The Ssu-ma Perspective: The Non-Dominating Superpower

A quietly-released joint statement was made by both American and Chinese presidents in the flat and dull media: no breakthroughs and no new projects are being planned. All in all, Hu Jintao got the reception what the head of a strong nation deserves, which eliminated some worries both U.S. and China had and stabilized bilateral relations. Everything “played as was described in the script” and was without surprise, and the results also met expectations from both sides. This visit could be considered a success for Beijing.

Hu Delivered Goodwill for the U.S. Visit

Despite the backslide of China-U.S. relations, China basically achieved nothing in foreign affairs last year. Yet the real serious issue was the rise of production costs in China in 2010, which stirred up strikes, forcing Beijing to speed up the transformation on its economic structure. This led to the rocketing price of housing and everyday commodities. Municipal governments demolished local villages to acquire farming land and houses in response to the financial pressure, and eventually irritated the people. In the Fifth Plenum of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, China decided to put aside their ambition of a “peaceful rise” and try its best to stabilize the internal society. Externally, China also decided to be low-keyed and develop the relations with the United States through economic issues.

About a month ago, Dai Bingguo, a State Councilor who is in charge of the foreign affairs, publicly said that “the talks saying that China is to replace the U.S. to be the next superpower is just a fairy tale,” and that “China won’t be the leader, won’t be the superpower and won’t strive for being a superpower.” Efforts are being made to create a friendly atmosphere in light of Hu’s coming visit.

Lee Kuan Yew’s New Book Became a Wet Blanket

Coincidentally, Lee Kuan Yew made a comment on China in his new book “Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going.” He thinks that “China is not necessarily the soft superpower,” and that “if China is not preparing to dominate the world, why do they even bother telling the world they are not intended to do so? China tells every nation that they are not the one who dominates. And whenever other countries do something unappealing to them, they tell you that you upset 1.3 billion people. What happens when they upset us? You know it’s merely some million people. You should know where your positions are. China won’t invade other countries by force. They are such a huge market, and they only need to suppress us.” It requires some courage for Lee Kuan Yew to be so frank.

In fact, it’s not all fairy tales to promote human rights in China if we manage to foster a political platform. And what recently happened in Tunisia just proved that as long as the people within the county are aware of their own rights, the time for changes should arrive.