As stated in the report to the 16th CPC National Congress, "the first two decades of the 21st century are a period of important strategic opportunities, which we must seize tightly and which offer bright prospects." China in the first 10 years has grasped the strategic opportunities for economic development, achieving astounding results.

However, as its GDP surpassed that of Japan in 2011 and the US initiated its pivot to Asia, Beijing is facing a deteriorating external economic and political environment, particularly with tensions on the periphery rising. This requires China to extend its strategic thinking surrounding its peaceful rise.

The main themes in today's world affairs are peace and development, but meanwhile, regional wars never ceased for an instant after WWII.

The world has undergone the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Afghan and Iraq wars waged by the US.

In the post-WWII era, Western countries led by the US launched a series of wars while maintaining their domestic peace, which indicates that a country must secure its war-making power in order to safeguard development and peace.

Nowadays, war is not really far removed from us. People tend to define peace and the use of force in isolation, but in fact peace and force are two relative concepts.

The rejuvenation of China is a way of peaceful development, which is different from the rising of any other major powers across the world.

In history, all countries resorted to force, coercion, expansion and invasion in their rise to power. In comparison, China is depending on its own development and cooperation with others to realize rejuvenation. Nonetheless, a peaceful rise doesn't mean foregoing the use of force entirely.

The macro peaceful development strategy won't be affected if we selectively use force in safeguarding territorial integrity and maritime interests. For instance, we could use 10 percent force along with 90 percent negotiation to quell disputes. This doesn't shy away from the road of a peaceful rise. When it comes to safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity, we shouldn't trap ourselves by rigidly sticking to the concept of peaceful development.

The international political environment is changing. The period of strategic opportunities includes two aspects: sustaining economic development and realizing the country's reunification through safeguarding maritime sovereignty and recovering lost territory.

When the strategic opportunities for the latter are coming, we must seize them without hesitation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China, the sleeping lion, has woken up. Present-day China should cope with the challenges on its maritime interests sober-mindedly and decisively, taking the initiative to win the future.

The author is director of the Maritime Politics and Strategy Studies Center at Guangdong Ocean University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn