The Guardian 29 June, 2005
Editorial
China and India power ahead
The establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the ending of colonial regimes in Asia (and elsewhere) began the fundamental, qualitative change that has already resulted in the emergence of Asian countries as economic and political powers that are steadily replacing the domination of the imperialist powers of Europe and the USA.
China and India are powering ahead at a rate of 6-10 percent GDP growth each year. This rate is well in excess of the sluggish economic growth of the industrially developed countries. They are being rapidly overtaken.
This fundamental and irreversible development is behind the rising tide of anti-Chinese propaganda that has been flowing from wide sections of the Australian media and from some politicians.
Rather than welcoming the rapid rise in the standard of living of millions of impoverished people, there are those whose colonial mindset leads them to regard these developments as a threat to be opposed and defeated.
Labor politicians, and Greens’ leader Bob Brown, could not resist venting their anti-China spleen in connection with the defection of the Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin. The reaction of the Liberal leaders has been more restrained. They are influenced by the undoubted trade benefits that good relations with China represent.
China’s largest trading partner is the US, with China’s trade with India coming second. China is about to replace the US as Australia’s largest trading partner. These are developments of enormous long-term significance.
However, US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, with breathtaking hypocrisy, challenges a recent modest increase in China’s military expenditure, even claiming that no-one threatens China. This ignores the fact that US military expenditure far exceeds that of China and that it is the US that has military and naval forces spread out around the world including off the coast of China.
China is criticised for its trade in textiles to many countries. This comes from those who are fond of talking about "free trade". But when "free trade" works to their disadvantage they re-impose quotas and other forms of trade restrictions, as the US and the European Union have done.
"Free trade" is actually a mirage given the many economic inequalities that exist between countries. The only realistic and fair trade policy is one based on mutual benefit incorporated in trade agreements between countries.
Another point of criticism and tension is the legitimate right of China to reincorporate Taiwan as a province of the People’s Republic of China, a claim accepted by almost every country in the world including Australia and the US. However, the US has attempted by every possible means to prevent this from happening, including a threat of naval and military intervention.
Although some in capitalist countries are attempting to whip up an aggressive and confrontationist attitude to China, it is much less likely now that the world will be once again divided as it was during the confrontation between the socialist bloc and the imperialist camp in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
Firstly, China’s economy is integrated with that of the rest of the world to a much greater extent than that of the Soviet Union ever was. Furthermore, China’s economic strength has already surpassed that of the Soviet Union and the former European socialist countries. As already noted, that fact is already influencing the otherwise very conservative policies of the Howard government.
Secondly, China and all other Asian countries are committed to the principle of settling disputes between nations by negotiations, not by confrontation and war. This is what the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation — signed in 1976 by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — is all about. It states that member countries are "conscious of the existing ties of history, geography and culture which have bound their peoples together."
Furthermore, the basic objective of every socialist state is a world at peace, with resources that would otherwise be wasted on destructive wars being used for the benefit of the peoples of every country.
A third major factor is the strength of the worldwide peace movement and a new rise in the progressive and revolutionary movement in a number of countries.