The Mysterious Neighbor

China Newsweek

October 27

As ancient Oriental civilizations located respectively on the north and south side of the Himalayas, China and India share many similarities. They both have a population of over 1 billion, hold enormous potential for economic development, and their respective military powers have both been consistently on the ascension.

However, despite their similarities, for many Chinese, India remains a strange and, culturally if not geographically, distant land. The Chinese people's understanding of India has been of late limited only to reports about numerous recent rape cases in the country, Sino-Indian border disputes and President Xi Jinping's visit to the country in September. Their impression of India is mainly derived from movies such as Slumdog Millionaire. In 2013, the number of Chinese tourists to India was just over 1 million.

It might therefore be surmised that the Chinese people's understanding of India is wholly inadequate. As two nations rising in the world, the relationship between China and India is of great importance in the 21st century. With the global center of gravity shifting to Asia, the matter of India, which has become Asia's third and the world's ninth largest economy, will increasingly have bearing on both China and the world.

In addition to their knowledge regarding popular subjects such as the Bollywood film industry, the much-revered Indian cuisine, India's dominant place in the global IT industry and the infamous slums of its main cities, the Chinese need to know more about India.

Repositioning Confucianism

Caijing Magazine

October 27

The series of activities recently carried out by the Chinese Government commemorating the 2565th anniversary of the birth of ancient philosopher Confucius have sparked a fresh debate on traditional Chinese culture.

Since the 1990s, China's traditional culture has attracted an ever-increasing amount of attention. However, there have long been two polarized opinions, with those who endorse it holding that traditional culture should rightfully be inherited because it can overcome the shortcomings of our present society and its opponents regarding it as a giant obstacle to social progress.

Every nation should cherish its traditions. Discussing whether or not the Chinese should pass on their traditional culture is an exercise in futility because as long as one speaks Chinese and writes in Chinese, he or she cannot possibly evade traditional culture.

However, it is notable that the Chinese traditional culture based on Confucianism has not displayed a strong ability or tendency to improve itself. That's partly because as Confucianism was historically wedded to political power, it was shielded from public commentary or criticism. This made it roundly impossible for the philosophy to re-evaluate itself and change with the times.

No such obstacles any longer exist with regard to researching Confucianism and other traditional systems of thought in China. A large amount of funds are being invested in several major projects aiming to study ancient culture. Scholars should also carry out comparative studies of Chinese and Western cultures and learn about the advantages of other philosophical traditions.

Fewer Death Penalties

Global Times

October 28

China's lawmakers are mulling over removing death penalties for nine crimes, including smuggling weapons and nuclear materials as well as fraud. This move would bring the total number of capital sentences down from 55 to 46. The draft amendment to the Criminal Law was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for a first reading during the legislature's bi-monthly session.

China's policy of diminishing death penalties for certain crimes while retaining capital sentences for others is stable. Some have raised concerns that a reduction in crimes punishable by death will lead to more crime. This is mostly a baseless assumption. Throughout the world, no evidences prove that a lessening of the death penalty will lead to a higher rate of crime. Efforts to increase the efficiency of solving criminal cases and prevent crimes will help to make up for the loss of deterrence resulting from the abolition of death penalties for these nine crimes.

Stopping the use of the death penalty for non-violent crimes seems to be an irreversible trend in the long term, which will have to be realized one step at a time. It's improper to exaggerate the threat that reducing death penalty-punishable crimes would bring.