Peaceful rise, in three steps

While the Indian leaders merely rule, the Chinese tend to reign. Since Jawaharlal Nehru, few Indians have sought to articulate big ideas tha...

While the Indian leaders merely rule, the Chinese tend to reign. Since Jawaharlal Nehru, few Indians have sought to articulate big ideas that help define their era as well as their individual place in history. In contrast, successors to Mao Zedong have insisted on identifying broad political themes that are unique to their rule. This probably stems from the desire of the Chinese Communist leaders to emulate the tradition of sage-emperors in the middle kingdom. It is not surprising then to see President Hu Jintao come up with the theory of 8220;three harmonies8221; 8212; seeking peace in the world, reconciliation with Taiwan, and the creation of a harmonious society at home.

Most of these ideas have already been articulated by the CCP in recent years. The notion of a harmonious society that must overcome the increasing divisions and tensions that have emerged in Chinese society along with prosperity has been dominant in Hu8217;s speeches for nearly a year. Hu has also talked about China8217;s 8220;peaceful rise8221; that does not threaten other nations in the world. Yet, Hu finds it necessary to have a catchy phrase, with not too many numbers in it, that the Chinese can easily learn by rote. Hu8217;s theory of 8220;three harmonies8221; must now be expected to steadily replace his predecessor Jiang Zemin8217;s slogan on 8220;three represents8221; in Chinese communist catechism. The essence of 8220;three represents8221; was that the Chinese Communist Party should not merely represent the working class but also the entire people. The Party, according to Jiang, must also represent the most advanced culture and productive forces.

Hierarchy of thought

Even in peddling new ideas, there is a kind of political hierarchy that the leaders tend to follow. The lowest rung belongs to 8220;principles8221;. At the highest is 8220;thought8221;. For now only the ideas of Mao Zedong are characterised as worthy of the intellectual pinnacle 8212; a belief system or 8220;thought8221;. Deng, who did the real nation-building in modern China, was always modest and refused to let a personality cult develop around himself or allow the party to elevate his ideas to the level of 8220;thought8221;. His legacy of four modernisations is only described as a 8220;theory8221;. Jiang Zemin was not as modest. He apparently tried to get his idea of 8220;three represents8221; endorsed by the Party as 8220;thought8221; but could not succeed. We will have to wait and see if Hu8217;s theory of 8220;three harmonies8221; would ever be sanctified as more exalted 8220;thought8221;.

Men and machinations

Last month China announced that it had completed the planned reform of its armed forces by cutting its size by 200,000 during 2003-05. The official strength of the armed forces was 4.2 million in 1987 and it had come down to 2.5 million in 2003. In the past India tended to dismiss reports on the downsizing of Chinese armed forces as mere propaganda. The time has come for New Delhi to pay serious attention to the far-reaching military reforms in China.

Like the US, China is determined to make its armed forces leaner and meaner 8212; more mobile, better educated, technology-oriented. 8220;Our military is marching towards the goal of an appropriately sized, structurally balanced, lean, command-responsive fighting force8221;, the People8217;s Liberation Army Daily said last month. It added that the proportion of military serving in the infantry had fallen to a 8220;historic low8221;, while the share in the navy, air force and Second Artillery Corps 8212; which maintains China8217;s nuclear missiles 8212; had risen and the size of forces equipped with advanced weapons has increased. While China is keeping up with the times on the military front, there is hardly any evidence of a serious debate in South Block on long overdue defence reforms.

Lost in translation

When US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick made a speech on China last September in New York, Chinese newspapers went into a tizzy debating one particular word he had used 8212; 8220;stake-holder8221;. Beijing knew that whatever Zoellick had to say was important, given his position in the Bush administration as the pointman for a new American strategy towards China. But they found it hard to translate the word 8220;stakeholder8221; into Chinese. An impressive debate followed in Beijing, since the idea of a 8220;stakeholder8221; was the key to understand the evolving US policy towards China.

In the US, Zoellick was seen to be outlining a 8220;hedging strategy8221; 8212; that recognised China as a rising power but wondered how China would use its new power and influence in the world. If China behaved as a 8220;responsible stakeholder8221; in the global order, there8217;d be no need to contain it. However, if China does not play by the rules, he suggested, the US and other powers will have no option but to 8220;hedge8221; their bets.

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When he travelled through China last week, Zoellick was questioned everywhere on the meaning of the term 8220;stakeholder8221;. While a rising China is debating the relationship between power and responsibility in the international system, India is yet to initiate one. The Indian public discourse on the meaning of its own rise, unfortunately, continues to be trapped in such old old slogans as 8220;imperialism versus third world8221;.