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:20230326T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:20231029T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:20240331T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:20241027T010000 END:STANDARD 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 END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250920T153000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250920T170000 DTSTAMP:20250915T100827Z CREATED:20250911T132754Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250915T100827Z UID:10000109-1758382200-1758387600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Interview and signing session Zhang Yueran: 'Swan Hotel' 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/interview-and-signing-session-zhang-yueran-swan-hotel/ LOCATION:Broese Boekverkopers\, Oudegracht 112-b\, Utrecht\, Utrecht\, 3511 AW\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Culture and Society,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/zhangyueran.webp ORGANIZER;CN="Broese Boekverkopers":MAILTO:klantenservice@broese.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250916T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250916T153000 DTSTAMP:20250903T161848Z CREATED:20250825T092739Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250903T161848Z UID:10000099-1758020400-1758036600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Welcome to Prinsjesdag 2025 in The Hague 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-prinsjesdag-2025-in-the-hague/ CATEGORIES:China Cafe calendar,Cultuur en Maatschappij,VNC event END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250908T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250908T190000 DTSTAMP:20250805T114532Z CREATED:20250805T114532Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250805T114532Z UID:10000096-1757350800-1757358000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:China Café\, Corporate Social Responsibility 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/china-cafe-corporate-social-responsibility-in-china/ LOCATION:De Utrechter Stadsbrasserie en Bar\, Vredenburg 40\, Utrecht\, 3511 BD CATEGORIES:China Cafe calendar,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:20250831T123000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250831T150000 DTSTAMP:20250829T182230Z CREATED:20250725T131504Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250829T182230Z UID:10000087-1756643400-1756652400@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC China Dining Club - 31 August 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-eating-club-31-august-in-amsterdam/ LOCATION:Dimsum King\, Fogostraat 10\, Amsterdam\, Noord-Holland\, 1060 LJ\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture 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:20250829T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250829T210000 DTSTAMP:20250811T110025Z CREATED:20250810T161300Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250811T110025Z UID:10000094-1756486800-1756501200@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Opening nieuwe expositie over familie Zee in Chinatown Katendrecht door David Zee & Vera Zhou 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/opening-nieuwe-expositie-over-familie-zee-in-chinatown-katendrecht-door-david-zee-vera-zhou/ LOCATION:Verhalenhuis Belvédère\, Rechthuislaan 1\, Rotterdam\, Zuid Holland\, 3072 LB\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/verhaalhuis-29-augustus-TJwTge.tmp_.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Verhalenhuis Belv%C3%A9d%C3%A8re":MAILTO:info@verhalenhuisbelvedere.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250726T080000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250809T170000 DTSTAMP:20250501T085429Z CREATED:20250317T142707Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T085429Z UID:10000070-1753516800-1754758800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Table Tennis Camp Shanghai with Bettine Vriesekoop 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/tafeltenniskamp-shanghai-met-bettine-vriesekoop/ LOCATION:Tafeltennisvereniging Tempo-Team\, President Kennedylaan 5\, Amsterdam CATEGORIES:Art and culture,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/22_0101_CTTCShanghaitrainingssessieyoutube.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250629T130000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250629T170000 DTSTAMP:20250623T165146Z CREATED:20250610T123346Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250623T165146Z UID:10000080-1751202000-1751216400@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Thrive Together: Round Table in NIO House 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/thrive-together-round-table-in-nio-house/ LOCATION:Nio House Amsterdam\, Nio House\, Leidsestraat 32–34\,Amsterdam\, Amsterdam\, Noord Holland\, 1017PB\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Economie en zakelijk,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/NIO_House_Amsterdam.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250626T183000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250626T210000 DTSTAMP:20250603T071112Z CREATED:20250602T201038Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250603T071112Z UID:10000078-1750962600-1750971600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:An Evening with Ma Yansong 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-ma-yansong-2/ LOCATION:Nieuwe Instituut\, Museumpark 25\, Rotterdam\, Zuid-Holland\, 3015 EK\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ma-yansong-scaled.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250626T100000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250626T113000 DTSTAMP:20250613T231133Z CREATED:20250613T231133Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250613T231133Z UID:10000084-1750932000-1750937400@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Beijing Tongzhou District Cooperation Conference 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/beijing-tongzhou-district-cooperation-conference/ LOCATION:Jollemanhof 26\, Amsterdam\, Jollemanhof 26\, Amsterdam\, Noord Holland\, 1019GW\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Culture and Society,Partner ORGANIZER;CN="Beijing Tongzhou":MAILTO:shirleyyan09@sina.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250621T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250621T200000 DTSTAMP:20250501T085308Z CREATED:20250410T130035Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T085308Z UID:10000069-1750528800-1750536000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC Chinese Eating Club - 21 June 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/vnc-chinese-eetclub-21-juni-in-rotterdam/ LOCATION:Sansan Restaurant Sichuan Cuisine\, Hang 33\, Rotterdam\, 3011 GG CATEGORIES:Art and culture 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:20250618T200000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250618T220000 DTSTAMP:20250611T192218Z CREATED:20250611T192218Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250611T192218Z UID:10000083-1750276800-1750284000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Een avond met Jeanne Boden over haar literaire memoir 'De Grens' 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/een-avond-met-jeanne-boden-over-haar-literaire-memoir-de-grens/ LOCATION:Schiller Theater\, Minrebroederstraat 11\, Utrecht\, Utrecht\, 3512GS\, Nederland CATEGORIES:Cultuur en Maatschappij,Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1-002-cC7Uxb.tmp_.png ORGANIZER;CN="Dimsum Reizen":MAILTO:christel@dim-sum.nl END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250616T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250616T190000 DTSTAMP:20250527T204308Z CREATED:20250410T130858Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250527T204308Z UID:10000068-1750093200-1750100400@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:16 June 2025 China Café about Branding 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/16-juni-2025-china-cafe-over-branding-in-china/ LOCATION:De Utrechter Stadsbrasserie en Bar\, Vredenburg 40\, Utrecht\, 3511 BD CATEGORIES:China Cafe calendar,Economie en zakelijk 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:20250604T143000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250604T170000 DTSTAMP:20250601T161459Z CREATED:20250403T090646Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250601T161459Z UID:10000064-1749047400-1749056400@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Company visit to Huawei 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/company-visit-to-huawei/ LOCATION:Huawei Technologies Netherlands B.V.\, Laan van Vredenoord 56\, Rijswijk\, 2289 DJ \, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Economie en zakelijk,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/unnamed.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250524T134500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250524T180000 DTSTAMP:20250519T110129Z CREATED:20250519T110054Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250519T110129Z UID:10000073-1748094300-1748109600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Monsieur Loo and Asian Art Collections: Life\, Legacy and Ethics 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/monsieur-loo-and-asian-art-collections-life-legacy-and-ethics/ LOCATION:Auditorium Rijksmuseum\, Museumstraat 1\, Amsterdam\, Noord-Holland\, 1071 XX\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Partner ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CT_Loo.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250522T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250522T160000 DTSTAMP:20250313T091020Z CREATED:20250313T091020Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250313T091020Z UID:10000054-1747922400-1747929600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Museum Visit Dragons and Demons\, Groninger Museum 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/museum-visit-dragons-and-demons-groninger-museum-2/ LOCATION:Groninger Museum\, Museumeiland 1\, Groningen\, Groningen\, 9711 ME\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Tentoonstellingen2024Draken-en-demonen_1200x670_crop_center-center_95_none_nsDraken-en-Demonen-campagnebeeld.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250519T184500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250519T220000 DTSTAMP:20250517T110323Z CREATED:20250403T100454Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250517T110323Z UID:10000067-1747680300-1747692000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC China Pubquiz! 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-pubquiz/ LOCATION:FC Den Bosch\, Victorialaan 21\, Den Bosch\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Economie en zakelijk,VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pubquiz.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250515T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250515T200000 DTSTAMP:20250501T084536Z CREATED:20250409T140143Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T084536Z UID:10000066-1747328400-1747339200@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:VNC Chinese Eating Club - 15 May 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-chinese-eetclub/ LOCATION:Full Moon Garden – Dim Sum & Cantonese Cuisine\, Leidsestraat 95\, Amsterdam\, 1017 NZ\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture 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:20250510T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250510T130000 DTSTAMP:20250506T130713Z CREATED:20250312T130500Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250506T130713Z UID:10000065-1746874800-1746882000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:General Members Meeting VNC 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/algemene-ledenvergadering-vnc/ LOCATION:VNC kantoor\, Burgemeester van Karnebeeklaan 6\, Den Haag\, 2585BB CATEGORIES:VNC event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/VNC_NL-tekst_900x455px.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250324T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250324T190000 DTSTAMP:20250313T085840Z CREATED:20250221T121412Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250313T085840Z UID:10000047-1742835600-1742842800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:China Café - China’s ambitions in the AI domain 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/24-maart-china-cafe-over-chinas-ambities-op-het-gebied-van-ai/ LOCATION:De Utrechter Stadsbrasserie en Bar\, Vredenburg 40\, Utrecht\, 3511 BD CATEGORIES:China Cafe calendar,Economie en zakelijk ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/foto-china-cafe.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250303T193000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250303T203000 DTSTAMP:20250413T111027Z CREATED:20250218T154433Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250413T111027Z UID:10000063-1741030200-1741033800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Informatie bijeenkomst -Tafeltenniskamp te Shanghai 26 juli t/m 9 augustus 2025 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/informatie-bijeenkomst-tafeltenniskamp-te-shanghai-26-juli-t-m-9-augustus-2025/ LOCATION:Tafeltennisvereniging Tempo-Team\, President Kennedylaan 5\, Amsterdam CATEGORIES:Art and culture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/22_0101_CTTCShanghaitrainingssessieyoutube.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250204T193000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250204T210000 DTSTAMP:20241204T154841Z CREATED:20241009T215338Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241204T154841Z UID:10000037-1738697400-1738702800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Feb. 4\, 2025 - Bettine Vriesekoop at the University of Twente 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/feb-4-2025-bettine-vriesekoop-at-the-university-of-twente/ CATEGORIES:Education and science ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jubileumartikel-interview-met-Bettine-Vriesekoop.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250109T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250109T150000 DTSTAMP:20241219T180903Z CREATED:20241203T130909Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241219T180903Z UID:10000036-1736431200-1736434800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Visit the 'Wu Zetian' exhibition with VNC 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/visit-the-wu-zetian-exhibition-with-vnc/ LOCATION:Prinsessehof\, Grote Kerkstraat 9\, Leeuwarden\, 8911 DZ CATEGORIES:Art and culture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Wu-Zetian-hires-final-B20086-12-AC-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20241215T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20241215T170000 DTSTAMP:20241219T173840Z CREATED:20241109T110729Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241219T173840Z UID:10000035-1734271200-1734282000@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Mahjong Meet-Up 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/mahjong-meet-up/ LOCATION:Zijp 25\, Zijpendaalseweg 25\, Arnhem\, Zijpendaalseweg 25\, arnhem\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Mahjong-Tournament-2100x920-1.webp END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20241212T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20241212T150000 DTSTAMP:20241112T143306Z CREATED:20241112T143306Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241112T143306Z UID:10000034-1734012000-1734015600@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:Demons and Dragons exhibition 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/demons-and-dragons-exhibition/ LOCATION:Groninger Museum\, Museumeiland 1\, Groningen\, Groningen\, 9711 ME\, Netherlands CATEGORIES:Art and culture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image002.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20241209T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20241209T190000 DTSTAMP:20241120T154521Z CREATED:20241120T154521Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241120T154521Z UID:10000033-1733763600-1733770800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:China Cafe - China Webshops update 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-china-webshops-update/ LOCATION:De Utrechter Stadsbrasserie en Bar\, Vredenburg 40\, Utrecht\, 3511 BD CATEGORIES:Art and culture,China Cafe calendar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/China-Cafe-9-december-evenemet.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20241201T120000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20250131T170000 DTSTAMP:20241120T125556Z CREATED:20241120T125556Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241120T125556Z UID:10000031-1733054400-1738342800@www.vnc-china.nl SUMMARY:River of time - Ma Hui 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/river-of-time-ma-hui/ LOCATION:OOOIT ART – WERKSPOOR INTERNATIONAL ART CENTER\, Nijverheidsweg 27 P\, Utrecht\, 3534AM CATEGORIES:Art and culture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.vnc-china.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Afbeelding-e1732108494346.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR