BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//VNC | Vereniging Nederland China - ECPv6.18.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:VNC | Vereniging Nederland China X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/ X-WR-CALDESC:Events for VNC | Vereniging Nederland China REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Amsterdam BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:20250330T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:20251026T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:20260329T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:20261025T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:20270328T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:20271031T010000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260112T193000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260112T203000 DTSTAMP:20251219T144931Z CREATED:20251219T144931Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251219T144931Z UID:10000156-1768246200-1768249800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Information evening Table tennis trip China summer 2026 DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/information-evening-table-tennis-trip-china-summer-2026/ LOCATION:Online CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Table-tennis-camp.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260116T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260116T180000 DTSTAMP:20260108T111101Z CREATED:20251219T110642Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260108T111101Z UID:10000153-1768572000-1768586400@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Healthy living in China DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/healthy-living-in-china/ LOCATION:Kargadoor\, Oudegracht 36\, Utrecht CATEGORIES:Education and science,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/China-Briefing-chinas-fitness-industry.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260123T143000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260123T160000 DTSTAMP:20260108T102255Z CREATED:20251219T150331Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260108T102255Z UID:10000157-1769178600-1769184000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Join us for the exhibition 'Made in China' DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/join-us-for-the-exhibition-made-in-china/ LOCATION:wereldmuseum\, Linaeusstraat 2\, Amsterdam CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WM_Made_In_China_AMSTERDAM_111_OKT2025.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260123T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260123T210000 DTSTAMP:20260108T133957Z CREATED:20260108T100150Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260108T133957Z UID:10000161-1769191200-1769202000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC China Eetclub January 23 in Amsterdam DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/vnc-china-eetclub-january-23-in-amsterdam/ LOCATION:restaurant NorthEast Kitchen\, Ferdinand Bolstraat 26 H\, Amsterdam\, 1014BA\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-china-3.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260125T130000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260125T163000 DTSTAMP:20260119T201751Z CREATED:20251223T093017Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260119T201751Z UID:10000159-1769346000-1769358600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Story series: Chinese diaspora in NL and VNC New Year's drink DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/story-series-chinese-diaspora-in-nl/ LOCATION:Verhalenhuis Belvédère\, Rechthuislaan 1\, Rotterdam\, Zuid Holland\, 3072 LB\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event,Vol ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Verhalenserie-Chinese-diaspora-in-NL-002.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260125T153000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260125T163000 DTSTAMP:20260108T103404Z CREATED:20260108T103404Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260108T103404Z UID:10000163-1769355000-1769358600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Welcome to the VNC New Year's reception on January 25 in Rotterdam DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/welcome-to-the-vnc-new-years-reception-on-january-25-in-rotterdam/ LOCATION:Verhalenhuis Belvédère\, Rechthuislaan 1\, Rotterdam\, Zuid Holland\, 3072 LB\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,Economics and Business,Economie en zakelijk,Education and science,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Logo_VNC_900x455px.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260212T200000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260212T220000 DTSTAMP:20260206T205539Z CREATED:20260206T205004Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T205539Z UID:10000178-1770926400-1770933600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:An evening with Jung Chang\, author of the bestseller "Wild Swans" DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/an-evening-with-jung-chang-author-of-the-bestseller-wild-swans/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/3D_9789049208394-t0GcAt.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260213T211500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260213T230000 DTSTAMP:20260121T132819Z CREATED:20260121T132819Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260121T132819Z UID:10000165-1771017300-1771023600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:🎉🎬 CinemAsia x Filmhuis Den Haag: Lunar New Year celebration 13–24 February DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/%f0%9f%8e%89%f0%9f%8e%ac-cinemasia-x-filmhuis-den-haag-lunar-new-year-celebration-13-24-february/ CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/CinemAsia_Filmhuis-DenHaag_Lunar-New_year-2026-IQ33Hs.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260217T080000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260217T170000 DTSTAMP:20251005T095920Z CREATED:20251005T095920Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251005T095920Z UID:10000125-1771315200-1771347600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC Competition for secondary school students DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/vnc-competition-for-secondary-school-students/ LOCATION:VNC kantoor\, Burgemeester van Karnebeeklaan 6\, Den Haag\, 2585BB CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260219 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260401 DTSTAMP:20260215T190027Z CREATED:20260215T190027Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260215T190027Z UID:10000184-1771459200-1775001599@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:'Meer Dan Babi Pangang' Release DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/meer-dan-babi-pangang-release/ LOCATION:Nederland\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Babi-Pangang-scaled.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Periscoop Film":MAILTO:devaniyo@periscoopfilm.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260221T103000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260221T143000 DTSTAMP:20260217T210434Z CREATED:20260217T210434Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T210434Z UID:10000186-1771669800-1771684200@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Chinese New Year in Brabant! February 21 : Presentation "Dragons\, Horses and Priests". DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/chinese-new-year-in-brabant-february-21-presentation-dragons-horses-and-priests/ LOCATION:Huize Hal\, Hal 31\, 5296 PZ ESCH\, Esch\, Noord-Brabant\, 5296 PZ CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/G.Castiglione.Horse_Chaonier-zq2HUz.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Histotainment lezingen":MAILTO:info@histotainment.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260221T130000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260221T160000 DTSTAMP:20260211T211140Z CREATED:20260129T101808Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T211140Z UID:10000172-1771678800-1771689600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC China Dining Club: Chinese New Year Edition DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/vnc-china-dining-club-chinese-new-year-edition/ LOCATION:Full Moon Garden – Dim Sum & Cantonese Cuisine\, Leidsestraat 95\, Amsterdam\, 1017 NZ\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event,Vol ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-china-3.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260226T130000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260226T180000 DTSTAMP:20260217T211258Z CREATED:20260217T211258Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T211258Z UID:10000189-1772110800-1772128800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Ivens Meet China 2025: A Special Screening & Conversation with Director Zhang Tongdao DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/ivens-meet-china-2025-a-special-screening-conversation-with-director-zhang-tongdao/ LOCATION:Jungle Amsterdam\, Tweede van Swindenstraat 26\, Amsterdam\, Noord Holland\, 1093 VS\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Special-screening-IVENS-MEETS-CHINA-jpg-file-WfXXJO.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="MUYIFILM (Jia Zhao)":MAILTO:info@muyifilm.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260226T193000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260226T210000 DTSTAMP:20260217T211019Z CREATED:20260217T211019Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T211019Z UID:10000190-1772134200-1772139600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Trump's Tech and Xi's AI - the livestream DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/trumps-tech-and-xis-ai-the-livestream/ LOCATION:Livestream\, nvt\, nvt\, nvt\, nvt\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Trumps-T-en-Xi-AI-landscape-0o8Myk.png ORGANIZER;CN="Haagsch College":MAILTO:anneke@haagschcollege.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260302T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260302T190000 DTSTAMP:20260209T102813Z CREATED:20260206T143933Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260209T102813Z UID:10000174-1772470800-1772478000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:March 2nd\, 2026 China Café: Investing in China: Risks\, Returns\, and Reality DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/march-2nd-2026-china-cafe-investing-in-china-risks-returns-and-reality/ LOCATION:De Utrechter Stadsbrasserie en Bar\, Vredenburg 40\, Utrecht\, 3511 BD CATEGORIES:China Cafe calendar,Economics and Business,Economie en zakelijk,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/foto-china-cafe.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260307T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260307T170000 DTSTAMP:20260206T204922Z CREATED:20260206T204922Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T204922Z UID:10000176-1772895600-1772902800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Tea ceremony & flower arrangement DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/tea-ceremony-flower-arrangement/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Flowers-XjgfwW.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260308T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260308T160000 DTSTAMP:20260220T203102Z CREATED:20260220T195512Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T203102Z UID:10000194-1772978400-1772985600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Tea & Cheese Pairing in Verhalenhuis Belvedère DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/8-march-2026-tea-cheese-pairing-in-verhalenhuis-belvedere/ LOCATION:Verhalenhuis Belvédère\, Rechthuislaan 1\, Rotterdam\, Zuid Holland\, 3072 LB\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/teacheese.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260312T183000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260312T210000 DTSTAMP:20260226T104758Z CREATED:20260226T104758Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260226T104758Z UID:10000198-1773340200-1773349200@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC China Eetclub Chinese New Year edition March 12 in Eindhoven DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/vnc-china-eetclub-chinese-new-year-edition-march-12-in-eindhoven/ LOCATION:Chen Jia Yan\, Nieuwe Emmasingel 32\, Eindhoven\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-china-3.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260314T123000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260314T150000 DTSTAMP:20260227T122938Z CREATED:20260226T103028Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T122938Z UID:10000196-1773491400-1773500400@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC China Eetclub Chinese New Year edition March 14 in Amsterdam DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/vnc-china-eetclub-chinese-new-year-edition-march-14-in-amsterdam/ LOCATION:Full Moon Garden – Dim Sum & Cantonese Cuisine\, Leidsestraat 95\, Amsterdam\, 1017 NZ\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/food-china-3.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260319T153000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260319T170000 DTSTAMP:20260219T075617Z CREATED:20260218T195627Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260219T075617Z UID:10000192-1773934200-1773939600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:The Art of War DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/de-kunst-van-het-oorlogvoeren/ LOCATION:Wijnhavengebouw\, The Hague Campus\, Universiteit Leiden\, Wijnhaven 3.46\, Turfmarkt 99\, Den Haag\, Zuid-Holland\, 2511 DP CATEGORIES:Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/TAoW_Image.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260408T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260412T233000 DTSTAMP:20260408T204508Z CREATED:20260325T095944Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260408T204508Z UID:10000212-1775664000-1776036600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:CinemAsia Film Festival 2026 DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/cinemasia-film-festival-2026/ CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CinemAsia-2026_Landscape_1920x850_00164-JgYZju.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260423T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260423T180000 DTSTAMP:20260416T101452Z CREATED:20260414T100102Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T101452Z UID:10000218-1776960000-1776967200@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Book launch: Taiwan island of versatility DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/book-launch-taiwan-island-of-versatility/ LOCATION:Leiden Asia Centre\, Doelensteeg 16\, LEIDEN\, Zuid-Holland\, 2311 VL\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260424T094500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260424T123000 DTSTAMP:20260416T101310Z CREATED:20260409T153520Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T101310Z UID:10000215-1777023900-1777033800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Wuxi Huishan (Amsterdam) Industrial Cooperation Symposium DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/wuxi-huishan-amsterdam-industrial-cooperation-symposium/ CATEGORIES:Economie en zakelijk,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260330-Wuxi-Symposium-20260424-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260425T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260425T163000 DTSTAMP:20260403T155114Z CREATED:20260312T093905Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T155114Z UID:10000209-1777125600-1777134600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Bicycle Tour: The Chinese Man Who Fell Out the Window and Disappeared DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/bike-tour-the-chinese-who-fell-out-of-the-window-and-disappeared/ LOCATION:restaurant gember\, Stadhouderslaan 43\, Den Haag CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Afbeelding1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260430T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260430T164500 DTSTAMP:20260416T111154Z CREATED:20260414T102343Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T111154Z UID:10000217-1777561200-1777567500@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Lecture by Dr. Ping Foong: ‘To Amuse\, to Amass\, and to Multiply: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei’ DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/lecture-by-dr-ping-foong-to-amuse-to-amass-and-to-multiply-the-art-and-activism-of-ai-weiwei/ LOCATION:Wereldmuseum Amsterdam\, Linnaeusstraat 2\, Amsterdam\, Noord-Holland\, 1092 CK\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/SAM2025_AiWeiwei_062c-1024x683-1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Wereldmuseum Amsterdam":MAILTO:willemijn.vannoord@wereldmuseum.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260512T153000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260512T170000 DTSTAMP:20260504T202234Z CREATED:20260504T202234Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T202234Z UID:10000232-1778599800-1778605200@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:From China with Love DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/from-china-with-love/ LOCATION:Wijnhavengebouw\, The Hague Campus\, Universiteit Leiden\, Wijnhaven 3.46\, Turfmarkt 99\, Den Haag\, Zuid-Holland\, 2511 DP CATEGORIES:Education and science,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CKN-From-China-with-Love-1-uFOEg7.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Leiden Asia Centre":MAILTO:info@leidenasiacentre.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260513T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260513T180000 DTSTAMP:20260504T204041Z CREATED:20260504T201539Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260504T204041Z UID:10000230-1778691600-1778695200@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Zhejiang Trade Delegation 2026 DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/zhejiang-trade-delegation-2026/ LOCATION:DCTEPA\, Sloterweg 296\, Badhoevedorp\, Noord-Holland\, 1171VH\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Economie en zakelijk,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/44bd5d598c56a0f7e5482c85f2a6843e-XO3SlG.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="DCTEPA (Dutch China Trade and Economic Promotion Association)":MAILTO:dctepa@outlook.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260517T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260517T160000 DTSTAMP:20260501T112731Z CREATED:20260501T112731Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260501T112731Z UID:10000228-1779030000-1779033600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Artist Talk Ruben Lundgren and Garrie van Pinxteren DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/artist-talk-ruben-lundgren-and-garrie-van-pinxteren/ CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Nieuwe-cover-file-FINAL-67-small-13HPkj.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260518 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260610 DTSTAMP:20260502T104159Z CREATED:20260501T201049Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260502T104159Z UID:10000227-1779062400-1781049599@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:5 special screenings of "More than Babi Pangang" DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/5-special-screenings-of-more-than-babi-pangang/ LOCATION:Nederland\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture,Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babipangang.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260518T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20260518T193000 DTSTAMP:20260512T134816Z CREATED:20260424T124147Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260512T134816Z UID:10000222-1779123600-1779132600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:China Café South; Robots uncovered\, what’s real\, what’s hype in Europe and China DESCRIPTION:by Heleen Mees \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Suddenly\, Francis Fukuyama\, the philosopher who proclaimed the end of history in 1989\, is hoisted on the shield. Wasn’t he right\, Joost de Vries wondered in Sunday. Sander Schimmelpenninck was more adamant when on Monday morning Fukuyama saw very clearly in The End of History and the Last Man from 1992 that material security would be a driver of extreme right-wing misery instead of protection against it.The reason for the revival is the publication of Fukuyama’s memoirs In the Realm of the Last Man. In it\, Fukuyama argues that he was not so much concerned with the end of history as with the fate of man at the end of history\, in a society in which fundamental contradictions no longer exist. Where politics has been impoverished into technocratic governance and the passions that were once focused on the future have moved to the past. The last man would resist peace and prosperity out of sheer boredom\, just to experience a bit of drama and conflict again. The problem is that you first need the end of history before you arrive at the last person. Has history really come to an end? Fukuyama suggests so. According to him\, there is no alternative to liberal Western democracy as communism was during the Cold War. ‘You have religious theocracies\, small Latin American dictatorships. And then there are Russia and China\, which have little more in common than their hostility to the West.” None of these\, according to Fukuyama\, claims to be universally valid for everyone in the world as communism and liberalism did. But ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’\, as Deng Xiaoping coined it in 1982\, does have universal pretensions. According to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy doctrine\, which has replaced Deng Xiaoping’s “Hide your strength\, bide your time\,” China wants to use “superpower diplomacy” to create a community with a shared future for humanity. China wants to show that there is an alternative path of modernization. China is putting its money where its mouth is with programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. The fact that China can now rightly call itself a superpower is partly due to Fukuyama’s essay from 1989 in which he wrote very firmly that we had arrived at a point where we cannot imagine a world that is essentially different from ours and history has therefore come to an end. Fukuyama saw proof of this in the spread of Western consumer culture\, in particular the fact that color televisions could be found everywhere in China. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n This is the first part of Heleen Mees’ column in the Volkskrant of October 4\, 2026. (link to the whole article (for subscribers: \nhttps://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/fukuyama-pretendeert-nog-steeds-dat-er-geen-alternatief-is-voor-het-westers-liberalisme~bca83aad/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nHeleen Mees is an economist with a focus on geoeconomics\, an opinion maker and regularly writes about China. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on the consequences of China’s rise for the West. URL:https://www.vnc-china.nl/en/event/china-cafe-south-robots-uncovered-whats-real-whats-hype-in-europe-and-china/ LOCATION:Academisch Genootschap AG Eindhoven\, Parklaan 93\, Eindhoven\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:China Cafe calendar,Economics and Business,Economie en zakelijk,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/foto-china-cafe.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR