Elizabeth C. Economy > Quotes

“With its growing economic and political power, China increasingly takes advantage of the political and economic openness of other countries while not providing these countries with the same opportunities to engage within China.”
― Elizabeth C. Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State

“When competition is framed from a US-China context, China gains an important advantage. Every issue is elevated into a signal of relative power and influence; and as a rising power, any relative Chinese gain becomes a win.”
― Elizabeth Economy

“In pursuing their vision, China's leaders operate from their own distinctive playbook that reflects their domestic governance model: a highly centralized Party-state that possesses the ability to mobilize resources across multiple domains, to control the content and flow of information, to penetrate societies and economies globally, and to leverage the power of the country's vast market, as well as its military.”
― Elizabeth Economy

“If a person has never had the right to choose their information, freely associate with any kind of ideology, and develop an individual character with some passion and imagination—how can they become creative? It is against human nature. If you are against every essential value of individualism and independent thinking, and the willingness to take risks and bear consequences, and have a sense of responsibility—what kind of creativity do you expect? . . . It would be impossible to design an iPhone in China because it’s not a product; it’s an understanding of human nature”
― Elizabeth C. Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State

“China's foreign policy strategy reflects its own unique approach and priorities. It is willing, for example, to sacrifice the diplomatic soft power win of global leadership for narrower domestic political and economic gains. It also prioritizes sovereignty and social stability, as well as controlling the narrative around those core issues, above all else - even economic benefit.”
― Elizabeth Economy

“In 2002, scholars from the Ningxia Party School published the results of a survey among urban residents in Ningxia: roughly “25 percent did not believe in the cause of socialist construction any more, 50 percent doubted the CCP’s role as vanguard of the working class . . . and 79 percent had lost their close emotional ties to the party.”
― Elizabeth C. Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State