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Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-31 07:54 China should choose its own path The first China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue illustrates the close connection between China and the United States. The US needs China's help to overcome this financial crisis, and China also wants the world to remain peaceful and stable, which is necessary for her development. "Rowing in the same boat"is no longer diplomatic language, but a living reality. Looking back in history, when China began making progress by leaps and bounds since its reform and opening up, the US didn't know what to make of it. Its attitude kept changing from time to time, from "the China Collapse" and "the China Threat" to "the China Opportunity" and "the China Responsibility". New conceptions such as "Cooperation and Solidarity" and "Sino-US Co-governance" have appeared recently. In 2007, a Harvard professor even coined a new word "Chimerica" in the belief that a new period of China-US symbiosis was coming. Is it really so? Far from it, we know who we are and what we should do. China should remain fully committed to its own path of peaceful development and never seek hegemony. We should always bear in mind that "development is the fundamental principle". When China gets more involved in world affairs because of its increasingly important role, we are duty-bound to shoulder more responsibilities. But when we do this also, we should stick to our own standards of behavior and not follow in the footsteps of the Western countries at every stage. China's responsibilities should not be left to the judgment of the Western world alone. We should make our own judgments and do our best to contribute to the development of the world. Zhang Xiaodong via e-mail Failure of efforts to curb smoking Your report on July 29 stating that more children in Beijing are becoming addicted to cigarettes is tragic but hardly surprising. Men, women and children all over China are increasingly being poisoned by the lethal habit. It is government policy to promote the manufacture, sale and distribution of cigarettes. A law on cigarettes was passed in 1991 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) at a time when the legislature was not in its annual plenary session. An implementation rule came in 1997. This was convenient for the tobacco lobby and deprived a majority of NPC deputies of an opportunity to voice their opposition. The law empowers the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), also known as China National Tobacco Corporation, as being "responsible for formulating development strategies for the tobacco industry, conducting industrial restructuring, organizing tobacco production, operation, storage and transportation, carrying out technological innovation and key research programs, guiding cultural and ideological progress in the tobacco industry". In accordance with this directive, the STMA has diligently created a vast network of cigarette factories at the national and provincial levels, increased distribution and sales network in China, and struck "sweetheart deals" with foreign manufacturers to produce or sell cigarettes in each other's country. Millions of cigarettes flooding the streets of China daily are readily available to anyone. The number of smokers has zoomed. The young and old are suffering the consequences of debility, disease and lethal inhalation of nicotine, tar and other chemicals in cigarettes. Various restrictions, such as not smoking in public and in restaurants, have of course proved futile. In the present circumstances to keep pushing measures already proven ineffective is not only silly but indeed borders on deliberate chicanery. Hasn't the time come to heighten our vigilance against official hypocrisy? Sha Boli (Philip Shapiro), member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference via e-mail (China Daily 07/31/2009 page8) |
