The pace of Chinese development in the past 60 years is one of the wonders of the world. Not long ago the entire Chinese nation was kept in bondage by the East India Company which forced the country to continue to import opium. When the patriots revolted, Britain forced two wars on them. Finally Mao Ze Dung led the country to freedom from the machinations of Imperial Japan, Colonial Britain and a US which was supporting others in the civil war. In the past century the Chinese have walked softly and hidden the Big stick. It has whispered where others have shouted. The leadership in Beijing has bitten its lip on Taiwan and Arunchal Pradesh. It has kept quiet on the boundary line South of Tibet and kept quiet on international issues that it felt strongly about. Now the results are evident for all to see.
India has been buying weapons and trying to build them for decades. It has been buying junk from Moscow (Flying Coffins) and has been unable to produce weapons on its own. The list of Indian failures is long. Kevari Engine, Tejas LCA, Trishul, Nag, Agni Arjun and Brahmos are a few examples of the total failure of the Delhi arms.Indian missile failures
Indiaus, Chindia, or Chinapak or Uspak? Are the zero-sum games of the Cold War over? India vs. China: who is winning? As Beijing prepares for the “Chinese century”, many questions are unanswered. The end of an era, the shrinking superpower, the emerging quad led by China…should the world look toward the coming war between India and China or should it prepare for a multipolar planet? The conventional wisdom globally is that Pakistan is China’s Israel. Is that still valid?
The Chinese version of “speak softly and carry a big stick” was enunciated by the realist Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who said “Observe calmly; secure our position; cope with affairs calmly; hide our capacities and bide our time; be good at maintaining a low profile; and never claim leadership.” Beijing has been silently building a big stick for the past six decades. The Chinese see the Hillary Clinton trip for what it is – begging Beijing to continue to purchase US Treasury bonds. India feels pained about this.
China has grown to be a new heavyweight player and has stepped into the limelight on the world stage. And its role in salvaging the plummeting world economy looms large and active. As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during her recent Asian tour, “The U.S. appreciates the continued Chinese confidence in the U.S treasuries.” If the Cold War was a tug of war between East and West and a showcase of hard power, what we have today, for the first time in history, is a global, multicivilizational and multipolar competition, and a display of smart power. To be the winner, one has to seek cooperation rather than confrontation, a point made by Li Hongmei, a columnist for the People’s Daily Online.
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