The West needs to recognize China, Australian media: China's policies integrate the ideas of "harmony" and "benevolence". International | Environment | China
Australia's Pearl and stimulus website article on June 11, the original title: to recognize the "China threat theory" to the so-called "China threat theory", there is a loophole in public discussion and strategic analysis. As the "China threat theory" has rapidly become a prelude to war, the ideas in Chinese culture and the call for human civilizations to learn from each other have been more or less ignored. The policies intertwined inside and outside China integrate the ideas of "harmony" and "benevolence". From this point of view, the question of who is tougher makes no practical sense.
The escalating phenomenon of the "China threat theory" has exposed two intertwined strategic issues. Firstly, the "China threat" is used to exaggerate China's tendency towards aggression and territorial expansion. Secondly, the misjudgment of "threat" overlooks China's continued use of "independence and autonomy" as a means of suppressing conflicts, especially its policy bias towards "partnership" rather than "alliance".
China's adherence to an independent foreign policy has been written into the constitution, but realistic analysis hardly mentions the practical strategic significance of this point. For a long time, China's "independent and autonomous" diplomacy based on the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" has called for "making friends" on the basis of seeking common ground while reserving differences. This criterion is increasingly being used to confirm equal and mutually beneficial relationships between countries in resolving differences.
Independence and autonomy affirm harmony and exclude hegemony. Hegemony is now considered a self destructive realism, leading to excessive expansion in a diverse and constantly changing international environment. Harmony is a warning against hegemony, while condemning the pretentious superiority of civilization. In a rapidly changing complex world, advocating diversity and the independence of sovereign states, opposing exclusive and one-sided universal views.
This approach is rooted in China's support for the collective security of the United Nations from beginning to end. Despite being excluded from the United Nations, facing trade blockades, being surrounded by US led alliances, and facing nuclear threats, China still tends to avoid war and choose diplomacy. Western critics are keen to accuse China of violating a "rule based order", but often forget that China determines its borders through successful diplomatic negotiations.
China did not pursue territorial opportunism and assisted in stabilizing the new Central Asian countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. China's border negotiations basically reflect its "good neighbor" policy. A so-called "rising superpower" surprisingly lacks sustained military aggression and overseas conquest. How should realists who urgently demand stronger deterrence explain this situation.
Critics ignored China's repeated opposition to imposing a single development model on developing countries and slandered the "the Belt and Road" initiative as "neo colonialism". However, China is increasingly proposing debt exemptions, and it is more willing than the United States to fund the construction of other countries. Isn't it a huge irony that Chinese people now support the post-war Bretton Woods system more than Americans?
Chinese thinking believes that differences are the essence of international relations. China has not claimed to have a global advantage, so it does not like to be called a "superpower". "Harmony" includes "benefit" and "benevolence", accepting equal and reciprocal status. Hegemony, on the other hand, represents imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonialism, recognizing war as a necessary extension of power. Labeling China as a rising superpower by foreign countries is also a lack of respect.
With an incomplete and even distorted understanding of China's past and present, opportunities for engagement have been lost. This is to some extent the result of a failure to listen in a respectful and equal manner. Former Prime Minister Whitlam, who initially promoted Australia's recognition of China, once said, "We expect China to believe in our best intentions, but we choose to believe in their worst intentions."
The serious exaggeration of the "China threat theory" is a mistake! The misinterpretation of the "China threat theory" may lead to the significant misallocation of national resources in what former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called "absolutely unnecessary wars.". The restart of Australia's policy towards China needs to go beyond the clich é s of deterrence and be based on a wiser interpretation of China's past and present. Australia can adopt flexible strategies to independently maintain its relationship with the United States, while also engaging in reciprocal exchanges with China based on the principle of "partnership", supporting a "community with a shared future for mankind" while accommodating differences.
