PKU Prof. Zhang Weiying on China‘s "Resentment Complex"

"Bad news for the West is always good news for China. Whatever the West supports, we oppose; and whatever the West opposes, we support."

As some of you enjoy a well-earned summer break, Sinification is taking this opportunity to revisit a selection of thought-provoking pieces and influential debates from recent years. — Thomas

The economist Zhang Weiying is best known for his long-standing advocacy of reduced government interference in free markets—running counter to the prevailing trend in China in favour of industrial policy. He has expressed his dismay at the way close government-business ties are now promoted as a form of indigenous practice, partially displacing the free market ideology increasingly regarded as an undesirable Western import from the 19th century. In his view, this shift away from Western-liberal market orthodoxy reflects a broader nativist turn rooted in what he calls a “resentment complex”, a mindset that first emerged when China was forced to adopt Western value systems and transform itself into a modern nation-state during its “century of humiliation” (百年国耻).

We shall cover Zhang’s economic views…