China once oppressed by the imperialist powers is now one of the strongest economies in the world. In this article Prof. Lehmann has highlighted the tremendous growth achieved by China and the hardships that the nation had to under go to achieve the current status. China which had to struggle to become a part of the WTO is now bailing out countries like the US and is in the position to laying down its conditions
Dalian, China. The ironies of history can be the most delicious. For at least a century, from the outbreak of the First Opium War in 1839 to Liberation under Mao in 1949, China was imposed upon by the Western imperialist powers and later (following the Sino-Japanese war of 1894/95) joined by Japan. The sign on the Huangpu Park in Shanghai “No dogs or Chinese allowed” is said to have never existed; but the myth is widely believed and evokes the nature of the West’s oppressive presence. China and the Chinese were generally either pitied or despised. The words Chinese and poor were synonymous. The city of Dalian, where the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) “Summer Davos” meeting was taking place, was a Japanese occupied city from 1905 to 1945, incorporated into its empire in Manchuria (Manchukuo) following 1932.
[This article has been reproduced with permission from IMD, a leading business school based in Switzerland. http://www.imd.org]