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News from India (r)
CHINESE REGIONAL AND GLOBAL THINKING
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By S. K. Singh
In 1933, 14 years before becoming Prime Minister,
Jawaqharlal Nehru, visited China. He said then that
conditions in China bore many resemblances to those in
India, but there are many differences too. Also, China has
survived many a mighty invasion and threat and the future
of old cultures and large societies should always be viewed
with optimism.
China and India do not resemble each other in one aspect.
While India continues to love with every century of its
history surrounding it, the Chinese are not hemmed in by
their pervious ares in jumbled confusion.
While we were in China recently, their political leaders
and foreign policy analysts were curious and amused about
India's recent political crisis, our theater of the absurd.
Also concerned about its impact on regional stability. When
reminded of the similarity of responses to coalition
politics, from the Indian Congress party the LDP of Japan
and the Christian Democrats of Italy, two other ageing and
old parties, they became thoughtful. In all these three
democracies,. productivity has not been affected by the
uncertainties of coalition management; also, peaceful
decision-making has continued through the ballot box.
The Chinese believe in Deng Xiaoping's thesis that peace
and development go together. Deng felt that for the
present, say for another 60 or 70 years, the U.S. would
remain the predominant global power, though it is already a
declining one. He wanted his successors to handle the
situation with patience and foresight. But he was averse to
China buckling under pressure from the sole superpower.
The Chinese are sensitive to India's attitude to their
nuclear and missile capabilities. This inevitably, they
feel, affects India's nuclear and missile policies. Since
1947, India has been capable of using nuclear technology
for self-defence. We reminded them that India had remained
steadfast its commitment to the concept of a world without
nuclear weapons. But India cannot ignore the nuclear
weapons available with its neighbours, including China.
India cannot, therefore, commit itself to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Test Ben
treaty. The India people shall not deny themselves the
science and technology of the atom and space, acquired by
them for themselves. It is purposeless to disarm the
unarmed.
Proudly, perhaps prematurely, many Chinese believe that
they have licked the problem of population growth in their
country. They believe that India's population is rising
steeply. Tongue-in-cheek, the Chinese friends said that
early next century India would become the world's most
populous nation, with China trailing behind. One wonders.
They did not comment when reminded of their nuclear
collaboration with Pakistan or their supply of missiles.
For several years, China has been assisting in beefing up
Pakistan's nuclear and missile capabilities. It has
provided advice, designs and equipment. American
intelligence sources and other international observers have
underlined, in recent months, the fact that Pakistan has
received from China the technology for its Hatf-III (or the
Chinese M-11) missile and production facilities. Even more
significant has been the U.S. unwillingness to embarrass
China and/or Pakistan in this matter. The U.S. laws on this
subject are being ignored and flouted through the
simplistic device of the U.S. refusing to make any
determination. This has simplified the life for the Chinese
who get away with merely issuing vague, ambiguous and
non-binding denials. The Pakistanis are delighted, for in
the midst of all this, the U.S. Senate, with the Clinton
administration's backing, has reopened all aid, military
and economic, further underlining that this reopening of
aid would be "unconditional."
The Chinese were uncomfortable also about the help they are
providing to Myanmar in port facilities and naval
functioning close to Indian waters. However, they back the
SLORC Government as they consider the Myanmar military the
only institution capable of guaranteeing stability and
order in the country. Several of their decision-makers
suggested that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi had little experience
of administering the institutions or a nation.
The Chinese are keen on strengthening their border trade
and economic cooperation and trade, including roads and
rail networks, across Asian lands; and hope that India too
will cooperate in taking these through and across India
China is now anxious about Islam getting mixed up with
local fanaticism, politics and militancy. This is what is
hurting Sinkiang now. Recent developments in Sinkiang have
affected the Chinese perception of fundamentalist Islam.
They are worried about Islamic militants being shoved into
non-Islamic lands. They are also mildly worried about
aspects of what the Taliban is doing with open,
occasionally clandestine, backing from the U.S. and
Pakistan.
Their own future prosperity and influence in the world,
they feel, can be assured by building a broader amity,
peace and cooperation with ASEAN, APEC, South Asia, the
Central Asian region, and Indochina States.
Their thinking about the Russian Federation has been
evolving. They see the possibility of a strategic
partnership with Russia. This was recently discussed
between the Chinese President, Mr. Jiang Zemin and the
Russian President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, in Moscow. They seem
to be wondering how the international community will view
it, in case Asia's three large land masses-- China, Russia
and India--came closer politically. How will the rest of
Asia and the world respond to these three rather large
states coming together? one heard little mention of
ideology in China. There was emphasis on the nation's
strength and success; reflecting strong nationalistic
urges. Mr. Jiang is more and more referred to as the
supreme leader of the Chinese people. Mao, several Chinese
told me, gave China self- regard. Deng helped them discover
and improve themselves.
My interaction with officials, policy-planners and
analysts, individuals and groups of researchers and
decision-makers in each place showed that the Chinese have
understood the need to study the complexities of the world
around them.
They have been building autonomous and independent
academies and institutions, university departments, study
groups, and think-tasks, capable of coping, in a holistic
manner, with the complex issues of today and tomorrow, to
encompass not only political developments but also
economics, trade, defence and security, strategy,
technology, environment, human rights aspects and
international law. Their effort is to study these aspects
along with the current national. regional and international
events and developments.
They study the regions around them, especially the
Asia-Pacific, the Pacific Rim, South East Asia, South Asia,
Indochina countries, Australasia, Central Asia and West
Asia and Africa. They are paying attention to a number of
sub-specializations. Unfortunately, most of their
publications and research papers are put of our reach, as
they are available only in the Chinese language. It is time
for Indians both in government, industry, banking and
business to appreciate that China has already undertaken to
build a large network of research and think-tank
institutions, which are able to pursue excellence in their
fields, in collection of data, their analysis, discussion
and dissemination in the academic-intellectual-policy
making aspects. In all fairness, as Indians, we need to
confess that there is a paucity, in this country, of such
institutions. Even in respect of those that have got
structured, over the years, somewhat absent-mindedly, there
is a constant lack, often denial, of resources.(The writer
is a former Foreign Secretary.)
The Hindu 30, July 1997.
News and Information Bureau, All Burma Students League
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