When the going gets tough, the tough get going in China
- Source: Global Times
- [22:19 February 19 2010]
- Comments
Illustration: Liu Rui
By Liu Yawei
These days, when things turn tough for China, China seems to get tougher.
Need examples? Iran continues to move forward with its nuclear program and Western powers want China to join in imposing sanctions against Tehran. Zhang Yesui, China's ambassador to the UN, declares that diplomatic means have not been exhausted and China will not support such a move.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked Beijing to reconsider the death sentence of a British citizen convicted of drug trafficking to China, but China wasted no time in putting him to death.
And, the US government announced a massive arms deal to Taiwan and China responded by testing a missile designed to intercept incoming missiles.
When Google said it could not continue to operate in China due to strict government regulatory controls, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu seemed to suggest Google was bluffing since, she claimed, China has one of the most open Internet environments in the world.
China is obviously becoming more assertive and aggressive in the international arena. Why? Many suggest China's decision not to follow "guidance" or accept criticisms emanating from Washington, London, Brussels and multinational headquarters are due to a growing desire to protect her core interests and a sharper awareness of her economic and financial leverage in the global community.
Deng Xiaoping's advice that China should keep a low profile and focus on building herself up is no longer applicable since it was made when China was still relatively weak.
China is now a major power to be reckoned with and can afford to offend other powers because negative policies made by the latter toward China will create huge collateral damages at home and abroad. Finally, some believe it is time for China to stand up and take revenge against those foreign powers that once humiliated China.
It is easy to understand this unique Chinese perspective. After all, in the past 30 years, China has accomplished something rarely seen in world history: enduring political stability, stunning economic growth and popular support for the government.
However, this approach toward international affairs, whether political, economic or military, is not only frivolous but also dangerous. China has a long way to go to reach parity with most Western powers, particularly the US. Premier Wen Jiabao once remarked that no matter how significant the country's achievements, they are insignificant when divided by 1.3 billion and no matter how insignificant the difficulties it faces, they are significant when multiplied by the same number.
Zheng Bijian, former vice president of the Central Party School, once wrote that China's successes in the past 30 years are, to a large extent, dividends from the existing global system designed, maintained and protected by Western powers. For nations that have integrated into that system, they are able to prosper. For nations that have challenged and are challenging it, they are destined to run into difficulties of one kind or another.
China needs to clarify her own core interests such as political sovereignty and territorial integrity. Defying Western demands in irrational ways may endanger China's full integration into one of the most productive and sustainable political and economic systems in the world is not a core mission.
