Bird’s Eye: Start with the fact that the population of China is greater than all of North America and all of Europe together. So generalization about China are shaky at best. But here are some fascinating looks at Chinese history, at the emergence of a more assertive Chinese foreign policy, at the rise of megacities, and at how the US fits in.

* The Myth Of Chinese Exceptionalism   Stephen M. Walt

Steve (and others) have written about American exceptionalism. It won’t surprise you to learn that China has its own brand. Most Chinese people — be they the common man or the political, economic, and academic elite — think of historical China as a shining civilization in the center of All-under-Heaven, radiating a splendid and peace-loving culture. Because Confucianism cherishes harmony and abhors war, this version portrays a China that has not behaved aggressively nor been an expansionist power throughout its 5,000 years of glorious history. Instead, a benevolent, humane Chinese world order is juxtaposed against the malevolent, ruthless power politics in the West…. All nations tend to see their history as exceptional, and these beliefs usually continue a heavy dose of fiction. Here are the top three myths of contemporary Chinese exceptionalism.

Myth #1: China did not expand when it was strong. Many Chinese firmly believe that China does not have a tradition of foreign expansion. The empirical record, however, shows otherwise….

Myth 2: The Seven Voyages of Zheng He demonstrates the peaceful nature of Chinese power. In the early fifteenth century, the Chinese dispatched seven spectacular voyages led by Zheng He to Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and East Africa. The Chinese like to point out that Zheng He’s fleets did not conquer an inch of land, unlike the brutal, aggressive Westerners who colonized much of the world. Instead, they were simply ambassadors of peace exploring exotic places…

Myth 3: The Great Wall of China symbolizes a nation preoccupied with defense. You’ve probably heard this before: China adheres to a “purely defensive” grand strategy. The Chinese built the Great Wall not to attack but to defend…..

* Calls For Foreign Policy Overhaul In China Guardian

It is evident when China`s aircraft carrier carves it way through the waters of the Yellow Sea. It is written between the lines of its growth statistics. It is built into the gleaming walls of the African Union headquarters half a world away. As the country`s might increases, China`s maxim of “keeping a low profile” looks increasingly irrelevant, even absurd, to many.

Calls for a fundamental overhaul of foreign policy are growing. “We will have to deal with pressures from abroad to remain modest and prudent, while domestically we are faced with complaints that China has been timid,” said Wang Jisi, dean of Peking University`s school of international studies.

“There is a real debate going on about the direction of Chinese foreign policy, not only among scholars, but also among officials: is it time for China to take a more proactive foreign policy?” said Linda Jakobson, East Asia programme director at the Lowy Institute.

* How The Rise Of The Megacity Is Changing The Way We Live The Observer

Few in the west have paid much attention to the astonishing rise of Chengdu, despite a population (including its rural hinterland) of more than 14 million and its evident economic power and growing sense of self-confidence. Few have heard much either of cities like Ghaziabad, Surat or Faridabad in India, or of Toluca in Mexico, Palembang in Indonesia or Chittagong, the Bangladeshi port. Or of Beihai, another Chinese city on the northern coast. But this is likely to change. Each of these cities is among the fastest-growing settlements in the world….Experts estimate that the number of megacities of more than 10 million inhabitants will double over the next 10 to 20 years, it is these less well-known cities, particularly in south and east Asia, that will see the biggest growth. …

Optimists see a new network of powerful, stable and prosperous city states, each bigger than many small countries, where the benefits of urban living, the relative ease of delivering basic services compared to rural zones and new civic identities combine to raise living standards for billions. Pessimists see the opposite: a dystopic future where huge numbers of people fight over scarce resources in sprawling, divided, anarchic “non-communities” ravaged by disease and violence.

New Chinese cities, too, have their problems – though arguably less severe than those in south Asia. For every pound Indian authorities invest in urban infrastructure, their Chinese counterparts spend seven. This, however, is still insufficient to cope with the speed of urbanisation. Chengdu has become a test case for how China resolves these varied challenges. It has been named as one of China’s “pilot reform regions”, giving local authorities extraordinary powers to experiment…. 

* America’s Place in the New World New York Times

The most potent challenge to America’s dominance comes not from the continuing redistribution of global power, but from a subtler change: the new forms of governance and capitalism being forged by China and other rising nations.

The democratic, secular and free-market model that has become synonymous with the era of Western primacy is being challenged by state capitalism in China, Russia and the Persian Gulf sheikdoms. Political Islam is rising in step with democracy across the Middle East. And left-wing populism is taking hold from India to Brazil. Rather than following the West’s path of development and obediently accepting their place in the liberal international order, rising nations are fashioning their own versions of modernity and pushing back against the West’s ideological ambitions.

As this century unfolds, sustaining American power will be the easy part. The hard part will be adjusting to the loss of America’s ideological dominance and fashioning consensus and compromise in an increasingly diverse and unwieldy world.

If American leaders remain blind to this new reality and continue to expect conformity to Western values, they will not only misunderstand emerging powers, but also alienate the many countries tired of being herded toward Western standards of governance.