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People's Daily, People's Republic of China

Neither Bad-Mouthing nor Words of Flattery Will Alter China's Course

Columnist Tao Wenzhao of the overseas edition of state-run People's Daily, in a retort to Time Magazine's Michael Schuman, asserts that China has heard the China 'bad mouthers' many times before, and has always proven them wrong.

By Tao Wenzhao

Translated By James Chen

March 2, 2012

People's Republic of China - People's Daily - Original Article (Chinese)

A migrant worker, his son and his wife at a dorm for construction workers in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, May 25. Pay an standards have been on the rise for China's migrant worker population - but they remain spendthrifts, much to the frustration of Beijing. CCTV CHINA VIDEO: Despite America's military push in the Asi-Pacific, China values good U.S. relations, Mar. 11, 00:02:51

On February 27, Time Magazine Web site published an article by senior reporter Michael Schuman, asserting that China's economic system is unsustainable. The writer argues that a crisis in China could break out around 2014 or 2015. This another is the latest version of "Bad-Mouthing China."

In fact, over the past 20 years, the "Bad-Mouthing China" theory has repeatedly reared its head. In the United States during the early 1990s, this theory was greatly in fashion. Some U.S. politicians and academics thought that since the Communist Party of the Soviet Union fell apart so quickly after 70 years, there was no reason China's wouldn't follow suit. Articles were published claiming "China is on the edge of territorial partition, political collapse or democratic revolution."

China's development flew in the face of these expectations: not only didn't China collapse, but after Deng Xiaoping's 1992 Southern Tour triggered an upsurge of reform and opening up, and the nation experienced sustained and rapid economic development.

Schumann argues that since China follows the so-called Asian economic model of an investment-driven economy, and since Japan and South Korea have been in crisis and have also adopted this model, China will inevitably slide into the abyss of crisis. Since some Asian countries like Japan and South Korea have experienced crisis, China will not escape one. That seems to be the author's logic.

In fact, China's economic development follows no pre-existing model. For a country with such a huge population and weak economic foundation, China had to strike out on a unique path of development suited to its own national conditions. This offers a sense of Deng Xiaoping's policy of "crossing the river by feeling for the stones," and has been China's practice for the past 32 years.

Schumann's article mentions limited space for growth, so let us take a look at this.

China has confronted tough challenges for years, such as shortage of resources, environmental degradation, an aging society, insufficient domestic demand, growing and excessive dependence on investment, infusions of labor, and so on. These issues have been discussed for quite some time now, which is why, in line with scientific development and the Twelfth Five-Year Guideline, adjusting the economic growth model is our central task. The conclusion of the Chinese people is that we can successfully implement such an adjustment while sustaining China's economic development. Not only can sustainable growth be achieved during the next 20 years of high-growth opportunity, but the window of opportunity can be extended. That is the mainstream view internationally, as evidenced by the recent World Bank report.

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

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[Editor's Note: The Twelfth Five-Year Guideline is representative of China's efforts to rebalance its economy, shifting emphasis from investment toward consumption; and from urban and coastal development toward development of rural and inland areas. The plan continues to advocate the objectives set out in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan to enhance environmental protection, accelerate opening up and reform, and emphasize Hong Kong's role as a center of global finance.]

After so many years of reform and opening up, the Chinese public and media are mature enough not to be either carried away by China-flattering, nor worked up by bad-mouthing of China. The United States is a pluralistic society where it is natural to have differing views on the same issue. As a matter of fact, just a few days ago, The Wall Street Journal published an article criticizing "China-bashing" in five areas, including investment, real estate, shadow banking, labor, and debt levels. In the opinion of The Wall Street Journal, China-bashing lacks credibility.

We will calmly listen to all of these views, as long as there are rational elements to take note of. The best answer to China-bashing is China's economic growth itself.

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