Chinese government officials used to employ the phrase "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" to encourage the building of a strong and prosperous country. However, this conjures up memories of national humiliation in the last half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, when China was invaded, plundered and divided by Western powers.

Western realpolitikers believe a nation's rise always implies a shift in hegemony and is thus doomed to confrontation with existing powers and that the rise of a new power with such historical trauma as China's will pose a greater threat to world security.

Bearing this in mind, the Chinese Government seems to have added a qualifier to make the world understand its political intention: peaceful rise, in an attempt to prove that China can rise peacefully.

The last 20 years has witnessed a China of astonishing economic growth and increasing political influence in the international community. The Chinese leaders have deemed the next 20 years a significant period of strategic opportunities for development. A top goal is to increase its per-capita GDP fourfold by 2020, which it sees as relatively prosperous.

Wary of the inevitability of China's rise, some have considered it as a threat. They have blamed the large, populous country for regional environment destruction and exhausting natural resources. Many quoted realpolitikers a strong China will challenge the current international order and thus result in war.

The proposed "peaceful rise" provides a theoretical instrument to refute scares of a "China threat." As of now, a developed theory is far off. Many Chinese scholars are engaged in formulating a more complete concept.

The concept of a "peaceful rise" not only seeks a safe way for China to rejuvenate itself, said Professor Pang Zhongying of Tianjin-based Nankai University, what is more significant is that it wants to challenge the theory of power politics, which was articulated most through Western experiences.

Questions remain. Pang pointed out that defining the concept of "peace" is essential. He continues that peace can be understood as an international order in Western countries. Historically, the largest, most sustained political forces have been the Pax Romana, Pax Ecclesiastica, Pax Britannica, and now the so-called Pax Americana. All of these were state of order maintained under a hegemonic country. The professor pointed out that they demonstrate that power can underlie order, or "peace."

However, heping, the Chinese word equivalent to "peace", has certain different connotations from the English word. The former means closer to harmony, the connotations of which can be found in the works attributed to two ancient Chinese thinkers -- Laozi and Confucius, both active around 2,500 years ago.

Premier Wen Jiabao actually has used the Confucian philosophy of harmony to expound on China's peaceful rise in a speech at Harvard last December. The core of the Chinese philosophy is harmony, whether in regards to personal or international relations, or even the relationship between humanity and nature. The essence of the concept is that there do exist contradictions, but harmony can be attained, forming a diverse world.

In China, "rise" can be taken as modernization, development, evident progress or becoming a big power. The Chinese people had not considered what influence China's rejuvenation will bring on the rest of the world. This is just the concern of the international community, Pang noted. The proposal of peaceful rise might give the world an answer on the issue, that is, China has chosen to be a peace promoter in the international community and this can never be changed with its rejuvenation.

Pang linked "peaceful rise" with a human-centered governance. He suggested that the Chinese Government should insist on the idea of "putting people first" in dealing with both domestic and foreign affairs. This attitude is indeed more in line with that of the international community. Only in this way, Pang said, can the mainstream international community believe that China will become one of the major forces of peace, democracy, justice and prosperity in the 21st century.

Wang Yiwei, assistant director of the Institute for International Studies at Fudan University, explains his understanding of a "peaceful rise" in three ways: rise in peace, rise peacefully and rise for peace.

Wang agrees that the current international environment is conducive to the rejuvenation of China. The process of China's rise is coincident with the adjustment of international industrial structure, giving the country rare opportunity to realize economic leap. China's economic reform is gravitating toward the international system to meet the requirement of economic globalization. At the same time, the stateless challenges of counter-terrorism and non-proliferation are forging unprecedented political cooperation among world powers, of which China can be a part, Wang said.

China's rise will be achieved only by peaceful means, Wang said. Foreign trade accounts for a great percentage of China's economic growth. And China has been increasingly involved in global production, with a result of being the manufacturing base of the world.

China's rise will be based on its contribution to world economic growth and its efforts in promoting regional and world peace, Wang said. China has led many others worldwide in its contribution to world trade growth and world GDP growth. At the same time, the country is doing well as a responsible power on the regional and world political stage. To promote peaceful dialogue on the settlement of the Korean nuclear issue and make the situation controllable, the Chinese Government has changed its low-profile diplomacy and played a major role in promoting peaceful settlement of the issue.

China's rise will be conducive to peace and development of the world, Wang said. The priority of the Chinese Government is to build a relatively prosperous society. This is the way to safeguard the human rights of its huge 1.3 billion population. A strong China is actually in the interest of the world. As the largest developing country, China's development can help developed countries work to create a politically and economically balanced world.

A peaceful rise has already become China's strategic choice, deputy director of China Institute of International Studies Xu Jian remarked. The government has posed the principle of building a harmonious, prosperous and tranquil region to guide its relations with its neighboring countries, which means that government links the country's own peace and development with that of other regional countries. It has also advocated new security concepts of mutual confidence, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation, exploring peaceful ways of eradicating external threats and preventing international military conflicts.

The Chinese Government has proposed its own theories on sovereignty and human rights, Xu pointed out. And it has become more open and tolerant to criticism and more ready to absorb the experiences of other countries, including human rights issues, Xu said.

But China's rise is bound to zigzag. How far can China rise? What time frame should we expect? These are still uncertain. China is still facing many problems in realizing its rejuvenation. The issue of Taiwan especially challenges the peaceful rise of China. Its rejuvenation really needs the support of the international community.

A 'Peaceful Rise' of China

November 3, 2003, former Vice President of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China Zheng Bijian delivers a speech at the Bo'ao Forum, first proposing the "peaceful rise" of China.

December 10, 2004, Premier Wen Jiabao first adopts the concept of a "peaceful rise" in a speech delivered at Harvard University during his visit to the United States.

December 26, 2003, Chinese President Hu Jintao stresses to follow the road of "peaceful rise" as well as adhere to the independent foreign policy of peace at a symposium in honor of the 110th anniversary of late Chairman Mao Zedong's birthday.

March 14, 2004, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao makes five points on the concept of "peaceful rise" at a press conference during the Second Session of the 10th National People's Congress:

• In promoting China's peaceful rise, we must take full advantage of this opportunity of world peace to develop and strengthen ourselves, while at the same time safeguard world peace.

• The rise of China can only be based on our own strength, and our own independent, self-reliant and hard effort as well as based on the vast market, abundant human resources, capital and also the innovation of our systems in China.

• China's rise cannot be achieved without the support of the rest of the world. We must maintain our opening-up policy and we must develop economic and trade exchanges with all friendly countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

• China's rise will require a lot of time and probably the hard work of many generations.

• The rise of China will not stand in the way or pose a threat to any other country. Nor will it be achieved at the expense of any other country. China does not seek hegemony now, nor will we seek hegemony even after we become powerful.
 
(Beijing Review April 9, 2004)