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As an aggressive China unleashes surging nationalism and national pride, a timid India fumbles along. Not surprisingly, the world is talking about China.
As China begins to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, it seems to be fine-tuning its nationalism as a weapon against the West which is applying increasing pressure on Beijing to open up not just its economy but also its politics. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has just been on a tour of Europe at a time when the European economy is in shock. He has extended help to troubled eurozone countries like Hungary, Greece and Ireland by offering to buy euro bonds worth billions of dollars from Chinas huge foreign exchange reserves of more than a trillion dollars.
This is part of the nationalist fervour that the Communist Party of China has been promoting on the eve of its 90th anniversary. With China emerging as the second largest economy (by GDP count) in the world (its per capita income of $3,000 still remains far below that of developed countries which is pegged at $30,000) and sitting pretty on a pile of dollars through trade surpluses, it is going back to its communist past to bolster its nationalism and flex its economic muscles.
While articles have appeared in various online media in China accusing Chairman Mao Tse-tung of causing the deaths of some 50 million people most analysts abroad have estimated the toll to be 30 million the Chinese Communist Party has revived the idea of communist solidarity to counter the clamour of Chinese liberals. The anti-Mao articles in online media have been removed. Strangely, a recently risen 61-year-old communist leader, Mr Bo Xilai, says the Wall Street Journal is the new messiah of communists. His campaign with its own theme song has impressed Beijings top echelons and emerged as a celebratory icon for the party anniversary.
As many as 90 Ministers and middle-level CPC leaders recently sang the theme song collectively: Without the Communist Party, there would be no New China This is said to be a move to counter the nascent demand of the fringe liberals that the actual contribution of the Communist Party to Chinas eminence should be re-assessed.
For us in India, the upsurge of Chinese nationalism, seen in the revival of the Mao cult, Chinas foray into Europe (and earlier Africa), the launch of the first Chinese-built aircraft carrier, the reworking of the Chinese national base at Hanan island and attempts at gaining padding facilities for the Chinese Navy in Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, is ominous.
The Chinese are simultaneously strengthening their offensive capability in the Tibetan plateau, extending rail heads to the border with India. The recent revelations through satellite images of China building a series of dams on the Brahmaputra, which originates in south-western Tibet as the Yarlung Tsangpo and flows through southern Tibet before it enters Indias North-East, all fall in one category. That is, China is seeking to create a ring around India of bases to establish logistical advantage that should serve as a warning to us without the Chinese having to move their forces closer to our border.
This was evident when Chinese Army engineers objected to the construction of a road on Indian territory near the Line of Actual Control last year, but our Government underplayed the threat and dismissed it as a minor event. Satellite images of dams being built along the Brahmaputras course through Tibet to divert the water of the river have fetched a muted response from the Government of India. New Delhi seems to have meekly accepted Beijings explanation that there would be no diversion of water on account of the dams despite the satellite images indicating to the contrary.
The UPA regimes response to Chinas moves has been pusillanimous from the beginning. It shows that this Government refuses to accept what most analysts see in those moves: Concealed aggression to contain India. Instead of responding adequately, New Delhi is happy with small concessions for instance, Beijings decision to stop the offensive practice of issuing stapled visas to residents of Jammu & Kashmir visiting China.
At a more substantive level, China has done little to promote relations with India. For instance, Beijing has so far not given any indication of support to Indias push for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Beijing, analysts say, is more interested in dividing the spheres of influence between China and the US in a world where global leadership will be shared between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the CPC is busy promoting Confucius as the giver of Chinese political values, as opposed to Western democratic values, as part of its efforts to revive aggressive and assertive nationalism. By fanning nationalism, the CPC hopes to enthuse young Chinese and prevent them from embracing Western ideals like respect for human rights. It also believes this will help generate pride in Chinas achievements.
In the last two years China has achieved many things to fuel nationalist pride. Its foreign exchange reserves have crossed $2 trillion (Indias foreign exchange reserves are a mere $300 billion in comparison); its investment in infrastructure has become the worlds envy; it has witnessed a huge surge in higher education with the number of students in colleges rising from less than 200,000 in 1949 to over 20 million now; its population growth has stabilised after reaching 1.3 billion; its life expectancy is as high as 73.4 years. With Chinas share of the global GDP rising to 15.7 per cent and set to challenge the USs share of 26.4 per cent, it is understandable why Beijing is aiming for global leadership.
The Chinese can seek nationalist pride in the fact that their companies are winning contract after contract for building power systems in India. The Chinese Government-owned telecom equipment companies Huawei and ZTE are competing for the Indian market with global players like Ericsson and Alcatel while the Government of India owned telecom equipment manufacturing company, ITI, has gone to seed.
Ironically, even as China prepares to ride the crest of a nationalist wave, any talk of reviving nationalism and national pride in India is met with howls of protest from the Congress and secularists, as also the Left-liberals strangely, they equate nationalism with communalism. The consequences are obvious. Around the world people are talking about the rise and rise of China. When it comes to India, it is seen as a country that at best offers a possible market.
The Pioneer :: Home : >> Rise and rise of China
As China begins to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, it seems to be fine-tuning its nationalism as a weapon against the West which is applying increasing pressure on Beijing to open up not just its economy but also its politics. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has just been on a tour of Europe at a time when the European economy is in shock. He has extended help to troubled eurozone countries like Hungary, Greece and Ireland by offering to buy euro bonds worth billions of dollars from Chinas huge foreign exchange reserves of more than a trillion dollars.
This is part of the nationalist fervour that the Communist Party of China has been promoting on the eve of its 90th anniversary. With China emerging as the second largest economy (by GDP count) in the world (its per capita income of $3,000 still remains far below that of developed countries which is pegged at $30,000) and sitting pretty on a pile of dollars through trade surpluses, it is going back to its communist past to bolster its nationalism and flex its economic muscles.
While articles have appeared in various online media in China accusing Chairman Mao Tse-tung of causing the deaths of some 50 million people most analysts abroad have estimated the toll to be 30 million the Chinese Communist Party has revived the idea of communist solidarity to counter the clamour of Chinese liberals. The anti-Mao articles in online media have been removed. Strangely, a recently risen 61-year-old communist leader, Mr Bo Xilai, says the Wall Street Journal is the new messiah of communists. His campaign with its own theme song has impressed Beijings top echelons and emerged as a celebratory icon for the party anniversary.
As many as 90 Ministers and middle-level CPC leaders recently sang the theme song collectively: Without the Communist Party, there would be no New China This is said to be a move to counter the nascent demand of the fringe liberals that the actual contribution of the Communist Party to Chinas eminence should be re-assessed.
For us in India, the upsurge of Chinese nationalism, seen in the revival of the Mao cult, Chinas foray into Europe (and earlier Africa), the launch of the first Chinese-built aircraft carrier, the reworking of the Chinese national base at Hanan island and attempts at gaining padding facilities for the Chinese Navy in Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, is ominous.
The Chinese are simultaneously strengthening their offensive capability in the Tibetan plateau, extending rail heads to the border with India. The recent revelations through satellite images of China building a series of dams on the Brahmaputra, which originates in south-western Tibet as the Yarlung Tsangpo and flows through southern Tibet before it enters Indias North-East, all fall in one category. That is, China is seeking to create a ring around India of bases to establish logistical advantage that should serve as a warning to us without the Chinese having to move their forces closer to our border.
This was evident when Chinese Army engineers objected to the construction of a road on Indian territory near the Line of Actual Control last year, but our Government underplayed the threat and dismissed it as a minor event. Satellite images of dams being built along the Brahmaputras course through Tibet to divert the water of the river have fetched a muted response from the Government of India. New Delhi seems to have meekly accepted Beijings explanation that there would be no diversion of water on account of the dams despite the satellite images indicating to the contrary.
The UPA regimes response to Chinas moves has been pusillanimous from the beginning. It shows that this Government refuses to accept what most analysts see in those moves: Concealed aggression to contain India. Instead of responding adequately, New Delhi is happy with small concessions for instance, Beijings decision to stop the offensive practice of issuing stapled visas to residents of Jammu & Kashmir visiting China.
At a more substantive level, China has done little to promote relations with India. For instance, Beijing has so far not given any indication of support to Indias push for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Beijing, analysts say, is more interested in dividing the spheres of influence between China and the US in a world where global leadership will be shared between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the CPC is busy promoting Confucius as the giver of Chinese political values, as opposed to Western democratic values, as part of its efforts to revive aggressive and assertive nationalism. By fanning nationalism, the CPC hopes to enthuse young Chinese and prevent them from embracing Western ideals like respect for human rights. It also believes this will help generate pride in Chinas achievements.
In the last two years China has achieved many things to fuel nationalist pride. Its foreign exchange reserves have crossed $2 trillion (Indias foreign exchange reserves are a mere $300 billion in comparison); its investment in infrastructure has become the worlds envy; it has witnessed a huge surge in higher education with the number of students in colleges rising from less than 200,000 in 1949 to over 20 million now; its population growth has stabilised after reaching 1.3 billion; its life expectancy is as high as 73.4 years. With Chinas share of the global GDP rising to 15.7 per cent and set to challenge the USs share of 26.4 per cent, it is understandable why Beijing is aiming for global leadership.
The Chinese can seek nationalist pride in the fact that their companies are winning contract after contract for building power systems in India. The Chinese Government-owned telecom equipment companies Huawei and ZTE are competing for the Indian market with global players like Ericsson and Alcatel while the Government of India owned telecom equipment manufacturing company, ITI, has gone to seed.
Ironically, even as China prepares to ride the crest of a nationalist wave, any talk of reviving nationalism and national pride in India is met with howls of protest from the Congress and secularists, as also the Left-liberals strangely, they equate nationalism with communalism. The consequences are obvious. Around the world people are talking about the rise and rise of China. When it comes to India, it is seen as a country that at best offers a possible market.
The Pioneer :: Home : >> Rise and rise of China
