By Lau Nai-keung
In their end-of-year reviews, many international media outlets
have highlighted China's spectacular achievements in international
relations in 2006. Make no mistake, this sleeping giant has
awakened from its centuries-long slumber. China is everywhere. In
my memory, never has the leadership of a country spent so much time
abroad and achieved so much in such a short time. Other world
leaders are now beating a path to China. Nearly half the leaders of
the world's 192 countries have visited China this year. In
addition, the nation has hosted three major summits and a
world-class fair. And Dr. Chan-Fung Fu Chun became the first
Chinese to head a UN agency, the powerful WHO. When Shinzo Abe
became prime minister of Japan earlier this year, one of the very
first things he did was to arrange a visit to China to mend fences.
And China has seized this opportunity to reverse the frosty
relations with its neighbor.
During the November APEC meeting in Hanoi, US President George
W. Bush met Chinese President Hu Jintao. This followed recent
discussions between US think-tanks as to whether the US should
amicably relinquish its stabilizing role in Asia to China, because
clearly it cannot do a better job, and it cannot check China's
growing influence in this part of the world. Strategically, the US
needs China's assistance in its fight against terrorism, and in
solving the problems on the Korean Peninsula and Iran.
Economically, the US needs China to support it beyond its mean
consumption and the falling US dollar.
Like it or not, the days of China bashing are clearly over and
have been substituted by strategic dialogue. In the December
session of the Sino-US strategic dialogue in Beijing, one-third of
the US cabinet flew over to attend a clear indication of China's
strategic importance in the eyes of the US government.
As a world power, China's vision is necessarily global, and it
does not pay undue attention to any one country. It has
consolidated its strategic partnership with Russia, and the
Shanghai Cooperative Organization is going strong. Its relations
with the EU have been improving with ever increasing trade,
investment and international cooperation in widening areas. The
"Asean+1" free trade agreements have been materializing, and there
has been actual preparation of an Asian currency.
China's relations with the South Asian subcontinent have never
been better, and guidelines for resolving border disputes are
taking shape after President Hu's visit to India. A new term,
"Chindia" has been coined, signaling closer ties between these two
populous countries. Its ties with countries in Central Asia and the
Middle East have also been bolstered.
Needless to say, after a recent summit in Beijing, Sino-African
solidarity has been further solidified.
The fact is, this administration under President Hu no longer
tries to hide China's growing economic weight in global affairs and
the role it will have to play in order to sustain growth. China is
now the fourth largest economy in the world and is still enjoying
near double-digit growth year after year. Its foreign exchange
reserve has grown to the world's biggest since February 2006,
reaching a record US$1 trillion in November. To nourish this huge
economic engine, China has to import an ever increasing amount of
resources from different parts of the world. Not least on China's
long shopping list is oil and natural gas, which China must import
at a rate of nearly half of what it consumes. At the same time, as
China enters the sixth year of its World Trade Organization
membership, it is obliged to open up its market, putting out a call
to the international business world to converge on this lucrative
market.
Many say that China is one of the very few winners from the
recent round of globalization. Be that as it may, China is now an
integral part of the game, and the activities of both its
government and people are bound to be more international. China has
thus become an active and important player in the global
community.
In line with economic development, it is essential for China to
strive for a more stable and peaceful international environment.
Diplomacy with the objective of countering international terrorism
and its link to secessionist movements within the country,
preventing nuclear proliferation, and reducing the frantic arms
race among neighboring countries is also in order.
All in all, China's motivation for a more prominent role in the
international arena is not hegemonic; it has never been a hegemony
throughout history, and it has openly and repeatedly vowed never to
be one in the future. All it wants is, first of all, to be left
alone to concentrate on the nation-building task at hand.
Ultimately, China has made it clear that it wants to build a
harmonious world. Unlike the confrontational approach of the West,
its tradition leads China to think that this world is big enough
for everybody, but it is too small for us to fight each other. For
example, if the rich countries spent a little less on armaments,
and instead concentrated on providing aid to the poor developing
countries, world peace would have a much better chance.
The ultimate manifestation of harmony is built on diversity, not
on monoculture. It is also built on a balance between competition
and symbiosis.
In time, China will have a lot more say in formulating the rules
of international conduct in the 21st century. Hopefully, the
"harmonious world" ideal will be yet another Chinese contribution
to the global legacy, and a better world order.
(China Daily December 30, 2006)
