Events
China Rising: Will the West Be Able to Cope? 11 September 2009
On Friday 11 September 2009 Clingendael Asia Studies will host a seminar on the challenge that China’s rise poses to the West. Jan Willem Blankert will give a presentation based on his new book China Rising: Will the West Be Able to Cope?, published by World Scientific/Kemper Conseil Publishing. The event takes place on the occasion of the launch of this book on the Dutch market. Copies of the book will be on sale at a reduced price.
Program
| 15.30 | Welcome by Prof. Dr. Jan Melissen, Head Clingendael Asia Studies |
| 15.35 | Presentation by Jan Willem Blankert |
| 16.00 | Discussion |
| 17.00 | Drinks |
The West and China’s Rise
Why do some countries get rich and other countries don't? Does one country's gain mean another country's loss? What is the role of governments? How important is democracy in the story of ‘climbing the economic ladder’? And how do we address the biggest challenge of all: the fact that the environment suffers when we all want to have our piece of the cake? Economic growth, competitiveness, international competition, the division of labour and the environment are the main questions addressed.
About the Book
The book focuses on China's emergence today (and Asia's emergence in general), but an abundance of examples of other countries and periods provide context and perspective. A side-story woven through the book is the comparison between the EU and the US as they face the challenge of rising China/globalisation. Could it be that the EU is better prepared to face the challenge of globalisation? It is as if Blankert finds it hard to believe his own conclusions.
About the author
Jan Willem Blankert works for the European Commission in Jakarta, as the Special Adviser for the relations between the EU and ASEAN. From 2003 to 2007 he worked in the Commission's Headquarters in Brussels on the relations between the EU and China. He is an economist (from the University of Amsterdam, 1975) and a veteran of economic and political reform and economic integration. With the European Commission since 1985, he worked many years on European integration issues, first in Brussels (Internal Market and macroeconomic convergence) and after that in Poland (1994-1998), Bosnia (1999) and Serbia (1999-2003). Before 1985 he worked for the governments of Tanzania and Suriname and for UNICEF. He has been teaching at the University of Amsterdam (1975) and the Amsterdam Higher Economic School (1984). He wrote his book when he was the EU Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, during the academic year 2007/08. The opinions expressed in the book are strictly his own.