China's 'peaceful rise' is no certainty

With more than US$3 trillion in reserves, China has been looked to as the saviour of Europe. For its part, the US is eager to address its annual US$300-billion trade deficit with China, and under pressure from domestic constituencies, Obama surely raised the question of intellectual property rights and industrial subsidies with Xi.

Another long-standing complaint of the US regarding China’s trade policies is its artificially depressed currency, which the US claims contributes to the huge trade deficits between the two sides.

“We’ve tried to emphasise that because of China’s extraordinary development over the last two decades, that with expanding power and prosperity also comes increased responsibilities ... We want to work with China to make sure everyone is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system,” Obama said, as he welcomed Xi.

From the standpoint of national interest, the US should not ignore several other crucial issues that are beneath the surface of pure economics. Obama raised the issue of human rights with Xi, although no further information was given on how he approached the issue or whether any concrete promises were obtained during the closed-door meeting. On the same day, the Washington Post announced that China denied a visa for the US Ambassador on Religion, Suzanne Cook, probably due to fears that she was going to embarrass Beijing at the sensitive time of Xi’s visit. Also, prominent democracy activist Zhu Yufu was sentenced to seven years in prison for writing a poem that was deemed anti-government.

In fact, it is these very actions that should embarrass the Chinese leadership. With rising tensions in Tibet, China has tended to repress those voices of discontent and pretend there is nothing wrong on the outside, often chiding others for “interference in domestic affairs”. Problems with religious freedom and democratic rights are long-standing grievances against the communist regime. Some China-watchers have pointed to the anticorruption protests in Wukan as a beacon of hope that, 20 years after Tiananmen Square, the CPC has learned to respond differently to local grievances. But recent reports leaked from Tibet indicate that the rosy picture in the Guangdong village is the exception rather than the norm.

All of this is not to say that Obama or any other US president has the ability to change China, or that any single individual, including the future leader of China, can. Premier Wen Jiabao has made headlines for his pro-reformist comments regarding democratic development in China, and even expressed sympathy toward the Arab Spring. It is apparent, though, that reactionary forces led to China’s veto of the UN security council resolution on Syria. These forces still hold sway.

On the Chinese official government website, the article reporting on Xi’s meeting with Obama included one sentence of interest to Taiwan. It said: “President Obama reaffirmed the US commitment to the Three Joint Communiques and stated that the US remains unwavering in its opposition to ‘Taiwan independence’.” While it is standard fare for Chinese media to insert these sentences in their reports on high-profile visits, international media have not mentioned Taiwan in their reports. In other words, press freedom in China is exposed to be brutally suppressed because of the obsession with covering up truths that are inconvenient for the party. Vice President Joe Biden’s scolding of China for its trade-distorting policies were also ignored.

With attention focused on the meeting between the world’s two biggest economies and their discussion on economic cooperation, it is necessary to step back and take a good hard look at China and realise that its “peaceful rise,” if it were indeed to fortuitously arise, should not be taken for granted. In fact, the continued concern of officials from powerful countries is necessary in order to let it be known that even with the immense economic strength that China has acquired through the past three decades, the free world still remains committed to principles of democracy and liberty.