1. Introduction: The Structural Error of the West
Most Western analyses of China have been shaped by ideological biases, self-centered narratives, and distorted visions promoted by media and institutions.
For decades, its collapse has been predicted, its progress ridiculed, its political culture misunderstood, and its strategic vision ignored.
Adrián Díaz Marro, with over twenty years of professional life in deep China, argues that this ignorance is no accident. It is a form of cultural self-defense that prevents us from grasping the magnitude of the change underway.
His perspective breaks with classic binaries: China is neither a threat nor a utopia, neither traditional communism nor a Western copy.
It is a different civilization.
2. Unquestionable Achievements
China went from being the poorest country in the world in 1960 (poorer than sub-Saharan Africa) to lifting 100% of its population out of poverty in just 40 years.
It has displaced the West as an industrial, technological, and commercial leader in numerous sectors: electric mobility, batteries, drones, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, construction, and solar energy.
Its model does not rely on liberal democracy or classical capitalism, but on a functional combination of strategic planning, competitive entrepreneurship, and a sociopolitical order grounded in historical and pragmatic values.
3. Key Elements of Its Model
– A. “Operational Confucianism”
As Iván Gatón points out, more than a communist system, China operates under a Confucian logic of harmonious hierarchy, social duty, education, merit, and stability.
Politics is not seen as a power struggle, but as an instrument of moral and collective order.
– B. Effective Meritocracy
Political leadership in China is not built through media campaigns or clientelist networks, but through a rigorous administrative merit-based ascent.
The Western notion that “there is no democracy” fails to see that there may be more real meritocracy there than in many liberal democracies.
– C. Adaptive Strategic Planning
The famous “five-year plans” are not top-down impositions, but frameworks that consolidate progress already emerging from below.
Example: the transition to electric vehicles was not decreed by the State but encouraged once it had already become an expanding urban reality.
– D. Commercial Pragmatism
China does not seek to impose ideologies.
It does not demand cultural conversion.
Its focus is commerce, mutual development, and stability.
It has shown the ability to negotiate even with governments that have rhetorically attacked it, as in the case of Argentina under Milei.
4. Recurring Western Mistakes
We project our fears onto China: we assume that if they grow, they will act as we would—invade, dominate, impose.
But Chinese civilization does not act from expansionist emotion.
It seeks not revenge, but respect and balance.
We measure their success by our standards: we say “they don’t have democracy” and therefore “they can’t be happy.”
Yet multiple surveys show over 80% approval for Xi Jinping’s government and strong trust in the system.
We deliberately ignore their achievements: while we obsess over possible collapse, China leads key sectors of the 21st century without needing to follow our models.
5. Strategic Perspectives
China will not be “the next United States.”
It will not export its model as an ideology.
But it will forever alter global balances.
Its rise is neither linear nor final, but its role is already structural.
For Latin America, and especially for Uruguay:
Turning our backs on China is a reckless decision. Strategic ignorance makes us dependent on outdated schemes.
We must study its institutional logic, its technological platforms, its trade routes, its internal priorities.
Rather than imitate, we must understand—and from that understanding, chart paths of intelligent cooperation.
6. Conclusion
China is not a threat; it is a mirror.
Faced with its rise, there are two paths: complacent denial or courageous study.
As Díaz Marro says: “Don’t go evangelize the natives. Go to learn.”
Strategic report by: Tacitus Australis – July 2025
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