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US still unbeatable: PRC official
SEEKING BALANCE:In an article in a Chinese-language
publication, Le Yucheng wrote that while China tries to stay out of the
limelight, Beijing would not be bullied
Reuters, BEIJING
The US will retain unchallengeable global dominance for at least two decades, a
top Chinese official said in an essay urging his government to find a balance
between assertion and restraint.
Le Yucheng (¼Ö¥É¦¨), director-general of policy planning for China¡¦s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, made the remarks before Chinese President Hu Jintao¡¦s (JÀAÀÜ)
visit to the US last week, but they reflect the thinking behind Hu¡¦s four-day
effort to both reassure Washington while pressing Beijing¡¦s own complaints.
The worst of the global financial crisis had passed, but its aftershocks would
continue to drag on wealthy economies and are hastening a ¡§historic
transformation in the international balance of powers,¡¨ Le said in the Foreign
Affairs Review, a Chinese-language publication overseen by his ministry.
China must not assume, however, that the US is suffering irreversible decline or
that the two powers will soon be near equals, Le said in an issue that reached
subscribers yesterday, but was dated late last month.
¡§With the newly emerging powers growing faster, the United States¡¦ share of the
pie is shrinking in relative terms and so the fact is that its advantages are
also shrinking,¡¨ Le said.
¡§But the United States is after all the United States. It makes up one quarter
of the world economy, it holds incomparable military, scientific and innovative
strengths, and we must not underestimate the United States¡¦ capacity to adjust
and restore its powers,¡¨ Le said. ¡§In particular, the United States¡¦ strength
and influence remain far in the lead and will be unbeatable for the next 20 to
30 years.¡¨
Some of Le¡¦s comments were published in a state-run newspaper, the Global Times,
late last year, and the Foreign Affairs Review said his essay also took elements
from his recent official reports on international developments.
Le stressed that while China was a rising power, it did not want to cast itself
as an emerging peer or challenger of the US and advanced West. New comments from
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (·¨¼äãW) also underscored that theme.
¡§The international situation is undergoing far-reaching adjustments in the wake
of the financial crisis,¡¨ Yang wrote in International Studies, a
Chinese-language journal that reached subscribers yesterday. ¡§But developing
countries still face many hardships and challenges.¡¨
Le dismissed warnings that China was becoming more hardline, but said it would
not be pushed around.
¡§While we stress keeping our heads down and working hard, not taking the lead or
becoming the banner-holder, that does not mean that China will meekly submit to
pressure, tolerate being bullied or stay passive,¡¨ he said. ¡§In bilateral
cooperation with the United States, China feels that it receives unequal
treatment from the US on many points.¡¨
Le said military exercises would not solve the long-standing conflict between
North and South Korea, but China was not seeking to push the US from the region,
he said.
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