China is able to weather storms in Pacific

BEIJING - Recently the Pacific Ocean has been witnessing a number of storms in high seas close to China.

Apart from quarrels on China's decision to set up an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, media has reported a near collision when a U.S. warship was monitoring a Chinese fleet in the South China Sea. Moreover, Japan adopted new defense program guidelines and boosted its mid-term defense budget for the first time in 11 years.

However, Beijing remains calm and peaceful over those incidents. As a burgeoning power striving for peace and development, China can withstand such storms, and boast courage and vision to confront such challenges.

For Japan, the latest move to military build-up is another attempt of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost the country's military might which is against the mainstream mentality of the time.

Abe is reluctant to acknowledge his next step to revise Japan's post-war pacifist constitution, which Abe and the rightists have long regarded as a barrier to Japan's becoming a "normal state."

China is fully on alert with Japan's military expansion. History has repeatedly proven that Japan's aggression always ended up with failures.

For the near collision incident, it is the US missile cruiser Cowpens that was monitoring, following and harassing the drills of the Chinese fleet including aircraft carrier Liaoning. It is appropriate for the Chinese warship to take necessary measures to stop Cowpens's dangerous actions.

When it comes to the ADIZ, China has just followed what the United States did in the 1950s. The reality is that more and more countries in the region have recognized China's ADIZ, making Tokyo increasingly isolated on the issue.

From a broader perspective, the rapid development of China turns out to be a miracle of the 21st century. Within a decade, China has overtaken France, Britain, Germany and Japan to become the second biggest economy. The whole world, including China itself, has been adapting to the new landscape.

However, certain countries are attempting to slow down China's pace of development, citing Beijing's peaceful rise as a threat.

Being fully aware of such schemes, China has the courage and capacity to weather the storms in the western Pacific.