese development experience shows that the country has set an example of cutting off the umbilical cord with western hosts, giving hope of doing the same to other developing countries.
Nevertheless, the dependency theory gradually turned out to be a tool that some western scholars employ to blackmail China with the goal of creating divisions among developing countries. Even though China is now the world's second largest economy, it remains a developing country in many aspects, such as per capita income and human development index. China lags behind western countries and faces many developmental challenges. But its course of development provides solid evidence that the dependency theory will not last forever without evolving. And through its steadfast efforts, China has walked a unique path demonstrating that breaking away from an age-old dependency relationship is possible.
In this age of globalisation, not a single country can develop with a locked-door policy. Instead, we need to be interdependent on one another. The development of China cannot be achieved without the support of developing countries. Likewise, the development of developing countries cannot do away with China's support. The relationship between China and developing countries is not an absurd zero-sum game.
On the one hand, China, having set an example of successfully severing dependent relationships, provides an instance to study and imitate if necessary; on the other hand, China is willing to share experience and achievements with other developing countries. Although China has achieved much progress in recent decades, it is not distracted from its original motivation. During his visit to Mongolia in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed and opened up opportunities for neighbouring countries under the aegis of "Thumb a Lift" policy. The declaration demonstrates China's willingness to share its experience with its neighbours and other developing countries.
Beijing's "Thumb a Lift" policy doesn't mean that it is asking other developing countries to depend on China. Instead it advances an interdependent relationship, resulting in a win-win situation for all stakeholders. It is different from despoiling high profits via monopoly, restricting technical communication, and building commercial barriers, which the west once employed vis-à-vis developing world. These measures belong to the "palaeo-state" relationship. In this modern world, Beijing rather proposes a new "neostate" relationship that promotes industrial complementary along with technological progress, and smashes down trade barriers.
It is an indispensable part of China's proposal to build a fair and reasonable international order of politics and economics. It is necessary to point out that China still is the biggest developing country in the world that shares the same historical sufferings and faces analogous development challenges, as do other developing countries. China has no divergence with other developing countries on issues such as improving living standard, ensuring the safety of resources, dealing with climate change and pushing forward reforms in the United Nations. China and other developing countries share unanimous interests of foundation and goal for development. In this regard, other developing countries are important to China to develop a fair and reasonable new international political and economic order.
In March 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping first advocated a new concept called "Human Destiny Community". Later on, during his visits to Asia, Africa and Latin America, on many occasions, he reinforced that idea. In the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, held in October, 2017, President Xi once again appealed to people in different countries to build a community whose ultimate goal is to establish a fair and reasonable international political and economic order. This appeal demonstrates China's willingness to establish a new international order, one which conforms to the common interest of China and all other developing countries.
Huazhong Tu is Associate Professor, Tsinghua University. Hongmei He is PhD Candidate, Minzu University of China, and Research Associate, Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. Wei Zong is PhD Candidate, University Putra Malaysia.
Comments