When China Rules the Global Digital World

European Straits #47

Dear all,

The best-selling British author Martin Jacques became famous for his 2009 book When China Rules the World (you can have an overview by watching Jacques’s TED talk). Today, I want to share ideas on precisely how China could ascend to rule the global digital world—or at least lead a significant part of it.

Following my stay in Shanghai and before returning to Europe, I spent two days in Hong Kong. My first trip there was in 2014, when I was invited by the Hong Kong government to learn more about the territory, its economy, and its political and administrative system.

I find Hong Kong a fascinating place. It is not only a vestige of the British Empire, when Victorian Britain dominated the world following the Industrial Revolution and then the age of steam and railways. It’s also a junction between West and East. Hong Kong is where the largest Chinese companies go for their IPO (although the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges are rising). It’s also the place where many Westerner…