On air: Is the West afraid of China's rise?
| 09:53 UK time, Monday, 11 October 2010
ÌýThis topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 11 October 2010. Listen to the programme.
I'd like the to open today's blog post:
'Friday the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo, an incarcerated Chinese criminal...The Nobel committee once again displayed its arrogance and prejudice against a country that has made the most remarkable economic and social progress in the past three decades. The Nobel Prize has been generally perceived as a prestigious award in China, but many Chinese feel the peace prize is loaded with Western ideology In 1989, the Dalai Lama, a separatist, won the prize. Liu Xiaobo, the new winner, wants to copy Western political systems in China....The Nobel committee made an unwise choice, but it and the political force it represents cannot dictate China's future growth.China's success story speaks louder than the Nobel Peace Prize.'
It's a taste of the country's position on the winner that many elsewhereÌýare calling a . And whilst China would prefer to call Mr. Xiaobo anything but, the economic giant is hardly surprised by the West's reaction. According to , the award highlights one thing; 'an extraordinary terror of China's rise and the Chinese model."
The ongoing between Beijing and the West over the undervaluation of the Yuan serves as yet another example of China's clout on the international stage.
The on new advertising campaigns launched by the US Democrats and Republicans, which blame one another "for allowing the export of jobs to its economic rival." Robert A. Kapp, a former president of the US-China Business Council calls the moves 'deplorable' and 'demeaning'.
Is the West ganging up on China out of jealousy? thinks so,
"I fear that with this rapid growth in economy and power, some Western countries would try and stop us. I remember that once President Obama made a speech, saying that if all the Chinese people have the same standard of living as us, the world cannot afford that. I know he is talking about China's population, but I'm angry with his words. Why can't Chinese people have the same living standard as you? Why?"
So as Barack Obama, the and to award the prize to Mr. Xiaobo and call for his release, is it better to take Africa's line and stay silent on such a fragile matter?
thinks not,
'What the Nobel committee has done is remind the world that durable peace depends on the spread of individual freedom, and other states such as China need to be aware that they also need to improve.'
But writes,
'...while Western countries insist on having a "human rights dialogue" with China and African countries, Sino-African relations steer away from this delicate issue. Human rights issues are internal issues. Questions about the fate of Mr Liu are better left to the Chinese in these types of bilateral relations.'
Do both sides simple need to get a sense of perspective on what's happened? All the prize offers is 'respectability for a cause' says . For now, the Chinese have dug a whole for themselves,
'The Chinese compounded their error by lobbying Nobel committee members against awarding the prize to Liu, emboldening the judges to do the opposite...Still, when the furore dies down, Beijing will realise that, although newsworthy, the prize is just another award like the Oscars, flawed and ephemeral.'
They are now trying to put a cap on the furore by placing Mr. Xiaobo's wife under .
Is theÌý"human rights dialogue" a way for the West to have a hold on China?ÌýAre you afraid of China's rise?
