OK, we get it: It's China's century (really, we get it)

China, will do well to remember the lessons which Britain, France and germany learnt last century. When engaging in its new form of neo-colonialism in Africa, China will have to remember that the deeper it engages itself in exploiting the resources of Africa, when things go wrong there and China has to protect economic interests which it has, presumably by sending in its troops, it will be in for a whole new world of pain.

China has ratified the Kyoto protocol, but, like India, has not committed itself to reducing carbon emmissions.

Egyptian Pharaonic civilization lasted for around 3,000 years, making it (arguably) the most durable feudal system in history.

And so on.

I could quote all of that article but I won't. Just the typical racially-based Nazi-esque bile. Ignorant and painfully brain-washed country.

The cover is enough for me,

"Here's how to DEAL with it."

Ridiculous. Forget cooperation or learning or any of that overrated stuff.

"The cheerfulness and contentment typifying a Chinese under such Spartan conditions are unthinkable for some Westerners who may not conceive of any man being happy unless he is living in an air-conditioned townhouse and owns two cars. Even if those Westerners in question are vaguely conscious that their way of life and conception of happiness is depleting the ozone layer and sowing seeds of discord and hatred in all oil-rich regions, this is usually a passing fancy."

My god.

Scaryily hilarious article. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the ignorance and pomposity.

Oh, this is too much.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/shdaily_opinion.asp?id=302530&type=Opinion

Chinese civilization can help cure Western ills

By Wan Lixin 2007-1-12

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The Chinese civilization, with its emphasis on harmony, has a message for the restless world today, according to Wu Jianmin, president of the Foreign Affairs University, in an article in Wenhui Daily.

"The Chinese civilization has all along asserted that 'peace is invaluable,' and has placed a high premium on harmony. This outlook helps achieve common ground in spite of differences, rather than life-and-death strife," Wu wrote in an article published on January 4.

While harmony comes instinctively to a typical Chinese, a Westerner may wonder where this notion originates.

This life of harmony is largely due to the fact that Chinese have a "rural mode of life" as their ideal, as observed by Lin Yutang (1895 - 1976), one of the pioneers in making Chinese culture known in the West.

Rural life is essentially a life of nature, with its emphasis on simplicity, frugality, and its natural distrust of mechanical ingenuity. Even families of prosperity always counsel their younger generations against the dangers of seeking comforts and luxuries.

The philosophy of harmony, first achieved in relation to nature, is naturally extended to other aspects of life - social, economical, political, and diplomatic.

Herein lies the vigor and resilience of the Chinese nation, founded undoubtedly on strong faith in the family bond and acceptance of life in all its tragic aspects and limitations.

The cheerfulness and contentment typifying a Chinese under such Spartan conditions are unthinkable for some Westerners who may not conceive of any man being happy unless he is living in an air-conditioned townhouse and owns two cars. Even if those Westerners in question are vaguely conscious that their way of life and conception of happiness is depleting the ozone layer and sowing seeds of discord and hatred in all oil-rich regions, this is usually a passing fancy.

Those who consider the traditional Chinese lifestyle primitive and uncouth are monstrously ignorant.

As Wu pointed out, China's feudal system was the longest in the world lasting more than 2,000 years.

During this time there have been periodic dynastic changes, but the dominant culture remains much unchanged.

This suggests the Chinese civilization as it was did not lack vigor in maintaining a cycle of internal regeneration so important for social health.

Nor did it lack cultural sophistication. The whole Chinese outlook is informed by Taoistic cynicism and the Confucian emphasis on harmony as the ideal of life.

Over-correction

A culture like this cannot be simply dismissed as decadent, or moribund.

"During the 57 years from the May 4th Movement (1919) to the 'cultural revolution' (1966-1976), we Chinese had been mainly critical of our own culture," wrote Wu, who is also China's former ambassador to France.

He further pointed out that such critiques, while necessary given the exigencies of the times, were guilty of overcorrection, as are natural for revolutions.

For Westerners, a little background explanation for this will not be redundant.

Since Western powers forced open China's door by gunpowder (invented originally by Chinese for a wholly different purpose), opium, and exotic industrial products, there followed decades of humiliations for Chinese.

Battered by the times, the patriotic youths, desperately discontented with the doctrines of Confucius and the classics, began to revolt.

This was followed by increased idealistic worship of the West, and the negation of Chinese culture that culminated in the May 4th Movement.

Maybe nothing short of wholesale negation can do the work after all.

There were frequent speculations as to why China lagged behind after experiencing considerable headway in what was believed to be scientific advancement.

Most of the speculations were probably irrelevant, for Chinese civilization at its best essentially disdains and discourages technological developments.

Consciousness of China's so-called backwardness was forced upon the minds of revolutionaries primarily by Western political and material interference, imposed by menacing gunboats.

Trying to understand a foreign nation with a foreign culture, especially one so different from one's own , is never easy, although there are encouraging signs.

Wu points out that global interest in Chinese culture has never been as great as now, as attested by the fact that 30 million people outside China are learning Mandarin.

This paves the way for the propagation of Chinese culture. As pointed out earlier, in this world of alarming environmental deterioration (2006 was reported the hottest on record), it would not be out of place to conduct studies of why China has a civilization extending for so long, while the contemporary materialistic civilization is already threatening our survival.

Especially when the world's biggest polluters are stubbornly refusing to sign a highly symbolic treaty on reductions of greenhouse gases such as the Kyoto Protocol.

A liberal dose of Chinese outlook would cure Westerners of their towering ambitions, their worship of efficiency, their belligerence, and their fervor for enlarging their arsenals capable of destroying the earth many times over.

Hopefully, Chinese culture would reveal the antidote to these suicidal urges.

It would be uncomfortable, though.

Certainly, China should also ask itself whether it has deviated from its traditional civilization, and if so, how far.

For many young Chinese, understanding the value of Chinese civilization will probably revive their confidence in something other than material pleasures.

For many local Chinese officials still crazy about attracting investment at all costs - damaging the environment for example - it is high time for them to repent and make amendments.

"So the only 'threat' they are is if the west does not help them integrate into free market and into western markets - if we do not, then China may have huge problems which will cause the west huge problems."

China wants to integrate but completely on its terms (being the center of the universe and all).

China is a threat because the central government is desperate to stay in power and does everything it can to convince its people that the foriegn powers are the enemy and look down on China, so China must fight back and regain its proper place in the world.

Bad, Bad China.

Found it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1984960,00.html

Read something interesting in a good print newspaper recently about how China is not a 'threat' at all - the way they import food, rely on peasant savings, rely on exportation of cheap goods, have no idea of free market, means they are more leninist than anything even near capitalism - be it with 'Chinese characteristics' or not.

Their corruption alone takes away over 10% of total GDP - according to Hu Angang, a respected Chinese economist.

So the only 'threat' they are is if the west does not help them integrate into free market and into western markets - if we do not, then China may have huge problems which will cause the west huge problems.

Time seems to be celebrating China's economic enslavement of ASEAN and Africa. Is Time or its parent publishers trying to get a publishing license with this unabashed kowtowing?