In the 1990s, books such as Kishore Mahbubani’s Can Asians Think? and the Chinese bestseller China Can Say No captured a defensive mood across Asia. In this conversation with ThinkChina, George Yeo, Singapore’s former foreign minister, describes how far the region has moved since then, and offers a warning drawn from Chinese history.
A confident Asia
Yeo sees genuine and growing self-confidence across China, India, and South Korea. Japan, he notes, faces a longer transition, as its path remains shaped by the post-war settlement that defined its place in the world.
When confidence turns to arrogance
Yeo welcomes this confidence and draws a clear line within it. Self-belief allows a civilisation to achieve great things. Carried too far, it hardens into arrogance, and arrogance leads to disaster.
His example comes from the Qing dynasty. In the late 18th century, the Qianlong Emperor treated foreign powers as tributaries expected to come and pay homage, and dismissed what Britain had to offer. China then fell behind a fast-industrialising West. Yeo warns that China must never return to that mindset.
His conclusion is simple: humility keeps a rising power learning. In his words, “the moment you become proud, you stop learning, the decline begins.”
Why it matters for Asia
Asia’s rise now rests on technology, trade, and growing diplomatic weight. Yeo’s warning applies across the region: the economies that keep studying their rivals and correcting their own mistakes will sustain their momentum. For China in particular, how it carries its confidence will shape how its neighbours respond to its rise.
How should a rising power hold its confidence? Watch the full conversation and judge for yourself.
Further reading
- Kishore Mahbubani, Can Asians Think?
- Henry Kissinger, On China
Source: ThinkChina Conversations (SPH Media). Interview by Chow Yian Ping.
