It is true that China's rise provides the first real break in modern times
for the world's havenots to redress their grievances in dignified international
forums without having to feel that they are second-class citizens whose miseries
are unworthy of the world's attention.
Even without looking into a crystal ball, we can already discern a clear
silhouette pattern of a new world order -- that the 21st century is going to be
drastically different from the 20th mainly because of the burgeoning influence
of the Old Country.
It was no accident that the American-Spanish War occurred as it did in 1898
-- four years after the First Sino-Japanese War as a result of which the
Japanese militarists were emboldened to continue on the road of world conquest
by using the Korean Peninsula as a springboard.
China's defeat in that war led to the string of invasions of Asian islands on
her periphery. Japan wrestled Taiwan Province from Qing China one year later and
the U.S. seized the Philippines from the Spaniards three years after that.
The only difference in the conditions between the two periods of 1894-1937
and 1945-2005 was that in the first period, China was a maladroit, fumbling
giant while in the second, she began to startle friends and foes alike by
rapidly metamorphosing into a mature, confident power in her own right.
This paradigm shift makes the current power-play by her ill-wishers unlikely
to bear fruit.
After the 1898 Spanish-American war in the Philippines, America's slogan was
to "exterminate all insurgents over the age of 10," showing that "might makes
right" was an acceptable mode of behavior at the time and humane treatment of
native peoples was the exception rather than the rule.
With a similar imperial mindset buttressed by a much meaner streak of sadism,
the Japanese committed countless hideous war atrocities now whitewashed by the
likes of Junichiro Koizumi, Shinzo Abe and Taro Aso in action if not in words.
As of today, it is sad but true that the Japanese and Americans are conniving
with one another -- each with its own ulterior motive and prioritized agenda --
to impede the rise of China by attempting to constrain China's maritime
activities within the confines of the East China Sea with a eastern limit
defined by the First Island Chain of Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippine
Islands..
The militarists who are direct descendants of war criminals from the previous
two Sino-Japanese wars are itching to provoke China into a third war through
adopting a warlike stance in the dispute over the oil deposits in the
continental shelf of the East China Sea. Their two 2+2 meetings so far this year
show that they are actively mobilizing their combined resources towards that
end.
That's why so many countries are now flocking under the Chinese banner in
Asia, Africa and Latin America as can be seen during the flurry of diplomatic
forays in the past two years by China's leaders.
Southeast Asian countries did not subscribe to or share Rumsfeld's
ostentatious allegation of a "China threat" during the Defense Minister's visit
to Singapore in early 2005. On the contrary, they do recognize that without
China acting as the countervailing bulwark for world peace, their own future
prospects for independence don't look so bright.
China's political ideology emphasizing a humanitarian approach for solving
the world's problems, empowered by her traditional penchant for building wealth
through the diligence of her people instead of through military conquests of
foreign lands, is well appreciated by many amongst the world's educated elite in
all fields.
This can be seen in the warm welcome their representatives had given Hu's
speech in the UN in which he emphasized that China is pioneering a better way to
help the world's poorer nations through forgiving their loans and training for
them tens of thousands of experts to improve their management capabilities. It
is of course much more demonstrative of one's goodwill to teach a man to fish
than to merely nand him a bucket of fish.
In time, these efforts will all bear fruit for the Old country. The Chinese
nation is well aware of its responsibility to as well as its special position in
the world and understand very well that it will not thrive by jealously guarding
its treasure cove of experience in bettering the lives of its people.
We must to the best of our ability share such constructive experience with
poorer nations and build a harmonious world based on mutual respect and
empathetic understanding of the problems faced by the majority of the world's
peoples.
Only in this way can we offer them a viable alternative to their predicament
in which predatory regimes persist in the present platforms of international
commercial relations, as is evidenced by repeated failure of developed nations
to meaningfully reduce subsidies for their own agricultural products.
To be sure, our nation's political capital is not earned through
masterminding back-stabbing intrigues aimed at hurting other nations while
enriching ourselves. Ensuring a win-win situation in any commercial foray should
forever be the guiding principle in our international relationships.
It is through offering sincere assistance and cooperation to nations
regardless of their size, wealth, and cultural or religious idiosyncrasies that
we can truly build a new world order best suited to the survival of our species.
The speeches given in receptions during the thirty-five foreign trips taken
by China's President during the past two years offer the best testimonial
evidence of the above analysis.
The above content represents the view of the author
only.
