From Overseas Press

Time to have a new view of China

(chinadailiy.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-07 17:10

The world should understand China in a new way rather than simply criticizing it, said Anthony Cheung, the executive councilor and founder of SynergyNet, a policy think tank.

In the article written for South China Morning Post on May 4, Cheung pointed out that despite great achievements in economic and social development, some Western press still "view Chinese efforts with sarcasm. For example, taking the China pavilion with its red color as representing an ancient imperial crown intended to awe visitors."

Cheung admits that China has its own problems during the social transition. "Local government performance and governance capabilities continue to lag behind. Corruption has become more rampant. Democratization has been avoided. A vibrant civil society has not blossomed."

Moreover, "growing income disparities breed unrest; the blatant displacement of local residents to give way to property and other development projects are eroding the very social harmony that the current leadership seeks to foster."

However, Cheung underlines that China's tremendous advance during 30 years of painstaking reform can not be ignored. "China might be disconcerting. But it is well into a new era of vitality in regaining a sense of great nationhood."

Western countries have to realize that China "will never be an object open to transformation according to Western design", said Cheung, "Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has recently called for a new approach to Sinology and the understanding of China by moving beyond the binary language of the cold war - being either anti- or pro-China."