“responsibilities” are mainly in the following areas:

Effective handling of domestic affairs

China is the world’s largest developing country, and, with a population of 1.3 billion, it is home to one fifth of the world’s people. Handling our own affairs well is our biggest responsibility to the international community. Since reform and opening up began more than two decades ago, China has reduced the number of its people living below the poverty line by 300 million, thereby contributing significantly to worldwide poverty reduction efforts and winning the acclaim of the United Nations.

Member of global community

As a founding member of the UN, China has always observed the UN Charter and international laws. The country has signed nearly 300 international treaties and is a member of more than 130 international organizations. To fulfill one’s duty according to the rules is necessary for the rule of law, and this is what China has been doing.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China should of course carry out the responsibilities that come with that status. It has a good record in terms of fulfilling its international duties and responsibilities. As its overall strength increases, China’s contribution will grow. For example, once China did not take part in UN peacekeeping missions, but it is now providing more peacekeepers than any of the other permanent members of the Security Council.

Dealing with universal challenges

The world must unite to fight the challenges that face mankind-climate change, environmental pollution, natural disasters, international crime, drugs and epidemics. During its 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), China is determined to cut its energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of gross domestic product by about 20 percent from 2005 levels and to cut its pollutant discharges by 10 percent. These targets have been made compulsory, which reflects China’s sense of responsibility as a big nation.

Promoting peace and development

Peace is a precondition for development. China supports the peaceful resolution of international disputes and is opposed to any unilateral use of force or even the threat of using force that is contrary to the UN Charter and international law. Important progress has been made in the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue and China’s role in this has been recognized and acclaimed by all parties and the international community. This reflects China’s commitment to its responsibility to promote peace.

Development is another big issue facing the world, which has been highlighted by the increase in poverty-stricken population worldwide. At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Beijing in November 2006, the Chinese Government committed itself to a bigger contribution to common progress of the international community. At the start of this year, President Hu Jintao visited eight African countries to fulfill the promises made at the forum. China and Africa have been cooperating as equals for some time now, and the relationship is mutually beneficial. This shows that China is living up to its responsibilities to give a boost to world development.

For centuries, the world has been Western-centered. Although the global situation is changing, the West as the center of the world is still a prevalent Western opinion. If one does as the Western world asks, the West says it has acted responsibly; if one does not, then it will be blamed for having failed its responsibilities. The practice of being self-centered and asking others to act in its own interests is not only impractical but also illogical.

China believes in democratic international relations, meaning that international issues should be resolved through discussion, in which every country, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, is involved. It is ready to face challenges common to mankind and fulfill its responsibilities according to international rules so as to contribute to the two major issues of peace and development.

Strong Intentions

The increasing strength of a nation brings with it the need to be responsible. Chen Hu, Executive Chief Editor of the World Military Affairs magazine, shares his analysis of what this responsibility means to China with People’s Daily Online. Excerpts follow:

As China’s overall national strength has increased alongside its rapid economic growth in recent years, much talk has been heard of the country’s need to become “a responsible big nation.” So, as a responsible big nation, just how big should its responsibilities be? It is not easy to answer this question, however, since there are many relevant matters to consider. When the threats of terrorism swept across the world, vehement demands were made on China to cooperate with the international community to jointly respond to these threats; when natural calamities occurred, the international community asked China to grant humanitarian aid or assistance and; when there were crises occurring in Asia or elsewhere in the world, people again required China to help resolve them with its growing influence.

But along with its global responsibilities, China still has a great domestic role to play. It is no trifling matter, from any perspective to guarantee the right of survival and development for its 1.3 billion people. And compared with developed countries, China, as a developing nation, is faced with more challenges, such as those pertaining to energy security, information security and trade security. Even its own national reunification still calls for an urgent solution. Though termed internal responsibilities, any overall issues China is facing can be said to be of global interests, since the country has almost one fifth of the total global population.

This being the case, China’s responsibilities are great.

No nation can take up its responsibilities if it is short of strength and, if it wants to take up more responsibilities, it needs more strength as backup. The strength we are talking about here includes a country’s military power. Nevertheless, whenever China takes steps and makes any progress in its military modernization, there is always uproar to censure it for building up its military capabilities.

It has been said that the progress China makes in the science and technology of its national defense has been too fast, with a trend leading to further acceleration. But what people forget is that the rapid growth of China’s national strength is built on the fact that it has had to catch up with the rest of the world, and to do this it must accelerate its development in science and technology. Compared with advanced world standards, China is now making achievements that have already been available in other advanced countries decades ago.

Critics often say that China’s military modernization process is not transparent enough. As a matter of fact, intelligence is equal to power in the current information age. A nation with a mightier national strength is better able to acquire intelligence data from its adversaries and has much more room to maneuver for the release of such information. Conversely, a nation with a weaker national strength needs a stricter, higher degree of classification of its information, because it is almost impossible for any country to release or publicize its own defense information without reservation. In fact, the speed at which China’s military capabilities are becoming transparent has so far overtaken that of any other sector in the country.

Observers have commented that the development of China’s national strength has violated or broken the regional balance of power. That balance itself is in a dynamic and relative state. In the contemporary world, the national defense spending of an individual country can equal the combined sum of several nations’ military expenses; a single nation can issue threats of war to several countries or even an entire region. Can such a power be said to be in a state of equilibrium? Indeed, only by doing away with the original equilibrium, can the establishment of a more balanced world be facilitated.

In retrospect, where do these comments really come from? They have definitely come from a nation leading or steering trends in the development of military science and technology globally, and from a nation of super-powerful military might with its military deployment spreading worldwide. China is being criticized for developing its third-generation jet fighters when in fact the detractor has already started to equip its armed forces with the most sophisticated fourth-generation warplanes. Under these circumstances, people should stop and think about the real intentions behind the constant raising of the alarms.