On January 28, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping set out his views on China's pursuit of a path of peaceful development. Although Chinese scholars understand Xi's speech as a reflection of the continuity of China's diplomacy, some foreign media interpreted his views in a different way. They highlighted Xi's "toughness," as Xi said, "No country should presume that we will engage in trade involving our core interests or that we will swallow the 'bitter fruit' of harming our sovereignty, security or development interests" when emphasizing China's peaceful development.

If such statements were made by other countries' leaders, they would not be regarded as anything special. Some countries are judging China with excessive standards. They expect China to trade its core interests for peaceful development. This way, they are able to reap illegitimate benefits. 

Criticizing China for becoming tougher in its diplomacy is not new. China is sincere in pursuing peaceful development, but achieving this requires cooperation and interaction from other countries. If they think Xi's statements on peaceful development are unacceptable, it's they themselves rather than China that should make an adjustment.

China's determination to not waive its legitimate interests and not sacrifice its core interests should be clearly understood by those countries. This is one of the preconditions for developing diplomatic relations with China.

Exaggeration of "China toughness" or "China threat" will not result in anything. China will stick to its strategies. Currently, as China is on the back foot in the battle of ideas, there are various negative sentiments toward China's rise in the West. China is willing to try its best to address these sentiments, but it won't do so at the cost of its own interests.

China is not the provocative side in disputes with Japan and the Philippines that have occurred in recent years. If Japan hadn't nationalized the Diaoyu Islands, or if the Philippines naval vessels hadn't dispersed Chinese fishermen around Huangyan Island, these crises wouldn't have broken out. China is the biggest power in East Asia, and it's also the main advocate of putting aside disputes and jointly developing disputed areas. As long as other countries don't provoke the status quo, a peaceful relationship with China can be maintained.

If China had really taken assertiveness in its strategy as a national policy, Asia wouldn't be what it looks like today.   

The outside world is perhaps unable to understand why China is so keen on balance and stability. The possibility that in the future China will become tougher cannot be excluded, but this depends on how proactive external forces will be. A few countries and forces press too much on China's interests, and should be clear about China's bottom line. As long as they deal with China in realistic terms, they will find China is kind and tolerant.