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Magazine Opinions beijing China Currency Xi Jinping

The coming Renminbi revolution

The world must hope that China won’t run the world economy in the same way as the west

By Kishore Mahbubani  
May 14, 2018
June 2018

The IMF—due a move to Beijing soon. Photo: IMF (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Napoleon was only half-right when he warned more than two centuries ago that, “China is a sleeping lion. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will shake the world.” China has woken up and is indeed shaking the world. But it is shaking the world gently. Why?

Chinese history has mirrored that of Europe. Until the Industrial Revolution, the European elites lived well while the masses suffered brutish conditions. The Chinese masses, by contrast, suffered the same…

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Kishore Mahbubani

Kishore Mahbubani is a Singaporean former diplomat. He is the author of the upcoming book “Has the West Lost It?” (Allen Lane)

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