China’s Identity and Cultural Approach in its Economic Engagement in Asia

Abstract

China’s relative closed political system, legacy of conflict with Japan, and China’s distrust to international economic regime led by West’s capitalism, tend to make the country took minimalist approach to global system. But the vast rapid development in China has change the way it sees the global system. China becomes very confident stepping as a global dominant power. There has been debate in seeing the phenomenon of China Rise. Some say that China’s openness and involvement in global system can be seen as stimulus to China’s steps into democracy, as what most liberals might think. But some skepticism thinks that China Rise is something that needs to be taken seriously. At least the fact related to China’s growing power in military as consequences of it economic growth, is likely relevant as consideration. This writing will discuss the alternative approach in understanding the motivation behind China’s engagement in Asia. Rooted from long history of Local Wisdom – Confucian, China seems to know exactly well its destiny and mandate to become the light of the world, and thus affects the way it strategize their path to global dominance in a global system by building relations with countries, especially in Asia.