World should appreciate 'prosperous, proud China,' says Swiss daily commentary

GENEVA -- The world should view China objectively and show appreciation for its prosperity, according to a guest commentary in Switzerland's leading German-language daily.

Instead of joining the Western campaign bashing China, "one would do well to seize the historic opportunity of a more stable world order with China's significant participation," author Urs Schoettli wrote in the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ).

"Appreciation for a prosperous and proud China does not stem solely from altruism," Schoettli said in the article titled "China's belated quest for place in the sun" published earlier last month, adding that looking at China's long history is key when dealing with the country.

"It would help to say goodbye to the Eurocentric way of dealing with history. This also includes an acknowledgment that the world in the 21st century is not only politically and economically multipolar but also culturally multipolar," said the article.

The fact that the Western-style globalization that followed the end of the Cold War is fading also has to do with the lack of historical awareness among its main actors, Schoettli wrote in the commentary.

"Washington and Brussels, London and Berlin overlooked the fact that the dawn of the Asian century not only ushered in a new distribution of weight in the world economy, from which the West was also able to benefit greatly thanks to globalization," he said.

The NZZ, a German-language daily newspaper founded in 1780, is the oldest newspaper in Switzerland.