By Lau Nai-keung

Irrespective of China's repeated pledge of peaceful development, advanced countries, notably the United States and Japan, do not seem to take our non-aggressive, non-expansionist commitments seriously. This is highly unfortunate, as the situation could easily deteriorate into an arms race, which is no good to anybody.

The Western world has a long held myth that "democratic" countries do not wage wars. If one goes through Western civilizations from ancient Greece to the ongoing Iraq War, it is clear that this is far from the truth. If one country, "democratic" or otherwise, does not like another country, there is always an excuse to send troops into battle. Deep-rooted self-delusion is hard to eradicate.

It is extremely difficult to educate some people that though a country does not practice universal suffrage, it does not mean that it is a bully. President Hu Jintao has declared democracy the No 1 building block of a harmonious society. If we are determined to face the subject of democracy head-on, as we did a few years back with human rights, soon it will not be an issue.

The same can apply to China's insistence on being a socialist country. For our own sake, and for the sake of global cultural diversity, we owe it to ourselves to stand firm on something we believe in. Now that the Cold War has been over for a long time, and China is merging into international common practices in more and more areas, our different mode of nation building can at worst be regarded as our idiosyncrasy rather than a threat to others.

We have amply demonstrated that a socialist China is at least as responsible as any other country in peacekeeping, nuclear nonproliferation and the war against terrorism.

However, if we look at China's reemergence from the viewpoint of other countries, the awakening of a sleeping giant is understandably a disturbing sight. They are looking at a growing military power with nuclear capability though from the very beginning China insisted that it would never use nuclear weapons first.

You can go around telling everybody you are a gentle giant, but what if you get mad just once? This once might be a disaster too big for the world to afford.

China is a neighbor to a record number of 15 countries, and for historical reasons, it has territorial disputes with nearly each and every one of them. For many years, we have been walking the walk and talking the talk of trying to resolve our conflicts with our neighbors through peaceful means.

One by one, we have settled national boundary lines without resorting to war. The handover of Hong Kong by the British through painful and lengthy negotiations was a clear example of our determination and patience.

Our relations with India have been tense for many decades. The two countries even went to war in 1962. By all accounts, even those of Indian's own investigation, China was the country attacked.

According to Premier Zhou Enlai, "We sent three open telegrams to Nehru asking him to make a public reply, but he refused. He was so discourteous; he wouldn't even do us the courtesy of replying, so we had no choice but to drive him out."

Within a month, the Indian army was totally defeated. The American ambassador noted ultimate panic in Delhi and the disintegration of public morale. To the surprise of the world, China announced its unilateral and unconditional withdrawal to 20 kilometers behind the disputed McMahon Line. "At the point of a smoking gun, a victorious China imposed not a victor's terms but what she had proposed all along," wrote British journalist Neville Maxwell a negotiated settlement of the boundary dispute.

For more than four decades, China seemed content with the status quo, waiting for the gradual defrosting of the situation. Even when India built up its armaments ostensibly targeting China as its potential competitor, we refused to assume the same antagonistic attitude.

Our sincerity finally paid off in recent years. China and India are now on friendly terms with growing economic ties, and they are closer than ever to a cordial agreement on their borders. Leaders of both countries have reiterated their determination to achieve a negotiated settlement.

Actions always speak louder than words, and more happy stories like these will ultimately convince an ever increasing number of people of China's peaceful intentions. In any case, most of our close neighbors, who have the most to fear from a "bullying" China, are now convinced of our peaceful intentions and in closer than ever cooperation with us. These are indisputable achievements which are of direct relevance of our national security.

Another thing we should undertake is to ingrain nonaggression and non-expansion firmly into our core values and our national psyche. A person might change overnight, but a nation brought up with nonaggression and non-expansion will not and simply cannot, suddenly turn into an aggressor and expansionist.

When the rest of the world sees this peaceful approach, they will find it most reassuring. This is exactly what the high profile preaching of a harmonious society and harmonious world is all about.

We want to live in peace and harmony not to please others but because it is something we truly love and treasure. To the extent that harmony is an integral part of modern Chinese culture, whether other people believe us or not is of secondary importance; and somehow, sometime, they cannot but believe.

And that is why there is a growing consensus among scholars and decision-makers around the world that the phenomenal re-emergence of China is an important event of the century. It is to be welcomed, not feared. It is now up to us to prove them right.

The author, from Hong Kong, is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

(China Daily February 2, 2007)