By Frank Ching
Almost 20 years ago, in the wake of the Tiananmen Square military crackdown, China faced international isolation and its leader, Deng Xiaoping, devised a foreign-policy strategy for its leaders. One key idea was that China should adopt a low profile in international affairs.
For many years, this was exactly what China did. Beijing tended to go along with the majority in the United Nations and allowed other countries to take the lead.
And when it was opposed in principle to a resolution, China did not exercise its veto but chose to abstain, as it did in 1990 when the Security Council authorized the use of force to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
Even in more recent years, when the Security Council voted to impose sanctions on Sudan for the bloodshed in Darfur, China repeatedly abstained despite its interests in the country and its opposition to sanctions.
Now, however, it appears that China has shed many of its inhibitions. Speaking in Munich on Friday, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made it clear that China was prepared to stand alone in opposing sanctions against Iran, even if Russia were to join the Western camp.
Yang was speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the first time that a Chinese foreign minister has taken part in the 46 year old annual forum.
As if to show that China had finally arrived, Yang demanded in his speech that China's voice be heard on the world stage. ``We have one fifth of mankind,?he said. `` We at least deserve a chance to express our view on how things should be run in the world.?/span>
The foreign minister also used the occasion to castigate the United States for selling weapons to Taiwan and said the action was a violation of ``the code of conduct among nations.?/span>
A commentary in the China Daily, too, made it clear that Beijing expects Washington to behave differently now that China is strong and the United States is in decline. ``Times are changing,?said the commentary. ``China deems that it is time to let the U.S. feel the pain of deteriorating Sino-U.S. relations.?/span>
Such rhetoric is new to China. After biding its time for two decades, it seems, Beijing feels that the time has finally come for it to speak its mind without fearing how the United States might react.
Of course, China's voice should be heeded in international councils. In fact, making room for China to play a bigger role in world affairs was one of the goals of the Obama administration.
But a bigger role also means more responsibility. To its credit, China through its actions has indicated a willingness to assume more responsibility, taking part in peacekeeping missions, sending naval units to combat pirates off Somalia and providing relief aid to Haiti.
However, there appears to be another school of thought in China. A commentary carried by the official People's Daily castigated what it called a cold war mentality in the United States that leads it to continue to sell arms to Taiwan.
It said, ``As China has witnessed rapid growth in recent years, the nature of the Cold War mentality has led to the emergence of the so-called China Threat Theory, Collapse-of-China Theory and China's Responsibility Theory.?/span>
This seems to suggest that the expectation that a rising China should behave in a responsible fashion itself stems from a cold war mentality. Are there Chinese officials then who do not believe that Beijing needs to behave responsibly?
Certainly, the rest of the world wants to hold China up to a higher standard. The Economist magazine, for example, said in an editorial last week: ``Too often China wants the power due a global giant while shrugging off the responsibilities, saying that it is still a poor country. It must be encouraged to play its part ― for instance, on climate change, on Iran and by allowing its currency to appreciate.?/span>
This is no theory. This is an expectation held by many people who while not begrudging China an important voice in global councils also expect that the country will behave with maturity and responsibility.
To label such expectations as nothing more than a discredited cold war ``theory?will only bolster fear of a China threat and hope that the country will collapse.
China may be rising but it is not yet America's equal. And the rhetoric emanating from Beijing may well lead the United States to reconsider the feasibility of its policy of cultivating China as a strategic partner, one that will do its share in the resolution of regional and global issues.