Madhav Nalapat
Chinese characteristics vital in growth
By Madhav Nalapat (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-15 07:54
Until the 17th, rather the 19th, century, China and India led the world both in innovation and commerce, two fields that usually go together. Till the early 1800s, together they contributed more than half of the global production.
But the systematic destruction of their local industries and enterprises by European colonizers reduced China and India to a pitiful condition by the beginning of the 1950s. The two neighbors had become overwhelmingly poor, and lacked the technology and knowledge to move forward.
| ||||
The reunification of Hong Kong with the Chinese mainland in 1997, and the subsequent preservation of its prosperity saw the re-emergence of China as a leading force in international geopolitics. By then, India's economic reforms, which started in 1992, had created a dynamism in its mercantile sector that had been absent since the British colonialists suppressed the local industries in the 1800s.
Colonialism wrought havoc on the globe and its people. In Africa, Asia and South America, large numbers of people paid with their lives. The two world wars saw the European and other colonizers exterminate each other almost as comprehensively as they had destroyed other countries and peoples. An unintended con-sequence of the two wars was the weakening of colonialism and the subsequent liberation of China, India, Indonesia, Egypt and other countries from external rule.
The human and ecological damage caused by European and other colonizers mandates that the group that gains primacy in human society in the future ought to draw a different road map for growth. The world cannot afford a replay of the carnage of the past five centuries.
Just as Europe rose from the depths of the medieval period, so is Asia rising today from the hollows created by the colonizers. Unless the overall situation changes unexpectedly, Asia will continue to displace Europe as the center of global geopolitics, a process in which China will play the leading role, followed by India, Japan, Indonesia and later perhaps Iran.
Unlike the zero-sum consequence of the expansion of Europeans, the emergence of China (and later India) needs to be fashioned on the basis of mutual benefit, so that the rest of the world also enjoys its fruits, instead of shrinking further as was the case in the past.
President Hu Jintao has highlighted the harmonious development of China. This concept needs to be expanded to refer to a similar process throughout the globe. China's and India's interactions with other countries have to be based on the principle of mutual benefit, rather than remaining rooted in zero-sum equations, where one side gains at the expense of the other.
In many ways, China's relations with other countries have yielded mutual benefits. For example, till very recently African nations had no option but to rely on their European and North American counterparts to utilize their resources. As a result, they were paid low prices for their products, while the European and North American countries made huge profits.
With the entry of China (and to a lesser extent, India) into the continent, African countries now have an option, and hence get better prices for their products. China and India both need to ensure that the African nations no longer remain just suppliers of raw materials, but also grow into manufacturing and service hubs.
For more than four centuries, a small segment of the local population in Africa (which was of European origin) controlled practically all the resources and wealth of the continent's countries. Only in the 1960s did the native populations began emerging from centuries of suppression to assume state power.
China and India need to link with these elements and help them on their journey toward equal opportunity. They are likely to get the help of most elements in present-day Europe and North America because people there have given up the zero-sum mentality of their ancestors for mutually beneficial equations.
In most of Europe, people of Asian and African origins live with dignity because of the moderate attitude of the native majority populations. In the US, an extraordinary event took place in 2008, when a largely European-origin pool of voters chose Barack Obama over John McCain to be their president. We need to acknowledge this shift in mindset, and not allow resentments caused by past experiences to influence our decisions toward Europe and North America.
Non-violence (or ahimsa in Sanskrit) is at the core of Indian civilization, just like it is in China's. Just as economic relations need to be crafted on a mutually beneficial basis, so too should political interaction remain peaceful in line with the commitment of China and India to a harmonious world.
Although global uncertainty demands that countries maintain powerful armed forces and develop technology needed to give them the edge. Yet the best (indeed the only) use for such armies should be to advance technological development through innovation and experimentation, provide relief to disaster regions, and create disciplined forces committed to the growth of their countries without harming others.
The Chinese and Indian armed forces are engaged in tasks such as fighting piracy and preventing proliferation of deadly technologies, which benefit the entire world. The two armed forces have played leading roles in providing help to millions of people ravaged by floods, earthquakes and diseases in their respective countries.
China is on its way to becoming the most productive country on the planet as it was for 2,500 of the past 4,000 years. Care needs to be taken to ensure that this steady rise is imbued with "Chinese characteristics", so that the values of mutually beneficial development, social justice and global harmony are followed.
Partnerships rather than conflicts, mingling of peoples instead of segregation, and as equitable a distribution of wealth as possible as opposed to concentration of resources in a few hands are a few principles that need to be adopted by China and other emerging Asian giants to help create a new world order that respects all instead of acting for the benefit of only a few.
The author is UNESCO peace chair and professor of geopolitics in Manipal University, India.
(China Daily 09/15/2009 page9)
