Tuesday 31 March 2009
Beijing speaks out, reflecting new confidence
So it has been refreshing and interesting to hear mainland leaders begin uncharacteristically to speak loudly on the hottest international issue of the time, calling ahead of this week’s Group of 20 meeting in London for a redesign of the global financial system.
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Beijing speaks out, reflecting new confidence
Wang Xiangwei
30 March 2009
For years, mainland leaders pursued the well-worn approach of taoguang yanghui, or hiding its capabilities and biding its time, as far as multilateral global affairs were concerned.
When Jiang Zemin was in power, one of his favourite phrases was a Chinese proverb about staying quiet while one was trying to make big money. In blunt terms, it meant the mainland should refrain from saying too much on international affairs while it concentrated on boosting its economy.
Until recently, Premier Wen Jiabao was fond of saying that the mainland’s biggest contribution to the world was its focus on keeping its own economy humming along nicely. The emphasis was clearly inward-looking.
So it has been refreshing and interesting to hear mainland leaders begin uncharacteristically to speak loudly on the hottest international issue of the time, calling ahead of this week’s Group of 20 meeting in London for a redesign of the global financial system.
Since last Monday, high-ranking mainland finance officials, including the central bank governor, the foreign exchange chief and the finance minister, have taken turns to speak publicly of the need for a new monetary order and reform of the international financial system.
It culminated on Friday when Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, the highest official in charge of financial affairs, clearly set out China’s terms for changes to institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and what it expected to get in return for more contributions to those organisations.
This is significant in several ways. First, the high-profile comments signal new thinking at the top about what China’s role should be in multilateral global affairs, whether diplomatic, economic or cultural. The comments last week reflected the confidence and willingness of mainland leaders to strengthen China’s voice and seek a leading role for the country in global affairs.
Second, given that the mainland’s economy is already the third biggest in the world and the country’s nearly US$2 trillion foreign exchange reserves are the world’s largest, Beijing cannot afford to stay quiet. And there is no better time than now to speak out, with western economies severely weakened and the broader calls for reform louder than ever.
Beijing’s attempts to emerge from behind diplomatic ambiguity and articulate its outward-looking views in clear terms should be welcomed, not least by those people or governments who had previously expressed fears or concerns about China’s peaceful rise.
The mainland’s sudden, new-found outspokenness seems to have caught many people by surprise because some western officials and economists had originally expected mainland leaders to make customary noises and reluctantly agree to put up some funding at the G20 meeting before heading home.
That explains why some of them dismissed the mainland officials’ statements, particularly those by central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, as sabre-rattling or simply an attempt to secure more bargaining chips at the G20 meeting.
In fact, Mr. Zhou’s proposals, including the most contentious one for creating a reserve super-sovereign currency, are deliberate and serious. In the short and medium-term, the proposal might not have any impact on the status of the US dollar but the discussions should begin in earnest for people who believe in China’s inevitable emergence as the world’s dominant economic power.
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