By Lau Nai-keung
Irrespective of China's repeated pledge of peaceful development,
advanced countries, notably the United States and Japan, do not
seem to take our non-aggressive, non-expansionist commitments
seriously. This is highly unfortunate, as the situation could
easily deteriorate into an arms race, which is no good to
anybody.
The Western world has a long held myth that "democratic"
countries do not wage wars. If one goes through Western
civilizations from ancient Greece to the ongoing Iraq War, it is
clear that this is far from the truth. If one country, "democratic"
or otherwise, does not like another country, there is always an
excuse to send troops into battle. Deep-rooted self-delusion is
hard to eradicate.
It is extremely difficult to educate some people that though a
country does not practice universal suffrage, it does not mean that
it is a bully. President Hu Jintao has declared democracy the No 1
building block of a harmonious society. If we are determined to
face the subject of democracy head-on, as we did a few years back
with human rights, soon it will not be an issue.
The same can apply to China's insistence on being a socialist
country. For our own sake, and for the sake of global cultural
diversity, we owe it to ourselves to stand firm on something we
believe in. Now that the Cold War has been over for a long time,
and China is merging into international common practices in more
and more areas, our different mode of nation building can at worst
be regarded as our idiosyncrasy rather than a threat to others.
We have amply demonstrated that a socialist China is at least as
responsible as any other country in peacekeeping, nuclear
nonproliferation and the war against terrorism.
However, if we look at China's reemergence from the viewpoint of
other countries, the awakening of a sleeping giant is
understandably a disturbing sight. They are looking at a growing
military power with nuclear capability though from the very
beginning China insisted that it would never use nuclear weapons
first.
You can go around telling everybody you are a gentle giant, but
what if you get mad just once? This once might be a disaster too
big for the world to afford.
China is a neighbor to a record number of 15 countries, and for
historical reasons, it has territorial disputes with nearly each
and every one of them. For many years, we have been walking the
walk and talking the talk of trying to resolve our conflicts with
our neighbors through peaceful means.
One by one, we have settled national boundary lines without
resorting to war. The handover of Hong Kong by the British through
painful and lengthy negotiations was a clear example of our
determination and patience.
Our relations with India have been tense for many decades. The
two countries even went to war in 1962. By all accounts, even those
of Indian's own investigation, China was the country attacked.
According to Premier Zhou Enlai, "We sent three open telegrams
to Nehru asking him to make a public reply, but he refused. He was
so discourteous; he wouldn't even do us the courtesy of replying,
so we had no choice but to drive him out."
Within a month, the Indian army was totally defeated. The
American ambassador noted ultimate panic in Delhi and the
disintegration of public morale. To the surprise of the world,
China announced its unilateral and unconditional withdrawal to 20
kilometers behind the disputed McMahon Line. "At the point of a
smoking gun, a victorious China imposed not a victor's terms but
what she had proposed all along," wrote British journalist Neville
Maxwell a negotiated settlement of the boundary dispute.
For more than four decades, China seemed content with the status
quo, waiting for the gradual defrosting of the situation. Even when
India built up its armaments ostensibly targeting China as its
potential competitor, we refused to assume the same antagonistic
attitude.
Our sincerity finally paid off in recent years. China and India
are now on friendly terms with growing economic ties, and they are
closer than ever to a cordial agreement on their borders. Leaders
of both countries have reiterated their determination to achieve a
negotiated settlement.
Actions always speak louder than words, and more happy stories
like these will ultimately convince an ever increasing number of
people of China's peaceful intentions. In any case, most of our
close neighbors, who have the most to fear from a "bullying" China,
are now convinced of our peaceful intentions and in closer than
ever cooperation with us. These are indisputable achievements which
are of direct relevance of our national security.
Another thing we should undertake is to ingrain nonaggression
and non-expansion firmly into our core values and our national
psyche. A person might change overnight, but a nation brought up
with nonaggression and non-expansion will not and simply cannot,
suddenly turn into an aggressor and expansionist.
When the rest of the world sees this peaceful approach, they
will find it most reassuring. This is exactly what the high profile
preaching of a harmonious society and harmonious world is all
about.
We want to live in peace and harmony not to please others but
because it is something we truly love and treasure. To the extent
that harmony is an integral part of modern Chinese culture, whether
other people believe us or not is of secondary importance; and
somehow, sometime, they cannot but believe.
And that is why there is a growing consensus among scholars and
decision-makers around the world that the phenomenal re-emergence
of China is an important event of the century. It is to be
welcomed, not feared. It is now up to us to prove them right.
The author, from Hong Kong, is a member of the National
Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference.
(China Daily February 2, 2007)
