On trying to see it China's way

Here’s a great post by Sam Roggeveen of The Interpreter. It addresses a failure I observe time after time in contemporary commentary – a failure to try to understand how things look from China’s point of view.

Now admittedly, this is hard. “China” doesn’t always speak with one voice.

But it is nevertheless a vital element that a lot of commentators, obsessively gnawing away at China's rise and its implications for “us”, just don’t seem to get.

“Understanding” does not mean placating, or excusing the inexcusable in China’s often tone-deaf diplomacy. It just means taking the time and imaginative effort to see the world from China's corner.

As Roggeveen concludes: “To manage the transition away from American dominance, we've got to try harder to understand China's point of view.”

Yes, yes, and yes.