Opinion

Experts: China to face external challenges

By Fu Jing (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-10-19 22:18

BRUSSELS -- China's leadership has signaled it will take more "proactive" approaches to cope with global risks while European experts forecast that China will face external challenges if the West continues to suffer from economic strains.

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The scholars said China's leaders, who ended an annual decision-making meeting on Monday, have made a strategic shift to deal with risks at home and abroad with proactive approaches.

"However, in practice, every single risk is too complicated and they test the core leadership and wisdom of China's high decision makers," said Men Jing, Baillet-Latour Chair of European Union-China Relations at the College of Europe in Belgium, commenting on China's diplomatic trends after the high-profile meeting.

After the four-day Fifth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, China's highest leadership made public a communiqué, which said that China is still bracing for a strategic period of tremendous development opportunities while "predictable and unpredictable" external and internal risks are increasing.

It urged decision makers to employ "proactive solutions" to create a sound environment for China's modernization drive.

"The leaders are sober-minded when assessing the risks," said Men.

Many external unexpected risks, such as extreme weather, energy supply fluctuations, financial turmoil, trade wars or terrorist attacks may have huge impacts on China, because it has such a big population and is highly dependent on global supply chains.

Men also listed challenges within China, including its capabilities to protect its territorial sovereignty, fight separatists, cope with natural disasters and epidemic diseases.

"If China can't deal with these challenging issues properly, they may have global consequences, as many such incidents during past five years have already shown," added Men.

But China's leaders are more mature after decades of learning about how to deal with the rest of world.

"We are delighted to see that China has decided to take proactive, not reactive, approaches to meet the challenges," said Men.

David Fouquet, director of the Brussels-based Asia Europe Project Information Service, said the West had been watching the meeting with considerable interest and involvement in the outcome of the historic plenary..

"The West's attitude and tolerance toward China may also be determined by socio-economic factors," said Fouquet.

If the West manages to reduce some of the economic, social and political stresses arising from the economic crisis of the past two years, it may have greater tolerance to accept the situation in China, he said.

But if the economic strain continues, it is bound to stimulate a more defensive attitude among Western politicians toward China.

"They may then get tough with China's policies, raising tension in foreign relations," said Fouquet.