Chinese in the Top Job at the World Bank ❶ In June 2008 Justin Yifu Lin will take up the post of the Chief Economist at the World Bank. Nothing could be a clearer sign of the times. This is the number two job in one of the two major international economic institutions, the other being the International Monetary Fund. ❷ Lin’s appointment thus marks a major break with political tradition. Hitherto (至今为止) there has been hardly any appointment of a Chinese to a senior position in the major international organizations. China’s burgeoning (蓬勃发展的) importance, however, is set to change this state of affairs, with Lin’s appointment likely to set the tone (为 ... 定下基调) for the future. ❸ In the past the World Bank, like the IMF, has been the tame captive (俘虏) of the US and European governments, never straying from (偏离) the prescribed (规定的) Western free-market orthodoxy (观念,看法) . But the appointment of a Chinese chief economist takes us into an entirely new realm. (一个全新的领域) ❹ Of course, the Chief Economist of the World Bank does not enjoy the same kind of authority (权威) as its president. ❺ Nonetheless, Lin’s appointment is a clear indication that China can no longer be ignored, notwithstanding (尽管,仍然) the fact that it espouses (支持,赞成 ) policies different from Western free-market orthodoxy. China, by virtue of (依靠,由于) its growing economic power, is in the process of barging its way into (闯入) the citadels (城堡,要塞) of the global economic governance. ❻ Western governments are faced with a difficult dilemma (两难境地) : either they can choose to hold China at arm’s length until it can no longer be ignored, or alternatively (非此即彼地) they can usher (引导,开辟) China into the corridors of power (权力走廊) before that decision becomes, in effect, a question of force majeure (不可抗力) . ❼ Lin’s appointment suggests that in this case a more far-sighted (有远见的) approach is being pursued. Foot-dragging (拖延) and inertia (惰性) , however, remain the predominant (主要的) response. ❽ The entry of the Chinese into the highest echelons (阶层) of the World Bank parallels the extraordinary turn of s at the back end of last year when — following huge losses as a result of their exposure to the US subprime (次级贷款) market, and in desperate need of massive injections of capital (资本注入) — major Wall Street investment banks such as Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley were forced to turn to Chinese banks and the China Investment Corporation, among others. ❾ The financial pillars (支柱) of Wall Street, as a consequence (后果) , are now significantly underpinned (支持) by Chinese money. Wall Street paid the price for its willingness to live at the outer edges of risk in the cause of greed (贪婪) , while the Chinese have reaped (收获) the benefits of being the world’s biggest savings machine. ❿ Like the appointment of Lin, these s herald (预示) the arrival of China not only at the center of the global economy, but in the very heartlands of American financial power. With the American economy now facing the prospect of a prolonged recession and the Chinese economy likely to escape its worst effects, the process of US’s decline and China’s rise is likely to be shortened. ⓫ It would be (天真) to think that Lin’s appointment will result in a major shift in the policies of the World Bank. The latter (后者) will still be a creature of Washington. But nor will it be possible for Lin’s voice to be ignored. And if that is true now, it will become increasingly the case in the future. ⓬ A key question, however, is how China will perceive the World Bank and the IMF in the longer term. ⓭ Already its own aid program for African countries considerably outdistances (超越) what the World Bank contributes to the continent. As the Chinese economy grows ever larger, its potential for offering economic aid to Africa, and indeed other parts of the developing world, could far exceed the parsimonious (节俭的,小气的) contribution on offer from the World Bank. ⓮ Over the past decade, China has shown great eagerness to be seen as a full-fledged (成熟的) member of multilateral (多边的) bodies. There are questions that might still be some way off, but they demonstrate just how fundamentally China’srise will change our Western-made world.