hankyoreh

On the 60th anniversary of the day in 1949 when Mao Zedong announced to the world that the Chinese people had risen, China will once again announce its ambitions to the international community. Covered in a wave of Chinese flags, Tiananmen Square is scheduled to host a military parade with 52 kinds of advanced weapons all said to have been made in China. Chairman Hu Jintao is preparing to pledge to build a fairer and more harmonious society based on China’s economic accomplishments thus far.

We congratulate the Chinese for the accomplishment of rising to the rank of G2 together with the U.S. just 60 years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which followed a painful century of civil war and foreign invasion. Chinese history over the last 60 years has been modern history’s great testing ground. Mao’s permanent revolution, represented by the Cultural Revolution, ultimately ended in failure even though it had stirred up a new inspiration in the socialist movement. Afterwards, Deng Xiaoping took China in the direction of reform and openness, promoting the slogan of “Some must get rich first.” In the 30 years that followed, China became an economic superpower with the world’s third largest economy based on an unprecedented average annual growth rate of 8.6 percent. The U.S. National Intelligence Council predicts the size of the Chinese economy will overtaken Japan’s in 2025 and the U.S.’s in 2050 to become the largest in the world. This is the reason people are already talking about a Pax Sinica.

However, China has many tasks to resolve if it is to become a true G2 power. Most urgent is the task of correcting the social and economic gaps caused by unequal development. The gaps between the coast and interior and rich and poor are so serious it is currently difficult to speak of one nation and one people. Alleviating tension with ethnic minorities is also a serious pending issue. As one can see with the situation with the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, experiences of historical discrimination easily ignites as rage against the Han Chinese and incites issues of serious social insecurity. Another task facing China is the one of extending political freedom.

For China to become a global leader, it must not become just another hegemon. We hope it does not provoke neighboring countries with things like the Northeast Asia project, sublimates its historical experience of being invaded into sympathy with small and weak nations, and leads an international order of peace and coexistence.

In particular, the importance of China to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula is great. As not only our largest trading partner, but also the managing nation of the six-party talks and a party to the Korean War armistice, China cannot help but play a major role in the North Korean nuclear issue and Korean reunification issue. We look to China playing a positive role as a responsible party for peace in East Asia and the Korean Peninsula.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]