What to do after becoming a big power?

The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the aspiration of generations of all the Chinese people and overseas Chinese. However, in the process of the rejuvenation of a country or a nation, what comes along is by no means merely longing and enthusiasm, but rather it is the need to face and solve many major internal and external difficulties and problems.

Recently, scholars and experts made many expositions on the connotations and conditions regarding "China's rise". They reckoned, a county becoming a so-called "big power" seems to be only a matter of comparison with other countries and nations, but in essence, it is still a domestic matter, change or progress happens within the country. This writer, Chu Shulong, head of the Institute for International Strategy of Tsinghua University, raised this question: What is to be done after becoming a big power? China's development does not end even after it has developed, it is all the more a question concerning what's the aim of its development and what to do after its development. This is just like the question of what to do after having money, and money itself is not the objective. When we see and feel the glory of advancing toward a big power, we should notice and realize that after we have developed ourselves, we are bound to shoulder more international responsibilities and obligations, which are the inevitable accompany things of China's moving toward a big power.

Actually, we have now come up against the problem of responsibility, obligation and price to be paid for development before we have become developed. As it just began its take-off, China's economy was taken as challenge, competition and even "threat" to economy and security by many other countries and people. In our effort to convince others that China is not a "threat", we should not remain at merely talking about this matter, but instead we should do more work, pay some price and sustain some loss. For example, even if we have had a certain amount of military capability, we can hardly use this capacity to solve disputes over territory and territorial waters with other countries; we should provide more aid to other countries and regions, particularly those less developed than China, for their development; we are going to establish "free trade areas" with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and regions, open our market, expand export and even take the initiative to give assistance to some of them on preferential terms, so that they can have a share of the benefit from China's rise. These are not merely a matter of wish and writing, but instead require actual deeds.

To be a big power is not only a question of international status and reputation, but also an issue of international responsibility and obligation. A "big power" implies that we are required to pay more United Nations (UN) membership fees, have a bigger share of expenditures on keeping peace and other financial contributions. International status requires us to participate more in the endeavor to maintain world peace and security, including material, financial and personnel contribution and sacrifice. When we are heartily discussing "China's rise", are we prepared to undertake the responsibility and cost for China's rise?

Even if China's advance toward a big power is in a peaceful process, it will still arouse worry, fear and even contradictions and conflicts, which is not completely dependent on our subjective wishes. If "Taiwan independence" elements are bent on going their own way, if the thinking of "containing China" became the mainstay of the national strategies and policies of the United States and some other countries, China would encounter big obstacles to its development. These are problems that we must realize and get prepared when considering the change in our own status.

In the long run, China's rejuvenation is the general trend in the 21st century, but the road is tortuous, the task is heavy and the way ahead is long, for this reason, we should keep a sober mind, and untiringly make earnest efforts.

By People's Daily Online