Fiduciary Or Force In The 21st Century?

Abstract

The rise of China over the past three decades is more than astonishing. Some have considered it to be nothing short of an economic miracle. China has transformed itself from a rural backward economy in 1978 to a thoroughly modern-looking economy and society today. While it took the United States almost 50 years (from 1839-86) to double its per capita GDP, China has done it twice in less than twenty years –from 1978-87 and again from 1987-96. The Chinese economy has improved at such a dramatic rate that many commentators have presumed China’s imminent global economic dominance in the 21^st century. Many now consider geopolitics a bi-polar affair, where only America and China matter. In 2008, for the first time, serious cracks are beginning to surface in the foundations of China’s economy, prompting a reconsideration of whether China’s future success is as guaranteed and inevitable as first thought. China is facing its most difficult year in this new century. With millions of unemployed workers and a slowing economic growth, China is facing tens of thousands of protests each year. Since the legitimacy of the Chinese government is based on its economic success, China’s continued success in the 21^st century will depend on whether the Communist Party is able to maintain trust in its economy, political system and society. China’s economic sustainability rests on whether it can cope successfully with its new- found economic power. The question that has yet to be decided is whether China will adopt a type of fiduciary culture like the ones prevalent in common law countries, such as the U.S. and Britain and its former colony Hong Kong, or will China resort to the use of force to maintain its political and economic power?