I just finished reading "Smoke and Mirrors" by Pallavi Aiyar (daughter of veteran Indian economist and journalist Swaminathan S Aiyar). This book can best be described as an Indian's experiences in China, and is unique and noteworthy for that reason.
This is the scanned cover of my copy of the book, along with the bookmark that I used when reading it. The bookmark is one that I picked up in the extremely picturesque city of Su Zhou when I visited China in 2018.
The author's experiences relate to the period from 2002 to 2007, so it is already out of date in some ways. Yet there are parts that remain strongly relevant.
Pallavi Aiyar covers many important topics and events, such as everyday life in the traditional dwellings ("hutong"s) in the city, the rapid pace of change in the entire country, the place and role of religion, the situation in Tibet, the preparation for the Beijing Olympics, what happened during the SARS pandemic, aspects of China's becoming the manufacturing hub of the world, India-China relationships at the political and personal levels, and more.
The last chapter "Squaring a Circle and Coming Full Circle" was the most insightful.
1. Aiyar asks herself a question and answers it. "If I could choose, would I rather be born Indian or Chinese?" She says that if she were able to ensure being born even moderately well-off, she would probably plump for India over China, because "money allowed you to exist happily enough despite the constant failure of government to deliver services". On the other hand, if she were to be born poor, she would take her chances in China, where despite lacking a vote, "the likelihood of being fed, clothed and housed was considerably higher."
2. She makes an interesting comparison between the Indian and Chinese views of political legitimacy. In her view, the Communist Party of China (CPC) derives its legitimacy from delivering growth. In India, a government derives its legitimacy simply from having been voted in. This legitimacy in many ways absolves Indian governments from the necessity of performing. The CPC can afford no such luxury.
3. She makes a refreshing departure from the commonly held view of many experts in the West (and in India) about the future of China. The commonly held view is that the current political setup in China is unsustainable, and that the country will either have to democratise or suffer a popular revolution and break up. She disagrees with this conventional view and believes that the government and CPC can continue to manage these contradictions into the indefinite future. From my limited understanding of China, I believe she's right. Non-Chinese analysts are victims of wishful thinking.
She makes a general point about how it's important to be open to the unfamiliar. What was alien and uncomfortable to her when she first arrived in China became soothing and familiar before very long. She uses her landlord, the avuncular Mr Wu, as a concrete example of what China meant to her. "In short, when I thought about leaving Beijing, it was his image: a 60-year-old retired railway official, atop a noisy moped, that brought a persistent little lump to the throat."
Some important developments have occurred after the period covered by this book.
One, Aiyar often betrays a superior attitude that she comes from a democracy, but since 2014, the freedom of Indians to criticise their government has undergone a perceptible chill, and the independence of Indian institutions has markedly degraded. The contrast between India and China has thus become starker and less favourable to India. Neither country is now particularly free, but only one has delivered a consistently higher standard of living to its people.
Two, the autogolpe (self coup) mounted by Xi Jinping to sweep aside the traditional two term limit on Chinese presidents, does negatively impact China's reputation for "whole-process democracy". Elections to local bodies, a meritocratic progression up the political ranks, a responsiveness to people's needs and demands, and strict two-term limits on top lreadership, were all necessary to provide a credible alternative to the chaotic electoral circuses that conventional democracies exhibit. While it's understandable that China may not want to change horses midstream when under threat by the US, the narrative of "whole-process democracy" has taken a blow with Xi Jinping's third term.
Three, the Doklam and Galwan border incidents have caused India-China relations to plummet once more after years of gradual improvement. The US is also happily wading into this dispute, hoping to use India against the Chinese threat to its hegemony. Will India fall victim to Western "divide-and-rule" tactics once more? Only time will tell.
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