Lujiazui area in Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua

Editor's Note:

For many foreigners, China may remain a mysterious land. However, for some China hands, the real China is credible, appealing and respectable. Their research and observations provide authentic reflections of China's transformation, mirroring the country's achievements and attractiveness. On October 1 of this year, the People's Republic of China (PRC) will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding. The Global Times launches a series titled "China Hands: My China Voyages" to share the connections, stories and insights of influential scholars and analysts who study China, narrating the changes and accomplishments they witness in China, and presenting a multifaceted view of the country. 

In the fourth article of the series, Colin Patrick Mackerras (Mackerras), an Australian Sinologist and Emeritus Professor at Griffith University, shared his stories with Global Times (GT) reporter Xia Wenxin.

GT: As a famous Australian sinologist, how did your story with China and sinology begin?

Mackerras: It began in the late 1950s, when my late mother noticed a newspaper advertisement for scholarships to study Asia, especially China, in an Asian studies course in Canberra. She was herself not interested in Asia (she was very Europe-focused) but understood the importance of Asia for Australia's future. I never cease to thank her for her perceptiveness.

Later I got a chance to go to Cambridge, England, where I did a thesis on the Tang dynasty (618-907). After completing the degree, I began working on Chinese music. One day in the summer of 1964 I bumped into a friend in the Cambridge market square. He told me he was going to teach in China. I asked him, if the Chinese Charge d'affaires office in London should ask him if he knew of anybody else who would like to go to China to teach, could he give them my name. They did ask him, and he did give them my name.

Shortly after that, I went to live in China to teach English for two years at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute at a time when there were hardly any Australians teaching there. I was recently married at the time and my wife Alyce (now sadly passed away) came with me. This experience simply transformed my life for the better. I got an understanding of China and Chinese culture I could never have gotten otherwise.

I was also interested in Chinese music and musical theater and in fact later from 1966 to 1969 did my PhD thesis on the rise of the Peking Opera at the Australian National University. While in China, I saw quite a few performances of regional opera and collected records and books on the subject. At the time, most of the performances were modern operas with contemporary themes, but there were still some traditional items put on over National Day and the Spring Festival.

GT: This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. What do you think of this moment as a historical juncture for China?

Mackerras: It's time to look back over the three-quarters of a century of China's advance. Not all periods have been equally successful, and one can see mistakes. But the total picture is extremely impressive. From a very poor and backward country, albeit with a wonderful world culture, China has advanced to become one of the front leaders of the world. I think the speed of advance, economically, socially and in other ways, is more or less unprecedented in world history. Anyway, I can't think of another case where the speed of advance was so fast. And just remember the enormous size of China and the fact that it has got comparatively little help from richer countries. China has had to rely on itself to a very marked extent.

GT: How do you understand China's contribution to the international community over the past 75 years? Especially at the diplomatic level, China has put forward many concepts, what role do you think they play in today's world?

Mackerras: I think China's contribution over the last 75 years has been considerable. I recall when I first went to China in 1964 there was much talk of supporting the third world and that was very good, as well as being quite successful. During the 1960s-70s, China's influence and support for the Vietnamese struggle were valuable, especially as support for Asian revolutions became quite enmeshed with various other important and just causes, such as women's rights, ethnic equality and even support for the environment.

President Xi Jinping's idea of a global community of shared future in terms of development, civilization and others has won a great deal of support in the Global South and BRICS. However, it is not mentioned much in the West, and I think it is a great shame that so many people in the West prefer to see China's rise as a threat, when I think it should more appropriately be seen as an inspiration.

GT: You have been visiting China almost once a year since the 1970s. What aspect of Chinese society has changed the most for you over the years?

Mackerras: After 1973, I started to go to China again in 1977 and have been once, twice or even more often every year (except 1984) from then until 2020. And I started to go again after COVID-19 in 2023, and continue to go, for example going for seven weeks this year.

Many things have changed, but the aspect of Chinese society that has changed most, for me, is attitude toward, and access to the outside world. When I first went to China, my students and colleagues were not particularly interested in the outside world. Later they became very interested. They started to visit the outside world continually and maintain an active and intelligent attitude toward it. When I say the "outside world," the part that I'm most concerned about is the West. However, I think it's very important to add that the interest I refer to extends to Central Asia, Latin America, Africa and elsewhere.

I'd also add that in the last few years, it seems to me the US has deliberately tried to cut itself off from China to some extent, simply because it fears that China is overtaking it in terms of technology, economy and other ways. I'm very struck by how far China wants to maintain its links. Chinese believe, correctly in my view, that "disconnecting" is extremely harmful to everybody, not just to China.

GT: Looking to the future, in which areas are you more optimistic about China's development? What kind of Chinese power and wisdom do you hope China will continue to contribute to the world?

Mackerras: The future is something that interests us all. Though we cannot see or know it, we can speculate about it. We can certainly express hopes about it.

In my view, China will be the economic power of the future and contribute greatly to a multipolar world that is with us already and increasing in importance. Over the 60 years I've been visiting China (from 1964 to 2024), the geopolitical balance of power between the West and Asia, especially China, has shifted greatly in China's favor. That does not mean it will dominate the world, as its enemies say all the time. It does mean that China will contribute more internationally, in terms of economy, including infrastructure, culture and in other ways. I hope, perhaps even expect, that the world is moving toward a "community of shared future of humanity" and that the community will be better off than what we see around us currently.

I'll draw attention to one specific area of very great importance, namely the environmental future of the planet. Many scientists consider that our world environment is in great danger, with world temperatures rising and reaching dangerous levels. Chinese scientists and government personnel have contributed greatly to trying to solve this. Despite China's need for development, we find that the production and use of electric vehicles in China surpasses that of any other country, and that solar and wind energy are better served there than anywhere else.

What amazes me is that the West, instead of welcoming this and cooperating, regard it as a threat to themselves. It's as if they are thinking: "How dare anybody but us develop these technologies? China must be stealing our technology!" It's an area we must cooperate in, and recognize the priority China puts on it.

China has a great culture and civilization. Its soft power is already high, although still behind the main Western countries like the US and Britain. I think in future this will change. It is already clear that the prevailing system of government is not working well in the West, and is doing better in China. Throughout history, China has never (unlike the West) forced other countries to adopt its system of government, and I don't expect that to happen now. But I do expect its world cultural and political influence to grow and for it to continue to take its rightful place among the nations of the world.