China unleashes stimulus package to boost economy

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Welcome back to What’s Happening in China, your weekly update on the latest news and developments from the country.

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— PC

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Through the Lens

Mother and her children waiting to cross the road in Beijing.

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In Focus

I. “The Battle Within the Democratic Party”

Last week, I featured Jessica Chen Weiss’ article in Foreign Affairs—“The Case Against the China Consensus”—In Focus.

In the following piece,

Matt Turpin

discusses that article while offering context on the current China-policy dynamics within the Democratic Party.

I don’t agree with Jessica’s arguments (as I covered in the commentary at the start of this issue), but I do think its important to read and understand the points she is making… as these perspectives might guide policy in a Harris Administration.

To sum up her argument: The United States should appease Chinese leaders and seek a less confrontational relationship with China to avoid a Sino-American military conflict.

I agree with the desire to avoid a military conflict, but my main objection (and we’ve debated this on panels in conferences a few times) is that I think her approach is more likely to lead to conflict.

To sum up my argument: Appeasing an authoritarian regime like the one in Beijing is more likely to lead to conflict than in confronting it directly.

Read: Relitigating China Policy (

China Articles

)

II. More Jessica Chen Weiss

This week,

Sinica

released a conversation between

Kaiser Y Kuo

and Jessica Chen Weiss, where they dive deeper into and expand on Weiss’ recent piece in Foreign Affairs.

We focus in this conversation about a recent piece in Foreign Affairs in which she challenges both the solidity and the logic of the "bipartisan consensus" on China, and holds out hope that a next administration might approach the relationship differently.

Listen: The Case Against the China Consensus, with Jessica Chen Weiss of SAIS (

Sinica

)

III. “Beijing was full of such opportunities. We didn’t try to plan far in advance.”

The whole idea of the dance with the construction workers came up in a brainstorm over the summer. I was sitting on the roof of the Drum Tower [a tower in central Beijing built in 1272] with Song Dong, Yin Xiuzhen, Wen Hui, and Wu Wenguang, just chatting, drinking beer, and eating peanuts. And they’re like, “Why don’t we do something together with construction workers, because they contributed a lot to the urban development of the city but were always the marginalized community and through this collaboration with dancers, they will be put at the center stage.”

Beijing was full of such opportunities.

We didn’t try to plan far in advance. It was all based on this feeling: “Oh, why don’t we do this, this will be exciting.” We just made a decision, we decided to do it then and there. We didn’t have to go through any cultural bureau for a censorship review, or write a memo to get their approval. At that time, you could just think about an idea, you start to do it, and a lot of people come to see the rehearsal.

Read: From Wild Exuberance to State Control in China’s Art Market (ChinaFile)