China @ 70
The People’s Republic of China celebrated its 70th anniversary last week in a show of pomp, defiance and pride. It was to show the world, what was already known, that this ancient country had arrived on the modern world stage. The Chinese call their magic, “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. There was however, little mention about democracy and the freedom of the individual.
Having eliminated the two- term limit to his tenure, China’s most authoritative leader since the charismatic Mao Zedong founded the Republic in 1949, President Xi Jinping will remain in office till 2027. At the celebrations he said “the founding of the People’s Republic of China completely changed China’s miserable fate of being poor and weak and humiliated in over 100 years.”
The military parade included a Dongfeng-41 missile capable of striking the United States in 30 minutes with 10 nuclear warheads at once, each with different targets. The sleeping giant has awoken. Its blue navy parades the seas not far from Sri Lanka.
After the then US President Richard Nixon opened the doors to a reclusive China so that American businessmen would have a huge market of a billion people for US products, China has turned the tables. It now has, according to Credit Suisse, 3.5 million US dollar millionaires, a burgeoning middle class and a firm grip on world trade. So much so, the current US President is trying to turn the clock back and put the genie back in the bottle invoking a trade war to choke the Chinese economy.
President Xi said, “The Chinese people don’t have it in their genes to invade others or dominate the world.” That statement, aimed at Western hegemony will, no doubt, be taken with a pinch of salt. While China stood shoulder- to- shoulder with Sri Lanka when this country’s sovereignty was under threat from a separatist insurgency, payback time came no sooner the threat was overcome.
China’s “investments” in Sri Lanka have not been entirely altruistic, especially in a deep water port, an airport in strategic Hambantota, and a 665- acre Colombo port city giving loans which could not be repaid in time. In return they have been accused of turning the country into a virtual vassal state of China. This has been part of China’s USD One trillion ‘One Belt; One Road’ foreign-defence policy modus operandi in a new- look global hegemony with tentacles spread through 60 countries from Sri Lanka to Pakistan to countries in West Africa and elsewhere.
China’s post-2010 economic thrust into the Sri Lanka economy has not been without controversy. Chinese-fuelled corruption went to new heights pre- 2015 and post- 2015. Our news reports that the former Chinese ambassador offered the Prime Minister and Finance Minister money for their non- existent ‘ Foundations’ remain uncontradicted. That kickbacks have been funneled to election campaigns are there to see. Lesser politicians – and others, have also fallen prey, seduced with incentives. That China has an interest in the upcoming Presidential race is clear.
Congratulations to China nevertheless. It has emerged as a powerful force in what would have otherwise been a unipolar world.