Is it possible that the People’s Republic of China is in fact not aggressive at all, and wants to create ‘harmonious international relations?’ According to Fyodor Lukyanov of Russia’s Gazeta newspaper, Western countries – including Russia, may be superimposing their own ways of thinking on the Chinese, and hence, drawing the wrong conclusions.
For Gazeta, Fyodor Lukyanov writes in part:
“In global politics, China is concerned about one thing – increasing its influence without overly intimidating its partners. Beijing has been only partly successful, regardless of how Chinese officials harp on the fact that their only priority is to achieve a harmonious international arena. But if one looks without bias at Chinese policies, it’s hard to detect any expansionist inclinations in the traditional sense. Sometimes it seems that other powers that are wary of China subconsciously ascribe their own logic of behavior to it, meaning the way they would behave if in China’s place.”
“But in pursuing its objectives, Beijing is persistent, consistent and not inclined to concessions or deals. And this frightens its partners, who see haughtiness and duplicity in such straightforwardness. … It doesn’t aspire to domination and hardly even insists on expanding its influence. But what it doesn’t accept are limitations imposed from without, since China is confident that what it claims belongs to it by right – and that this is what the limits of its own ambitions should be.
By Fyodor Lukyanov*
Translated By Yekaterina Blinova
October 1, 2009
Russia – Gazeta – Original Article (Russian)
Twenty years ago, on October 1, 1989, the People’s Republic of China celebrated its 40th birthday. Student protests in Tiananmen Square and their brutal suppression five months earlier made a heavy impression on the Chinese elite. In addition, these events led to a deterioration of relations between Beijing and Western countries, which were already the largest investors in the Chinese economy.
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