Chinese scholars warn of growing national arrogance

[Chinese-Dragon]

BBC News - China scholars warn of growing national arrogance

China's confidence in its economic development is turning into "national arrogance", according to a group of Chinese scholars.

In a set of articles published in a state newspaper, they said that China might have lost its traditional virtue of being modest and become intolerant.

And they questioned whether the world was misreading China or whether China itself was to blame.

China is definitely changing. It is now the world's second largest economy after the United States. It has the biggest foreign exchange reserve - about $2.5 trillion (£1.6tn).

And it is seen by the rest of the world as being more assertive, whether with regard to climate change or disputed claims in the South China Sea.

There has been a clear surge of nationalism inside the country. The ancient Chinese tradition of keeping a low profile seems to have been abandoned.

I agree with this article 100%.

The economic success in our country is causing a dangerous surge in nationalist feelings.

We should remember what Deng Xiaoping said: "Keep a cool head and maintain a low profile."

What happened to our traditional values of modesty and humility? We need to ensure that the nationalist sentiment in China does not grow too large, for the sake of regional stability and our economic growth.

What are your opinions?

 

[below_freezing]

There is too little nationalism, not too much. This is a nonexistent problem, what are we paying them for? Why should these so called scholars care and what are they going to do about it, institute mind control?

Too often, so called humility is a euphamism for self-hatred and treason.

 

[prototype]

well most of the Chinese(not most,all of them)whom i have met r really modest,hard working simple guys though the forum like this tells a different story

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

There is too little nationalism, not too much.

I disagree.

You can be strong and reasonable at the same time, Yin and Yang. The problem with ultra-nationalism is that it leads to aggression towards other countries, like the anti-Japanese riots of 2005.

The world is now interconnected, we have to cooperate with others in order to help ourselves.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

well most of the Chinese(not most,all of them)whom i have met r really modest,hard working simple guys though the forum like this tells a different story

You're right, I have noticed there are a lot of Chinese ultra-nationalists on internet forums.

It's kind of shocking, since most Chinese people I know personally don't actually care all that much about conflict with other countries. The only important thing is that our economy keeps growing and the lives of our people keep improving.

 

[Solomon2]

Yeah, I first noticed this attitude developing in mainland Chinese about fifteen years ago. What such Chinese didn't want to acknowledge was that their breathtaking strides of the past thirty years wasn't just due to their own efforts but massive amounts of foreign capital, both material and intellectual.

I think that one of the key blocks to remedying this attitude is that many Chinese still reject the concept of intellectual property ("Copying isn't stealing, because I didn't take anything from you!") and they get all defensive and arrogant about it. Singapore - a city-state with a large Chinese population - once thought the same way, but accepted it would have to recognize intellectual property if it was to unleash its own people's full creative potential. Perhaps China's leaders will travel the same path.

 

[prototype]

You're right, I have noticed there are a lot of Chinese ultra-nationalists on internet forums.

well it will b good if such people r only found on the forum's rather than on street's,b it a Chinese,an Indian,an American or a Russian

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Yeah, I first noticed this attitude developing in mainland Chinese about fifteen years ago.

Yes I see this sentiment in Hong Kong as well.

You're right there was a lot of FDI that contributed to our re-emergence, much of it contributed by overseas Chinese but a large proportion was provided by Multinational corporations and foreign investment companies too.

So clearly it is an interconnected world.... and we cannot afford to turn aside those who we depend on to buy our goods and to supply us with FDI. From a pragmatic sense we should always prioritise the welfare of our people and our economy, over a misguided notion of "nationalist sentiment".

Perhaps China's leaders will travel the same path.

I certainly hope so. Singapore is a great role model.

 

[below_freezing]

This is a dangerous thought, that a government should actively control the thoughts of its citizens rather than mere censorship.

Maybe to those outside that don't know reality over here, there seems like too much nationalism, but if you actually read chinese news, you'll see what the situation is truly like. There is really, not enough nationalism, I don't want to go too far into it, but just click on tiexue or tianya and read some articles, especially the ones delving into social issues.

Again I don't trust many of these so called experts, they also think that "internet addiction" can be quantified and make up ridiculous claims to keep the research funding going.

 

[somebozo]

Sometimes arrogance is good and sometimes its bad. China is increasingly being provoked unnecessary.

 

[Nomenclature]

People nowadays love to accuse the Chinese for being arrogant or 'not keep a low profile', although Hui Jintao makes fewer international headlines in a year than David Cameron does in a week.

 

[no_name]

Actually most of the publicity involving China has been created outside China. Still it never hurt to remind people not to be too arrogant or stuck up because image still matters.

 

[chauism]

Yeah, I first noticed this attitude developing in mainland Chinese about fifteen years ago. What such Chinese didn't want to acknowledge was that their breathtaking strides of the past thirty years wasn't just due to their own efforts but massive amounts of foreign capital, both material and intellectual.

I think that one of the key blocks to remedying this attitude is that many Chinese still reject the concept of intellectual property ("Copying isn't stealing, because I didn't take anything from you!") and they get all defensive and arrogant about it. Singapore - a city-state with a large Chinese population - once thought the same way, but accepted it would have to recognize intellectual property if it was to unleash its own people's full creative potential. Perhaps China's leaders will travel the same path.

Intellectual property protection is actually against innovations. It limits the accessibility of the knowledge for the public to form any new innovations. It creates intellectual monopoly and intellectual protectionism.

Criticism of intellectual property - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[below_freezing]

Intellectual property protection is actually against innovations. It limits the accessibility of the knowledge for the public to form any new innovations. It creates intellectual monopoly and intellectual protectionism.

Criticism of intellectual property - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Agreed!

if a technology is good enough to make it's also good enough to be worth protecting. No military weapon is patented, and military weapons show the greatest innovation of all.

IP also turns some useful technologies into weapons of mass destruction, such as the blocking of Indian companies from marketing cheap AIDS medication to africans.

 

[Solomon2]

Intellectual property protection is actually against innovations. It limits the accessibility of the knowledge for the public to form any new innovations. It creates intellectual monopoly and intellectual protectionism.

That isn't how it works in practice. On the other hand, I have seen Chinese researchers in action. They formed a sub-group out of the team, learning what they could from others yet refusing to share what they developed themselves. One member of this group was responsible for computer access and wanted all sorts of favors just to log on the system. Definitely an attempt at creating an intellectual monopoly, all because they didn't feel secure at sharing anything with anybody. It was worse than any patent or copyright protection could have been. (Unsurprisingly, the project failed.)