China's Message Problem
by Peter Winter
Photo by Peter Winter
Yes, the U.S.-Sino relationship has taken a dive as of late.
President Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama last week was just the latest in a spate of incidents that have left both sides of the Pacific feeling prickly and protective. What concerns Western onlookers is the appearance of an emboldened and increasingly assertive China, throwing its weight around the international arena with little regard for established norms and principles.
China's emergence on the international stage has elicited two reactions- admiration from much of the developing world, which see the country's economic rise as contingent on Beijing's control, and insecurity from the developed sphere, which is unable to decide if a strong China makes them nervous or pleased.
To regions like Africa and Latin America, China has proven that a central authority can keep the economic miracle going, a Beijing Consensus for the world to emulate. Yet it is that same authoritarian-style centralism that makes Washington so nervous. If a one-party system that relies on suppression of public opinion and civil society can do so well, what use is the democratic model to the rest of the world?
Behind all the rhetoric of "peaceful rise" and "harmonious society" is the reality of China's progress- rising wages, poverty alleviation, technology, even national pride. And while a civil society is slowly blossoming in China, driven by those leaps in communication technologies and personal wealth, its potential challenge to the government that bestowed such opportunities remains unclear. The democratic world, quite simply, should get used to the long-term existence of a non-democratic China.
While western politicians and media need to look harder for the complex realities of the country, it is equally up to Beijing's diplomats to provide a realistic portrayal of China today. From Joshua Cooper Ramo to Zheng Bijian, there have been a slew of proposals to remake China's image into something more palatable to the West. Recently, CNN has been running a "Made with China" commercial created to allay fear of cheap and dangerous Chinese goods.
Yet changing terminology amounts to no more than a black cat with a new name. The CCP is unlikely to undertake any rapid political reforms, and therefore a new approach must be found if China hopes to ever garner the international respect it longs for.
What this all points to is an incredible deficiency in the way China explains itself to the world. Would the Tibet issue be such a problem if Chinese officials did not always revert to the usual "5,000-year old China" sound byte? Would Americans have such a problem with the "Made in China" label if not for the complete lack of information and draconian executions that follow every scandal? If China simply said, "This country has a lot of problems, and we are solving them piece by piece," would there be such a need to see an immediate political revolution? Is Taiwan, a small chunk of land that has been under self-rule for the past 60 years, really an inalienable part of China?
The propagandist lines that have characterized the Chinese leadership for so long are doing an incredible disservice to the country's international credibility.
Peter Winter is a second year student in the Master of Public Diplomacy program, and managing editor of US-China Today.
http://blogs.uscannenberg.org/neontommy/2010/02/chinese-transparency.html
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