China should update foreign policy guidelines
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US arms sales to Taiwan and the Obama-Dalai Lama meeting have turned China tough on America. The West, in turn, labels China as "arrogant" and "self-important." Under such circumstances, a lot of Chinese people believe China still needs to keep a low profile and work for further development, echoing the country's foreign policy guidelines set by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s.
However, times have changed and global power is shifting. The guidelines that China has been sticking to may not be suitable any more. Its foreign policy should be updated to suit the dawning of the new world order.
America is still troubled by the financial crisis. Its public debt has reached a staggering US$12 trillion. Its unemployment rate has lingered around 9 percent for several months. The Federal Reserve set the US economic growth forecast at 3 percent for 2010.
China, on the contrary, has managed to recover from the global financial crisis. With economic growth reaching 8.7 percent in 2009, its economy is expected to expand by around 10 percent in 2010. What's more, China is America's biggest debt holder, with more than US$800 billion, accounting for 7 percent of total US public debt.
In this case, America has expressed its intention of cooperating with China to fight the tough economic times. Meanwhile, the West exaggerates the fall of America and the rise of China.
Consequently, these have given the wrong impression to the Chinese public. Some people are very excited to see that China has become a superpower. They believe America should be grateful to China for helping it tackle its financial hardship. To this group of thinkers, the arms sale to Taiwan and the Obama-Dalai Lama meeting are far from gratitude.
The Chinese public is obviously oversimplifying the international matter. It is undeniable that China is becoming increasingly powerful. But China is far from such a position that makes America kowtow to it. The power shift in the international community is determined by various factors, such as history, military power, technology and culture. It usually takes a very long time to obtain power.
Misled as it might be, Chinese public opinion—especially from millions of Internet users—puts enormous pressure on foreign policy makers. China's foreign policy is no longer a matter for elite diplomats, but for the general public.
Therefore, China should update its foreign policy guidelines. To keep a low profile is not productive any more. As for the US arms sale to Taiwan, China should analyze this matter thoroughly and think of how it can use its increasing international influence to change it. The country should work out a long-term strategy that enables America to see China's objections are not meaningless routines.
For example, upon arms sales, China could decisively freeze Sino-US military cooperative projects for a time long enough to send a strong message to America. If China wants to compromise, it should try to achieve an unwritten protocol with America, such as to the nature, frequency and sum of arms sales. If possible, China should talk America into making unilateral and conditional promises based on the US-China Joint Communiqué on Arms Sales to Taiwan, signed August 17, 1982.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/node_7075401.htm
(This article was translated by Pang Li.)
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