Part-time superpower

Part-time superpower

China's global responsibility growing The world is watching China’s rise with awe and concern. Many countries are studying how China’s economy is growing by more than two times the global average. They are also concerned that China has still a long way to go before becoming a truly respected global power. Distorting history, hiding facts and pursuing mercantilist economic policy are the last things the G2 country should do. China’s next leader Xi Zinping said that the Korean War was a war of justice against an American and South Korean invasion. He eulogized North Korea for having waged a great war against the United States. He described the Korean War as one “American imperialists” had triggered against the Chinese people. On Oct.25 60 years ago, China’s 700,000-strong People’s Liberation Army employed human-wave tactics to march into the Korean Peninsula. Without China’s involvement, the Korean Peninsula would not have been divided. Chinese political leaders should stay above the temptation to distort history. A global leader should let historians write history. His statement could not be accepted just as rhetoric. The fact is North Korea’s Kim Il-sung invaded the South with the tacit approval of the Soviet Union and China. Numerous historic records in Russia and even in China, back that the North invaded the South. In many publications, Chinese scholars crystallize Beijing’s intervention in the war as a stupid thing that should not have taken place. China should remember that money alone cannot make them a global leader. Beijing’s blind embracement of the Communist North is a source of embarrassment. It shielded the North from international condemnation after its clandestine torpedoing of the South Korean warship, Cheonan. China also gave the impression of endorsing the bizarre father-to-son dynastic succession in the North. China needs to help the malnourished North Koreans more rather than the well-nourished Kim Jong-il regime. Major countries view China as a part-time superpower. Their rationale is its cheap renminbi policy to boost exports in a beggar-thy-neighbor policy. Despite the joint communique by the G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Gyeongju last week, China keeps silent on whether it will honor the market-based exchange rate policy and refrain from a competitive currency undervaluation policy. China is also getting criticism for abusing its rare earth resources as a bargaining chip. The country will not get international respect for criticizing the Nobel Committee for intervening in its internal affairs. Getting a Nobel Peace Prize is the greatest honor for the Chinese. China is South Korea’s number one trading partner. It is a great achievement in just 18 years following the establishment of diplomatic ties. Trade alone cannot gauge the progress of a partnership, however. Both countries need to initiate programs to deepen people-to-people understanding and friendship. China should know why Korean consumers have a cheap and unhygienic image of “Made-in-China” products. Its leaders need additional homework not to inflame others. China must pay heed to how others view the Middle Kingdom and what others expect from Beijing.