How to Treat China's Development--An Important Issue of Understanding Concerning China-US Relations

Since it introduced the reform and opening policy, China's sustained and rapid economic growth, the continued enhancement of its comprehensive national strength and its development momentum have attracted the world's attention. Under this circumstance, it is only normal for the study of China's take-off experiences, to guess what effect China's development would exert in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

It is the general view of the world that China is an important force safeguarding peace and development of the world, particularly of the Asia-Pacific region, China's development benefits stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole. However, there are also people who conjecture China with a gloomy psychology, thinking that when China grows strong, it would become a "threat", and that it is thus necessary to employ various means to contain China.

People have noticed that in a recent report "Asia in 2025", the US Pentagon stressed that China would become the biggest threat to US interests in the Asia-Pacific region, and that if the United States wants to continue playing an important role in South Asia and Southeast Asia, it must solve the question regarding its lack of forward operational bases in these regions and also must strengthen its alliance with China's neighboring countries so as to restrain China. For this end, the United States has worked out a plan for shifting its military strategic focus from Europe to Asia. Meanwhile, someone proposed that a "small NATO" be rigged up in the Asia-Pacific region to weave a ring of encirclement against China. After US new administration took office, it defined China as its "strategic adversary". Someone also said bluntly that the United States' NMD is directed mainly at China. The US dealing with China in this way has made people feel worry about the prospect of peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Before his China visit in 1998, former US President Bill Clinton gave the general ideas in what he said: How China shows its greatness is an important issue in the future. If there is a reason for what Clinton said, then, on the other hand, how the United States treats China's development is also an important issue of the future because it directly affects the development trend of the United States' China policy. If the United States can approach China's development in an open-minded manner and truly regards China's development as conforming to American interests, then a prospect of stability and development will be brought to China-US relations and the Asia-Pacific region; but if the United States rigidly clings to its Cold War mentality and viciously treats China's progress, then many troubles will be added to the relations between the two countries and tensions created in the Asia-Pacific region.

China's Development Benefits the Asia-Pacific Region

After the conclusion of the Cold War, economic globalization has developed rapidly, the economies of various countries feature prominently their interrelations, coexistence and co-prosperity. Along with its sustained and rapid economic growth, China has become a stable and increasingly expanding commodity and investment market, providing favorable conditions for the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.

Over the past decades and more, the average annual growth rate of China's economy has reached 8.3 percent, during this period, China's foreign trade has expanded 22 times, its ranking in the world has risen from 32nd at the beginning of its opening to outside world to 9th at present. In 1980, China's total import and export value was only 54.6 billion yuan, the figure shot up to US$474.3 billion in 2000, of which imports stood at US$225.1 billion. According to statistics from Singaporean economists, among China's total import value, the Asian region had a share of over 36 percent. As an Asia-Pacific country, the United States has registered an average annual growth of over 18 percent in its trade value with China over the past 20 years, China and the United States are both one of the markets seeing the fastest export growth. Chinese customs statistics reveal that the trade volume between China and the United States was US$11.8 billion in 1990, while in 2000 the figure swelled to US$74.5 billion. In the first five months of this year, US exports to China came to US$10.1 billion, a 20.9 percent increase over the same period last year. It is obvious that China's import trade has brought many benefits to Asian-Pacific countries, including the United States.

Apart from foreign trade, the tremendous demands in China's energy, communications, telecommunication, environmental protection and other sectors and its policy of opening to the outside world have also provided valuable opportunities and a vast world for the investment of foreign capital. More than 20 years ago, the average annual amount of foreign capital China used was less than US$2 billion, but by the year 2000, the figure had exceeded US$40.7 billion. Today, there are more than 32,000 US-funded enterprises in China, with contracted value exceeding US$63 billion, paid-in money US$31 billion. Over half of the US 500 largest companies have invested in China, their insurance, banking, commerce and other service trades have also entered the Chinese market. The investor makes profits, the importer of capital is benefited, so a "win win' situation is rolling forward. In addition, China's favorable investment climate has yielded positive joint effect, foreign capital introduced by other Asian countries is also increasing drastically.

It should be noted here that along with China's economic development, the marked improvement in people's livelihood and the drastic reduction in the rural poverty-stricken population, on the whole, the Chinese people have reached the level of living a fairly comfortable life. In a large country with a population of nearly 1.3 billion, the people are living a life of peace and contentment, society is stable and propitious, viewed from the international background of the tide of refugees and transnational crimes, China's development has made incalculable contribution to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

A Universally Acknowledged Large Responsible Country

How does China express its greatness? This question can be summed up in one word: a big responsible country. This is universally acknowledged.

China is a peace-loving socialist country practicing an independent foreign policy of peace. As early as the beginning of the founding of New China, the Chinese government initiated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence. Under the guidance of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China restored or established normal relations with all neighboring countries. Along with the passage of time, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have become the generally accepted norms for guiding international relations. This is the major contribution China has made in safeguarding peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

Proceeding from the maintenance of regional peace and development, China is always opposed to the use of force or threat of force in regard to international disputes, instead, it advocates seeking proper solutions to disputes through peaceful negotiations. China has resolved with the overwhelming majority neighboring countries troublesome problems left over from old China, and delimiting boundaries. With regard to disputed territory, China put forward the reasonable and just proposal, known as "shelving disputes for common development".

In treating problems of history, China has stressed the need to take the general situation into consideration and looking ahead, this general situation refers to regional peace and development. Japanese militarists launched wars of aggression against China in the past which brought untold sufferings to the Chinese people, however, for the sake of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, China put forward the foreign policy toward Japan, known as "taking history as a mirror, and looking forward to the future", devoting its effort to establishing cooperative partnership featuring long-term stability, good neighborliness and friendship.

When the Asian financial crisis broke out in 1997, China, as a populous developing country, determinedly provided, within its capacity, timely financial aid to victimized countries through bilateral and multilateral forms. In the meantime, in order to share out the pressure sustained by victimized countries, China firmly kept Renminbi from devaluating, which produced positive effect in helping victimized countries get rid of the crisis and embark on the road of economic recovery.

In its foreign contacts, China means what it says, keeping faith and honoring its words, just as the saying goes, "promise must be kept and action must be resolute". In order to enable Hong Kong and Macao, after their return to the motherland, to continue keeping their prosperity and stability, China put forward the "one country, two systems" concept and the principle of "Hong Kong (Macao) people governing Hong Kong (Macao) and enjoying a high degree of autonomy. Recently, Patten, the last Hong Kong governor and currently the EU Foreign Relations Affairs Committee member, affirmed the implementation of China's "one country, two systems" principle. The report submitted by US Consulate in Hong Kong to US Congress also confirmed that China has kept its promise of allowing Hong Kong to maintain a high degree of autonomy. The similar situation also exists in Macao. In short, China is a responsible country, the important stabilizing role it plays in the Asia-Pacific region is undeniable.

Cold War Mentality Should Be Discarded

How to face up to the world's new pattern which is taking shape, and how to guide humankind to peace, cooperation and common prosperity in the new century-this is the topic which statesmen of various countries, particularly statesmen of big countries, must take into consideration and must undertake their responsibilities. It is regrettable that there are too many remnants of hegemonic ideology and Cold War mentality in the minds of some politicians in the United States, their words and deeds have incessantly aroused anxiety and worry in the Asia-Pacific region.

There are various manifestations of their hegemonic ideology and Cold War mentality, for example:

I. The United States thinks so highly of itself that it regards itself as the only country of importance and so should lead everything in the world. The mindset of the United States has led to lateral-ism in its international behavior which has met with universal criticisms in the first year in the new century.

II They stress the moral superiority of the United States, claiming that the United States is the defender of the value of world democracy. In fact, any value can function only within a particular social and cultural system and cannot be forcibly transplanted. The American model is forcibly applied mechanically in some places in the world and is ended in failure. This attitude of the United States is dubbed as "moral imperialism" by personages of many developing countries.

III. Outdated geographical political ideology. After the conclusion of the Cold War, the United States had all along been seeking so-called strategic adversary. In Europe, the United States reduces the strategic space for Russia; in the Asia-Pacific region, it vigorously intensifies bilateral military alliance and is drawing up the Asia-Pacific "small NATO" plan.

IV. Their feverish pursuit of absolute military superiority. After the conclusion of the Cold War, Americans' desire to pursue absolute military superiority and absolute security has greatly swollen. The two wars launched by the United States in the Gulf and Kosovo in the later years of last century made the United States show greater respect for and confidence in high-tech military means. The presentation of NMD, TMD and other programs demonstrates the psyche of certain American policy-makers.

V. In international relations, they ignore economic globalization and other new trends, they cling to the outdated rules of zero and games and are bent on seeking such a situation in which there are all gain for the victor and benefit everywhere for the winner.

In brief, the mode of thinking of certain American policy-makers is extremely obsolete, they lack both the sense of responsibility for a large global country and a correct grasp of the characteristics of the times in today's world, they are bent on acting as cowboys with more guns and quicker hands than others.

Recently, the United States' Foreign Policy magazine carried an observer's article, refuting with facts the remark about the alleged "China threat" and clearly pointing out that the main danger to peace and security in Asia is still the revival of American unilateral-ism and US militarized policy toward this region. His words go straight to the heart of the matter.

China's development is conducive to the stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, this is a logical conclusion formed in history. China's security targets in the Asia-Pacific region are crystal clear: first is China's own stability and development, second is peace and stability in the surrounding areas, third is carrying out dialogs and cooperation with various Asia-Pacific countries. China stresses that while seeking regional security and cooperation, it is necessary to recognize and respect the reality of diversity of the region, China advocates that various social systems, development modes and concepts of value should draw on others' strong points to make up for one's weaknesses through competition and comparison and that countries should make common development through seeking common grounds while shelving differences. So-called China threat is utterly groundless. But this illusory imagination has the nature of a prediction being automatically realized, so it is dangerous.

The Chinese nation has a history of more than 5,000 years, the diligence, intelligence and talents of the Chinese people are well known to the world. Their century-long experience of imperialist aggression, partition, enslavement and ravage has inspired China's determination to stand in the galaxy of nations in the world. China's development, of course, cannot be free from the influence of external conditions, but external factors cannot influence China's fate, China's development is determined by running China's own affairs well. After the founding of New China, and after more than half a century's exploration, the country has found and embarked on the road suited to its own development. Blockade, besiege and attack had all failed to curb China's development. Today, with peace and development as the characteristics of the times, in China that has laid a solid foundation for development, take-off is the necessity which is irresistible!

Former US Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher said that a rising China is harmless and it is wrong to attempt to block China. We should say there is no lack of far-sighted personages like Prueher in the United States, it is their common view that China's development is beneficial to Asia-Pacific stability and development. If US policy-makers can also have such understanding , it would not only be a blessing to the two countries of China and the United States, but also to the entire Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole.

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