Crisis, Bringing Forward ‘the Era of China’ The US has been losing its hegemony over time. European Union that was considered as ‘the project of the century’ has been in a great crisis. Under such circumstances, how do we picture the order of the in-ternational economy and politics? Martin Jacques, a professor at Qinghua University, who has gained a worldly reputation for his expertise on China, will announce in his speech that the current crisis will bring forward the ‘Era of China’. As a consequence, like it or not, the world has to adapt to the strong Chinese impacts and influences. Seeing China as Civilization-state Rather than Nation-state. Martin Jacques stated in a preview of his lecture, “The West has the tendency to view China through its own prism. Results are the faulty ideas that China is part of the West or that it would be westernized soon. This tendency is a major obstacle that prevents the West from correctly understanding the China rising”. To sum up his argument, China has a distinct history and culture that are very different from those of the West. Particularly due to the Chinese Pride, it will never become a country that the West expects it to. Instead, it will establish foreign relationships in its unique way and become influential. Martin Jacques emphasizes that China, in fact, is a ‘civilization-state’ rather than a ‘nation state’, a product of Western modernization. According to him, ‘civilization-state’ which has defined the Chinese identity is a key word in understanding China as a nation and the Chinese as an ethnic group. In addition, the Chinese share a homogenous ethnic identity: 92% of the Chinese believe that they are of one race, the Han Chinese. This has been a driving force for the Chinese to unite as a nation. However, it also has disadvantaged the Chinese to falsely recognize the value of ‘difference’. He argues that the Chinese state is very different from the western state: it is regarded with reverence and deference by the Chinese as the guardian and protector of Chinese civilization; it has had neither competitors nor limits to its power. In contrast, the western state regards the nation as an alien or intruder of the society. Martin Jacques forecasts that as it rapidly reassumes its traditional place at the center of East Asia, the old tributary system will resurface in a modern form, contemporary ideas of racial hierarchy will be redrawn and China’s ages-old sense of superiority will reassert itself. In other words, China’s neighboring countries will adapt to the Chinese hegemony to maintain dispensational relation-ships with China. He emphasizes that now is the time to ponder over the similarities and differences be-tween the old and new tributary systems and wonder how Korea’s diplomatic position would change. Yuan, a Potential World Currency He points out the three distinct features of the new world order under the Chinese rule: China will have the biggest foreign trades in the world; The Chinese financial sector will increase foreign loans; Chinese yuan will become a world currency; and the northern hemisphere including China will experience a rapid economic growth. Lee Bong Hyun, Research Fellow, Hankyoreh Economic Research Institute bhlee@hani.co.kr