CHINA AND THE WORLD
White paper makes clear China’s relationship with the rest of the world in the new era
AThe author is an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review and a researcher with the Pangoal Institution common consensus in the world today is that China’s development is linked to the change in the international structure and will have a profound and far-reaching influence on the world order. In many people’s eyes, China has already become a superpower, second only to the U.S., and is having growing impact on the world.
In this context, a white paper titled China and the World in the New Era, published by the State Council Information Office on September 27, ahead of the grand celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, elaborates on what role the country wants to play in the world and what it expects from the rest of the world.
Xu Lin, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of the State Council Information Office, said the white paper systematically introduces China’s development achievement, path and direction and details the relations between China and the rest of the world to help the international community better understand China’s development.
Responding to misunderstandings
Particularly in recent years, as China’s national strength has grown rapidly and its way of dealing with international affairs has become more active, a sense of fear has grown in some countries, both big and small. Some are afraid that China may become a regional or even global dominant force, pressuring other countries to follow its model, rules and standards.
Over more than a year, the trade friction between China and the U.S. has spilled over to other sectors and the two countries’ relations are becoming more complicated. The international community has growing worries that the trade and technology wars and the possible economic decoupling between the world’s two largest economies will disrupt the global supply chain or even the whole global system.
China has continually responded to these fears by publicizing its policies on bilateral and multilateral occasions. There are also an increasing number of Chinese officials, experts and scholars who express China’s stand through international media outlets. However, misunderstandings continue to grow and China still has a lot to do to increase mutual trust and clear doubts.
This is not the first time China has published a white paper on its relations with the rest of the world. China’s Peaceful Development Road, published on December 22, 2005, stressed that peace