Readers’ Responses to Our Question (18)

For every reader and learner in the realm of international relations, to support the concept that China could or would be an emerging threat to global peace and security may be tantamount to validating a myth.History of the internatioanl relations holds the best defense in favour of China by pleading the fact that since the very day of its creation the China's foreign policy has had ardently cherished the norms of peaceful- co-existance.

For every reader and learner in the realm of international relations, to support the concept that China could or would be an emerging threat to global peace and security may be tantamount to validating a myth.History of the internatioanl relations holds the best defense in favour of China by pleading the fact that since the very day of its creation the China's foreign policy has had ardently cherished the norms of peaceful- co-existance.

There re a lot of posters here, saying that the threat is the Chinese government, but that the Chinese people are just a swell bunch of peaceful Democracy seeking ordinary guys. Obviously these posters have been ignoring the reports of what these people say. Chinese culture is racist in the extreme and those ordinary Chinese people believe that it is their destiny to subdue the res of the world and rule over it. China is more of a danger than Nazi Germany. Our trading with them, giving them technology, allowing them build up their massive reserves of U.S. dollars and assets, is the single worst mistake we have ever made. I give us, at most, three year.

Today, the world humanity is surrounded by threats. If China may be considered as a threat, what about :

- Iran
- North Korea
- Pakistan
- Radical islamists
- the exponential increase of the world's population
- the dangers of the climate changes which continue to increase because of industrial and cars emissions, which cannot be really controlled
- the unexpected massive increase of the prices of oil and various cereals and foods
- the violence which spread so much, and for so many years already, that people accept to live with it
- the possible hunger revolution in various countries
- the diseases which cannot be healed because no cure has been discovered for them
- the enormous medical costs which billions of people cannot afford
- the inability for the human being to respect and live in harmony with his fellow beings
- the race for money and power with the unbeleivable corruption it creates
- the existence of slavery around the world, whilst we pretend to have abolished it long ago
- the indifference of the democratic countries, more interested in their selfish policies

More risks can be added, but the above are enough to attend to in the hope that human beings will react to correct them before it is too late.

China is most likely not a threat unless we stick to defending Taiwan in case of war with China. I think China is most concerned with Asia. However, we could come into conflict with them over petro-resources in Africa, etc. Any believable threats by China will result in a total embargo of Chinese products. When that happens, the folks at Wally World are toast.

Do you see China as a threat? Why? Why not?

I would have to say, being an American at the bottom of U.S. society and watching every day traffic whizz by in ever increasing Darwinian competition, that the world being increasingly multipolar (not just China ascending) will result in at the least increased competition within nations as nations compete against one another.

In other words, nations such as the U.S. and the European Union might want talk about human rights but a multipolar world sets rights back in an ever increasing Darwinian competition. China and the rest of the world coming online (India) will not so much leap up to the human rights image of the U.S. and Europe as the U.S. and Europe will fall into a multipolar and Darwinian world.

The century upon us is truly the century of a lack of sentimentalism. Forget about poetry and religion, we are having business, economics, politics and biology thrust in our faces. And look for societies to somehow console the losers in the Darwinian struggle by not traditional measures (religion perhaps the most traditional) but by methods to "manage loss" born of economics and the sciences.

Furthermore look for societies to somehow ensure that winners only (people who are winners) are born within them in a modern eugenic system thus keeping all nations not only from falling into competition with one another to the point of war but falling into unseemly competition period.

I have no more illusions. A multipolar world dispenses with illusions and leaves only Darwin. The question is of social methods so that nations evolve in harmony, so that social capital improves evenly and we have no dangerous patches of societies losers. Right now we have a struggle for food and oil. Tomorrow we have a struggle over the optimal citizen and how to arrive at such a citizen with the least amount of pain. Yes, China is a threat, but only because China is helping accelerate a view which we should have acknowledged long ago: how to really cultivate a citizenry, how to apply all art and science to such a task. We are in the century of society really asking how it can evolve itself. The true century of biology.

China is not as much a threat to world peace as the US, that much is certain. Let's count how many wars and invasions the US has initiated in the last 50 years?

For the past years, the international community tried hard to help China into the route of democracy. Unfortunately, China has been on the opposite way.

First, China does not respect the universal values – human rights, press freedom, religious freedom. The ways Chinese leaders dealt with recent Tibet issue and stoked Chinese nationalism simply proved that "Peaceful rise of China" is just a lie.

More cases on the international stages testify this.

China has long sought to block Taiwan from taking part in any international organizations. Under Beijing's pressure, World Health Organization keeps excluding Taiwan from participating in all related medical and technical activities. Even more is that Taiwanese journalists are barring from covering World Health Assembly due to again PRC's objection.

The health and press rights are something that shouldn't be deprived of for any reason. Beijing has kept breaching this universal value not only within its land but also reaching out globally.

If you ask me "Is China a threat?" Answer is absolutely YES.

The world will face a very worst mistake to assist China to turn itself into a dangerous monster to create havoc to the world!
The stupid mistake the world has done to itself in this kind will force all next generations of the world population to deal with China destruction and devastation!
For sure the world can turn China into vapor if the world will have to make a final decision in dealing with the devastation that China will deliver to the world! And obviously the world will become a deadly environment after a war with China! If the war will happen with China then there will be no more China! no more 1.5 billions chinese on the China! if a war will come! and the world will be too much contaminated to live! Due to all sorts of advanced weapons will be tested and used in greatest scale! This is a truth that China has to face if becomes too much dangerous to the world!

The Western habitual thinking is to generate enemies all the time in order to be challenged. In the Old Europe, each country think their neighbors are enemies. A history of Europe is a histories of constant wars among the European countires, even today. These constant conflicts spilled over under colonialism. That is why Europe can never become a united Europe, even nowadays. After WWII, the West picked Russia as a challange. After Russia exited the challange, the West picks China as a potential challange and later India. But unexpectedly, the Bin Laden group steps in and picks up the West's challange. All said and history recorded, the West causes all the major devastations in the world and is the source of all major man-made humanitarian calamities.

China is the Mordor of the world. Don't fool yourselves. If you don't believe me just look at those Chinese nationals who are scattered throughout the world who use protesting to say they are against protesting. That should tell you all you need to know about a totalitarian regime that brainwashes its people.

As an Indian, if I base my comments on the recent history of conflicts and the Chinese annexation of a large chunk of Indian territory in its north-eastern sector, I would say, yes, China is indeed a big threat - to India at least.

The reason is almost complete erosion of 'mutual' trust between the two most populous and economically (emerging) powerful nations of the world today and China's continuing 'excursions' into Indian territories.

China back-stabbed India by posing as a "friend". "Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai" (Indians and Chinese are brothers !?) used to be a popular phrase defining both countries relationship until 1962 when China attacked India.
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As far as the rest of the world is concerned, a powerful China could be a threat. Countries like the US and Russia and other powerful countries have to have a good strategy to contain China's ambitions. There is no doubt that China nurses a strong aspiration of being the all-powerful nation, now bouyed by its fastest emerging economy.

But the other side of the debate could be that is China's behavior any different from the other so-called 'powerful' nations of the world - now, 'ex', of course? ... Will China get into situations like what the US is into today ??? ... Yes, if China too gets a president like GWB !

China today is a rising star

the position it gained is by hard work exceptionally intelligent resource management and committment and honesty of its leader ship to the nation. success is such a reality that it hides many weaknesses. In theory we can criticize on the human rights and structural behaviour of the nation but by all means life for a normal chinese is turning better day by day.

thirty years before no body in Europe can think of buying or keeping a chinese electronic product in his house. I remember in Hong Kong or shanghai from Chinese store we only purchase either souvenirs, paintings or famous silk cloth nothing else.But most of the brand names are now manufactured in China .

the time has come that Chinese products are marketed on brand name.

Today China stands where South Korea was thirty years before. Subjected to such a rapid change social problems in every society will be expected. this is just normal . change never comes easily and always a resistance is experienced.

The near future of china is rosy. But if the leader ship fails to maintain social and environmental improvement with the economic growth then we can expect frustration among chinese labour force which can lead to adverse impacts

China as a country or ethnicity is not a threat. The unit of analysis is a bit off. It is the state of a country's soul that is problematic. And what determines that? The collective spiritual health of its people. The only reason China grew to be this 'durable' and massive in 5000 years is precisely because its citizens have not reached a state of self-actualisation and individuation (this is a problematic argument in China because concepts like 'freedom', ‘individual’, 'actualization', 'discourse',
'rationality' are all western-imported concepts). Without the west bringing alive values like universal love, human rights, individual freedom of speech, and without globalization, China can not cure its ills on its own and will continue to cover its own shame by exercising coercive means (aka ‘Chinese beating its own children in a locked room’).

But the problem is, in fact up until the Olympics, most Chinese don’t see the need for a 'cure' because there is no 'sin' in Chinese culture. You may ponder how a people can endure centuries of political oppression, chaos and natural disasters but by simply accepting all human vice and cruelty as part of nature’s greater way. This is changing of course with the Chinese’s encounter with modern individualism, and a renewed sense of pride and national identity (however flaky it is); but it must be a necessary stage of development (as the ancient Chinese classic I Ching says: the dragon must soar before it feels regret).

Anyways, I find it problematic that both the mouthpieces of the Chinese and Western have been more than happy to throw incendiary jibes at each other for their own interests (and not for their citizens’ interests). How often do you see people quietly accept criticism wrapped in languages and concepts they do not understand, without retorting with a defense of their own worldviews? I hope we can just acknowledge that the East and West may simply have different phenomenological interpretations of the world.

I personally think that nothing save for a new level of spiritual transcendence in China will cure its own historical problem of breeding up-rooted social golems. That can only transpire if the global community, with the US playing a key role here, reaches a higher level of communicative, political transcendence and gives China a chance (the Chinese wisdom of achieving harmony and balanced composure comes to mind).

And that can start with how one looks at oneself and politics differently in a more self-critical and reconciliatory light. After all, does not the wisdom of the west tell us to remove the plank from our own eyes before we can see clearly enough to remove someone elses’?

Depends on what a threat means.

Is China going to be a powerful economic force that will eventually surpass the US? possible, but not in at least 30 years.

Is China going to compete with the US not only in low-end manufacturing but high-tech industries as well? count on it.

Is China going to be a military power strong enough to weaken the influence of the US in Asia? probably.

Is China going to get into a military conflict with the US over influence in Asia? unlikely, except if Taiwan declares independence.

Is China going to attack Hawaii, Japan, Germany or LA? although nothing is impossible, it is pretty close.

China is not, but The CCP is. CCP is the blockage for China to become democratic; they kidnapped the whole Chinese nation to maintain thier power. Japan, Taiwan and South Korea have proved that democracy is achievable in Far East, and it’s the foundation of stability and prosperity of the region. Free countries must help China to become democratic; it’s not only for the benefits of one quarter of world population, but also for your own national interest.

The "harvest organ" video has been proved fake. And I have heard plentiful stories about organ stealing in poor countries, like in India, Eastern European countries. Why not accuse them of "harvesting their own citizens' body parts"?

China is no threat. It's government, however, is a grave threat to the free world.
China's communist leadership is among the most corrupt leadership apparati in the world. Its respect for law and order is arbitrary at best. Its respect for the rights of religion, free speech and fair labor is non-existent.
Its respect for the environment is down-right poisonous...to itself and everyone else in the world.
Really, China's saving graces are its rich history, its culture, its dynamic population of hard-scrabble living, determined people. But until those people throw off the chains that bind them, until they recognize the precarious position their own rulers are positioning them for in the future, then even they will soon become, unwittingly, a grave threat to the rest of the world.
Stealing the west's technology, blackmailing the west's businesses and governments with lucrative markets and cheap investments, all the while building up a military that coud rival the west's only invites catastrophe on a large scale. So, ummm, yeah, China's is not just a threat...it's THE threat.
MW