ChinaToday
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China has come a long way from Deng Xiaoping’s strategy of “hiding our brightness and biding our time”. It has sent a man into space, dispatched peacekeepers around the world, hosted the Olympics, become the world’s second-biggest economy and the dominant force in global commodity markets … the list goes on.
Yet to hear it from China’s foreign policy officials, things haven’t changed much at all: China is still just a developing country, minding its own business.
US and Chinese officials will meet next week for political and economic discussions, which are expected to range from how to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme to whether the renminbi needs to appreciate further.
At a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, Cui Tiankai, China’s deputy foreign minister, answered questions on these thorny subjects. With a caution that befits a senior diplomat, he gave little away in specifics. More striking were his general comments about China’s world view.
For a sense of how China wants to portray its place on the global stage, Cui’s words were instructive.
On the prospect of overtaking the US as the world’s biggest economy:
For all of the fast development that we have seen in China over the past few decades, China remains a developing country. From the perspective of overall strength and many other indicators, there is still a big gap between the US and China.
GDP doesn’t tell the entire story and doesn’t even tell the main part of the story. China’s population is four times the US population, so even if we are one day on par with the US, our per capita figure will still be much lower. And looking at the quality of growth, it will also be much lower than in the US, with a much higher environmental cost.
On China’s strategic ambition:
The discussion of an inevitable conflict as China overtakes the US lacks a basis in fact. It is not based on a correct understanding of China’s strategic intentions. Described simply, China’s developmental goal is just one thing: to allow ordinary Chinese people to have better lives. It is not about vying with any other country for the no. 1 spot in the world.
On intervening in other countries:
Because of different cultures, China and the US might have some philosophical differences. In China we always believe, let’s first do a good job of taking care of our own affairs. We need to respect the decisions taken by other countries. The US has a different view: they see the affairs of the world as their business and responsibility. This is not a value judgment. I’m just pointing out a fact.
So after all these years, China would still like to hide its brightness. Hard to do that, though, when you’re well on the way to becoming the strongest light bulb in the world economy.
China
The truth is we are not incredible and shinning yet, and definitely dont want to be world superpower.
Yet to hear it from China’s foreign policy officials, things haven’t changed much at all: China is still just a developing country, minding its own business.
US and Chinese officials will meet next week for political and economic discussions, which are expected to range from how to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme to whether the renminbi needs to appreciate further.
At a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, Cui Tiankai, China’s deputy foreign minister, answered questions on these thorny subjects. With a caution that befits a senior diplomat, he gave little away in specifics. More striking were his general comments about China’s world view.
For a sense of how China wants to portray its place on the global stage, Cui’s words were instructive.
On the prospect of overtaking the US as the world’s biggest economy:
For all of the fast development that we have seen in China over the past few decades, China remains a developing country. From the perspective of overall strength and many other indicators, there is still a big gap between the US and China.
GDP doesn’t tell the entire story and doesn’t even tell the main part of the story. China’s population is four times the US population, so even if we are one day on par with the US, our per capita figure will still be much lower. And looking at the quality of growth, it will also be much lower than in the US, with a much higher environmental cost.
On China’s strategic ambition:
The discussion of an inevitable conflict as China overtakes the US lacks a basis in fact. It is not based on a correct understanding of China’s strategic intentions. Described simply, China’s developmental goal is just one thing: to allow ordinary Chinese people to have better lives. It is not about vying with any other country for the no. 1 spot in the world.
On intervening in other countries:
Because of different cultures, China and the US might have some philosophical differences. In China we always believe, let’s first do a good job of taking care of our own affairs. We need to respect the decisions taken by other countries. The US has a different view: they see the affairs of the world as their business and responsibility. This is not a value judgment. I’m just pointing out a fact.
So after all these years, China would still like to hide its brightness. Hard to do that, though, when you’re well on the way to becoming the strongest light bulb in the world economy.
China
The truth is we are not incredible and shinning yet, and definitely dont want to be world superpower.
)
