China: Still an unknown quantity?
China always evokes some uneasiness.Not just for its neightbours but also for even distant powers like the USA.
Why?First,it is the only Communist state in the world.Its economic might is growing fast.Its foreign echange reserves,at one trillion,the lrgest in the world.Its fast economic growth,ranked the fourth largest economy in the world,predicted to become the world’s largest by the next 25 years.
So,out of an illusion of grandeur or practical necessity,China is trying to paly a larger role on the international stage.It hosted some of the biggest international summits in 2006 in China and so the “rise”of China is not a cheer for many,rather it has triggered mjuch fear and uneasiness!
China is not an open society nor a trustworthy neighbour for Japan,India and South Korea.Its”politics”is n’t mature enough nor rational enough to take its international role seriouly.
India,on the other hand,has a tradition of democracy and its foreign policy has had a history.Of course,the current “rulers”of India are not match for the current China’s rulers and therefore there is a need for Indians to debate more clearly and more openly about how to make India a more mature international player in the emerging world.