With the US-China rivalry intensifying and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world seems to be dividing again into two camps, as in the Cold War era.
Although the names are not democracies versus communism, as then, the basic characteristics have not changed, democratic countries – states of law on the one hand, versus authoritarian totalitarian regimes on the other, without overlooking intermediate grey areas, as with Turkey, which is supposed to be a democracy but has an authoritarian leadership, or India, which is the largest democracy, an enemy of China, but showing tolerance and continuing trade relations with Russia, an ally of its enemy, China.
Greece has taken a clear position on the side of democracies on the Ukraine-Russia issue, but regarding China, Athens has not taken a clear position due to the large Chinese investments, mainly Cosco in the Port of Piraeus.
However, how long will Greece be able to avoid choosing a side as US-China tensions grow and the separation between the two camps grows?
If the EU manages to obtain a Common Foreign Policy in the future, Greece’s choice will be resolved in this context. Until then, Greece will have to make its choices carefully but inevitably.
In the context of the West’s attempt to regain relative self-sufficiency in key sectors (microchips, medical consumables, etc.), Greece should try to reduce its dependence on China.
My view is that despite the current GDP gap, India will become stronger in the future, while China will start to decline. India will soon overtake China in population, but it will have a much younger population than China’s demographically aging population.
At the same time, India’s economic growth rates appear to be increasing, while China’s, although still fast, is decreasing, resulting in a narrowing of the GDP gap.
In addition to demographics, China is characterised by a closed authoritarian system, not a rule of law. Inequalities are growing, and corruption, too, as shown by convictions during the recent anti-corruption campaign.
One million Communist Party members were convicted in China (1% of the total), among them, for the first time, members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, 20 of the 205 members of the Central Committee, and 160 officials at the level of deputy ministers of district commanders and high-ranking members of the armed forces were prosecuted.
However, China’s institutional framework, where the party indirectly controls the economy, and the lack of rule of law make corruption endemic.
China brutally violates the human rights of minorities such as Uyghurs, Christians and Tibetans or dissidents, who are often executed so that their organs can be used for transplants in the context of “transplant tourism.”
The number of transplant centres increased from 150 to 600 from 2000 to 2006. According to a 2006 study by former Canadian foreign minister David Kilgour, Bloody Harvest, prices for a heart are $130-$160,000 and for a pancreas $150,000.
Several countries (Italy, Israel, Spain, USA, Britain, etc.) have banned these practices for their nationals.
However, apart from the political system, China is foreign to Western and Greek culture.
China has always been an authoritarian state that has never known democracy. There has never been a rule of law. Confucian philosophy essentially supported the authoritarianism of the central (then imperial) power. Principles such as equality were and are unknown.
Even some of the eating habits are disgusting, such as eating dogs or exotic animals, which is where the Covid pandemic came from. All this, without overlooking the high Chinese culture in poetry (Li Po, Tu Fu, Wang Wei and many others), painting, sciences, etc.
On the contrary, India, despite some of its problems, has remained a democracy since the declaration of independence in 1947, while according to the Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, proto-democratic states have appeared in parts of India.
The political and cultural contacts between India and Greece are very old, at least since Alexander the Great.
For almost three centuries, a state in northwestern India had kings of Macedonian origin, with Greek names such as Demetrius, Menander Straton, Andalkidas, and Hippostratus (the last Greek-Indian king until about 80 BC).
So Greece must develop much closer ties with India. While there are Confucius Institutes in Greek universities, such as in Thessaly, as far as I know, there are no corresponding Indian ones.
There is also no chair or institute of Greek studies in an Indian university. The state and private sector must fill this gap as quickly as possible, and for Greek universities to offer Hindi.
Let’s not overlook the fact that India, with its 1.4 billion inhabitants, has around 1,200 universities, some of which are rising in international rankings.
By Nikos Kyriazis, professor emeritus of the University of Thessaly. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.
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