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.

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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中国学贡献奖得主马凯硕：

与中国的最佳相处之道是加强多边机制

马凯硕 新加坡国立大学亚洲研究院卓越院士、前新加坡驻联合国大使、2023中国学贡献奖获奖者：“与中国相处的最佳相处之道是加强多边合作机构、多边机制、多边规范等等。”

“我想我不是在泄露秘密，中美关系正处于一个非常具有挑战性的阶段，因为许多美国人希望美国能保持世界头号大国的地位。他们相信，保持世界第一的方法就是遏制中国。因此，美中竞争将在未来十年加速。我们该为其间的起伏做好准备。”

“但与此同时，很明显，世界上大多数国家不想在这场美中竞争中站队任何一方。比如，东盟、东盟十国，我所在的东南亚地区，已经非常明确地表示，他们既希望与中国成为好朋友，又希望与美国成为好朋友。他们不想站队。我希望，随着越来越多的国家声明不愿在美中竞争中站队，美国能认识到，它更好的做法是去学习与中国相处，而不是试图遏制中国的发展。”

“过去200年，西方国家对世界的主导，并不是一种常态。所有非常态的东西总有结束的时候。因此，看到中国、印度和其它亚洲社会的强势回归，这都是很自然的。事实上，中国也有能力去实现一种复兴，复兴其文化，强健其社会，并发展自己。显然，这将启发其它很多国家。那些国家将认为，既然中国可以做到，那么我也可以。所以，从这个意义上说，中国继续取得成功是很重要的。因为中国的成功，不仅令本国人民得到发展，还激励启发了世界各国人民。”

“在科技领域，我再次很遗憾地认为，美国减少与中国的科技合作是一个错误。如你所知，美国国会可能不会续签1980年前后与中国签订的《中美科技合作协定》。美国不延长这一科技协议将是一个错误。”

“中国已经显示了其（在科技领域）继续进步的能力，即便一些人在遏制中国方面下了功夫。我认为，这可能会使中国在某些领域的成长速度有所放缓。但不会改变基本的发展轨迹，因为所有那些试图遏制中国科技发展的国家都失败了。”

“我很高兴再次来到上海，2018年，我抽了一段时间来写新书《中国的选择》。当时在复旦大学待了两个月，对这座美丽的城市了解颇深。这是我自新冠疫情以来第一次回到上海，我很高兴能够回来。”