The Middle Kingdom is flexing its muscle – figuratively and historically. During the Beijing Olympics 2008, the world saw a fantastic act of China’s formidable dominance in the Olympic sports and hence on the world at large. In 1948, China, under the brilliant leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong, began it’s journey by standing on it’s own feet. No undue foreign interference detracted China and it’s people to be the master of their own destiny.
China’s skilled leadership chose the ‘self reliance model’ to advance in economics, education, and sports. And it paid off. Chinese people’s commitment to work ethics and their remarkable nationalist leadership made China a world power in half a century.
Since late 1970s, paramount leader Deng Xiao Bing took China one step farther: he set the course of action to make China an economic super power. China progressed economically very fast. It has become the largest manufacturing platform of the world.
Our modern world could not survive effectively without China’s manufacturing ingenuity. No country in human history progressed economically as fast as China. With double digit growth rate China is destined to become the largest economy in the world within 20 years.
Napoleon once said, “China is a sleeping Lion” and that was then in the 18th century. The sleeping Lion woke up in the 20th century, and the Lion’s growl can be heard all over the word at the dawn of the 21st century.
China will put it’s mark in the affairs of the world on it’s own terms. The management, technological and gold medal success of China in the Beijing Olympics has proved – China is no more an emerging power – it’s a power in it’s own right.
China can’t be challenged or intimidated. China sets it’s own agenda. In a way, China’s emergence to a powerful entity is the logical extension of the China’s systemic journey in the area of education, economics and sports since independence in 1948.
With one-fifth of the world’s population, China is one-fifth of the world in everything. So China’s emergence to a world power is rather normal. It took longer; because for centuries China had it’s own internal political and social crisis, and of course the West took the full advantage of China’s weakness.
During the middle age, China was one of the largest economy of the world. Some scholars suggest even in 1820, Chinese economy was one third of the world’s economy. Tell me history repeats itself.
In modern time, every one – the West and the Rest – has to realize that China’s emergence as a world power is not to be viewed as something evil and unwarranted. China’s progress is rather normal and it needs to be accommodated by all nations – one fifth of the world’s population will have one fifth of the world’s influence.
In the age of global village, we are all part of the same world. China’s progress is complementary to world’s progress as is the case with America’s progress – which brought advancement not only in America but around the world. China’s must play it’s success card with wisdom and harmony – so that the world could be a better place for everyone.