“The west used to look down on China, now they have to look at China from an equal level. They might find it hard to adjust,” he said.
“China can be flexible as long as the core interests are not undermined,” he said. “The Olympics were just like a university entrance test. Now that China has passed, it’s time to move on to a new phase.”
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Olympics Marked Mainland’s Entrance Exam into the League of Great Powers
Kristine Kwok
30 December 2008
The glory of the Beijing Olympics was supposed to take global centre stage in 2008. Despite calls for boycotts over various issues, China declared a diplomatic victory by having 86 world leaders attend the opening ceremony and athletes from 204 countries participating in the Games.
But it was the sudden deepening of the global financial crisis that underscored the country’s growing role in international affairs.
Commentators said this year saw China becoming more integrated with world affairs and more proactive in resolving thorny issues. The talk about the “rise of China” stopped being a platitude, even though critics doubted Beijing was ready, or willing, to take on the role of a world leader.
China might also be remembered this year for a string of incidents that attracted international criticism - from its handling of the Tibetan riots to its crackdown on human rights activists, to product safety scandals.
The lay-low approach set out by late leader Deng Xiaoping is still the guiding principle for foreign policy. But the attention China received at the November G20 summit in Washington and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation conference spoke volumes about a shift, albeit gradual, of pro-activism in integration with the world thanks to the nation’s growing economic clout.
With all eyes on China at the two summits that month, President Hu Jintao pledged to work to stabilise the world economy and reform financial rules, a departure from previous efforts to avoid commenting on international issues.
“Since the Olympics and with the financial crisis, China has been compelled to co-operate with other countries in order to solve problems,” Hong Kong Baptist University political scientist Jean-Pierre Cabestan said.
“China is playing the multilateral card more often than before.”
The financial crisis has not only changed the economic balance around the world but is expected to reshape relations between emerging economies, especially China and the west. At the G20 summit, leaders agreed to give China and other emerging nations more of a voice in the International Monetary Fund. Amid calls from western leaders to replenish IMF coffers, Beijing requested more power in its decision-making process. Commentators said China was basking in the kudos of being a key player in efforts to rescue the global economy and having pulled off a massive economic transformation over the past 30 years. But there were many concerns about whether China was ready to be a world leader.
Cheng Siwei, a former deputy chief of the National People’s Congress, said China “does not have the ability to be the world leader” because its per capita GDP still lagged.
Jin Canrong, an international relations professor at Renmin University, said China was still not ready to be an international leader.
“It will take at least 20 years for China to become a major world power,” he said. “China still lacks everything. The quality of its economy is not sound enough. Its social system is not advanced enough.”
China was the world’s fourth biggest economy in 2007, behind the United States, Japan and Germany and was widely expected to overtake Germany in 2008. But its per capita GDP ranked it just 106th in 2007. Fears of a slowing economy prompt concern over growing social tensions due to surging unemployment.
Professor Jin said because China recently adopted a proactive approach in flexing its diplomatic muscle, it scored some results on thorny issues, such as lobbying the international community to oppose Taiwan’s pro-independence attempts.
China also showed more flexibility in handling territorial issues with Japan and Russia. It signed an agreement with Japan in June to jointly develop gas fields in the disputed East China Sea and an agreement with Russia in July to end a long-running border dispute.
But the question was not only whether China was ready for a bigger role, Professor Jin said.
“The west used to look down on China, now they have to look at China from an equal level. They might find it hard to adjust,” he said.
Another issue is human rights.
In the run-up to the Olympic Games, China faced criticism for its poor human rights record and its crackdown on Tibetan protesters in March. The jailing of prominent activist Hu Jia and the arrest of civil rights advocate Liu Xiaobo drew concern from abroad.
The Tibetan issue not only almost derailed the global torch relay but also spurred calls for world leaders to boycott the Games. French President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to boycott the event but showed up at the opening ceremony in the end. Mr. Sarkozy’s remarks and the attacks on Chinese torch-bearers in Paris soured Sino-French ties and prompted protests.
Despite China’s opposition, Mr. Sarkozy also met the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, this month.
The Tibet and Taiwan issues remained central, Professor Jin said.
“China can be flexible as long as the core interests are not undermined,” he said. “The Olympics were just like a university entrance test. Now that China has passed, it’s time to move on to a new phase.”
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