'China threat' theory is absurd
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The government should have the confidence to face up to the problems that its fast paced economic development has created, Liu says. "Western countries had enough time and space to transform their economic structures. As a result, the advantages they still enjoy in many fields have resulted in much of the ills afflicting the developing world. The West transfers only the lower links of its industrial chain to the developing countries, which carries with it pollution and social costs. How in the world then can the West be justified in accusing China of posing a threat, especially when the Chinese government's only goal is to improve the livelihood of its people?"
Let one thing be clear, China does not enjoy the luxury of time to lift millions of its people out of poverty and transform its economic structure. That is to say China cannot afford to follow in the footsteps of the West, although it is interacting with the rest of the world to explore how things can be best turned around.
As American writer Owen Lattimore put it, China's history is actually a process of cultural communication between nomadic and farming civilizations across the Great Wall, the Yellow River and even the Yangtze River. Thus China's development model has never been static. So there cannot be a "China development model". If there is any, it is a dynamic, ever-changing model characterized by frequent exchanges of commodities and, to a lesser extent, cultures.
Liu says the government needs to portray the country as a cultural being and depoliticize its story-telling style. But, many people argue, how can the government do that when Chinese culture is highly influenced by foreign cultures? Liu doesn't share the view of the skeptics. He says cultural exchange and mutual influence take a long time to bring about changes. So, it's naive to predict the downfall of Chinese culture and to deny its dynamic nature.
The problems that the early stages of the cultural industry's commercialization face do not necessarily endanger the cultural heritage of a country. Instead, a deep understanding of Western cultural industry would not only help make the Chinese media more competent, but also be conducive to finding universal values that China and the West share.
Liu says China should not neglect the universal values present in its social practices. "Universal values are something that all civilizations share Any attempt to turn universal values into an ideology exclusive to a country or region would be dishonesty."
In fact, the West, especially the US, has already suffered because of its short-sightedness to colonize and materialize universal values, irrespective of the practical national conditions of other countries. There are many ways, apart from the American way, of guaranteeing democracy, freedom and human rights. The US domination of the world cultural market and the thought domain relies more on its economic and military buildup than its clumsy understanding of diversity.
Chinese people, in general, have first-hand knowledge of middlebrow philosophy, and Liu is no exception. He argues that China's struggle to claim the rights to have its say in world affairs should be guided by "balanced" logic, which means Chinese people should provide balanced information about their country.
