Light of knowledge key to human rights issue

• Source: Global Times
• [04:31 November 19 2009]
• Comments

Gottfried W. Leibniz had a solution to the confrontations between the East and the West. The German philosopher stated in his book Novissima Sinica that different civilizations could be bridged by "a commerce of light."

But three centuries after the publication of his book, Leibniz's dream of lighting one civilization's "lamp" with that of another has not come to pass.

It is certainly a welcome development that fast-growing countries like China are gaining equal footing with the developed nations in such international forums as the G20, and rising clout is giving them new muscle in talks with the West.

The China-US Joint Statement issued Tuesday has more encouraging signs: The document stresses the need for a "spirit of equality and mutual respect" when "addressing the differences" between the two countries on the issue of human rights. US President Barack Obama's statement in Shanghai Monday that Americans have a lot to learn from Chinese also deserves a big hand.

But the world order is still tilted toward the West, and there remains a long way to go before the East and the West can learn from each other as equals. For those used to looking down upon China, these encouraging moves are merely expedient measures to pull the West out of its economic slump.

While some Westerners are excitedly proclaiming that Obama taught the Chinese a lesson on human rights during his visit, others feel he took a "low-key" approach that did not meet their expectations. However, both reactions stem from a common mentality that views Chinese as schoolchildren in need of a human rights lesson.

The Chinese have learned from Western civilization since the outbreak of the First Opium War in the 1840s.

China eventually found its own path toward modernization, but a lot of credit should be given to the West and the valuable knowledge China gained from it.