BEIJING, CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

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In the latest in our new series, "The Big Question", James Miles argues that if you're looking for the world's capital city, you have to look to China. You can have your say by voting in our poll ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, September/October 2011

Sadly, the answer has to be Beijing. Sadly because it is a city neither of physical charm (except in the few remaining neighbourhoods of imperial-era alleyways), nor of great culture (few are in awe of Beijing’s museums, theatre or music), nor even of breathable air (the Olympic games in 2008 marked a rare smog-free period). Its politics win few admirers. Citizens enjoy far more freedom than they did 30 years ago, but not to oppose the Communist Party. Beijing is not even especially welcoming to outsiders. No matter how long they stay, foreigners cannot acquire citizenship. It has just put up new barriers to migrants from the rest of China, making it almost impossible for most of them to buy cars or homes (to ease traffic jams and keep housing affordable, ostensibly).

Beijing cannot exert power globally in the way that Washington can. It lacks the military muscle and soft power of America (though it is spending huge sums on building up both). But unlike America, which has quite a few enemies, there is hardly a country in the world that does not want to court Beijing. Even countries that are suspicious of it (America included) treat it with wary respect, if not outright fawning. Washington radiates power, whether hard or soft, in huge doses. But in parts of the world resistance is strong too: try expressing admiration for America in Pyongyang. The power that emanates from Beijing is weaker but more pervasive. Some ridicule American culture; few dare ridicule China’s. Paying homage to it is a ritual that Western powers are especially anxious to observe. During an agenda-packed trip to Beijing in 2009, President Obama spent valuable time visiting the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.

China’s emperors were once said to rule tianxia—all under heaven—even though in practice distant “barbarians” were beyond their control. Why not make China very happy by simply recognising Beijing as the capital of tianxia? It might at least make China more co-operative in solving the world’s problems, from financial crisis to climate change, by allaying its suspicions that the West is ganging up against it. Let China decide, as the emperors once did, what tianxia actually means.

James Miles is the Beijing bureau chief of The Economist.

If you don't agree that Beijing is the capital of the world, you're in good company. John Parker argues that London wears the crown, while Peter David says Washington is the clear choice.

But which city do you think is the capital of the world in 2011? Have your say by voting in our poll.

Picture credit: Stuck in Customs (via Flickr)