Chinese skeptical of superpower flattery
- Source: Global Times
- [12:34 April 19 2009]
by Kang Juan
US Senator John McCain told Global Times yesterday in Beijing that China has already become a superpower, and it plays an increasingly important role on the world stage.
However, the theory that China is a superpower is being spurned as a myth by Chinese officials, scholars and the public, even though they always disagree on the role China plays in the world.
According to an online poll conducted by Huanqiu.com, the Chinese-language website of Global Times, 68.30% of 4,738 netizens had voiced their disagreement with the superpower label by early last night, saying that China faces many national challenges and is still far from a superpower. Only 3.64% supported McCain’s opinion, and the remaining 28% said the label was meaningless.
Prominence on the world stage
“Whether it be economic or in any other measurement, China has become one of the world superpowers,” McCain said.
While stressing that the US strongly supports meetings such as the G20 Summit, which he believes is important to engage every nation, McCain also noted that “we talk more and more about ‘G2,’ because of the prominence and importance of China on the world stage.”
“G2” is a term often used to describe relations between China and the US.
Niu Xinchun, an expert on Sino-US relations at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said what he believed is the more practical definition of the term, saying, “There’s no doubt that China has grown strong, but the G2 expression is still ambiguous. The academic circle has very different opinions on the definition of G2 now. Some scholars believe G2 means Sino-US cooperation, which is said to be the only way to solve many significant global prob¬lems.”
However, he added, “Others believe that China and the US should form two big groups and together govern the world.”
And in that regard, McCain said, reiterating previous state¬ments by US officials, China needs to get tough on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) after its rocket launch on Sunday.