Eyes On.... CHINA in the Global Economy
Student Text Page No. 2: "A Regional Setting"

High noon in Jiayuguan... Standing atop China's Great Wall, the Swedish teenager reads aloud from a guidebook. This part of the Wall is called the Jiayuguan Pass, she begins. It was built as a fortress six centuries ago, to defend China against attacks.... Her friends squint at the horizon, imagining a band of armed invaders....

In 1372, when work at Jiayuguan began, China's civilization was already more than six thousand years old. Archaeologists tell us that's how long ago the Chinese culture began evolving in villages near the Yellow River. Later generations spread this culture as they migrated south and west. And over time, clusters of villages became kingdoms, then kingdoms merged into an empire.

Growth and change. Occasionally, this empire had to fight off invaders. But China's contacts with its neighbors were mostly peaceful. Other Asian peoples were eager to visit China. Some wanted to learn from its philosophers and engineers; others sought to acquire its silks and precious goods. This pattern lasted for millennia. But in the early 1900s, a series of crushing events — revolution, wars, invasion, famine — signaled the empire's end. China's people survived, however, emerging from World War II with hopes for a fresh start under a new government. In 1949 the People's Republic of China (PRC) was formed under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Regional partners. One of the PRC's top priorities was to restore good relations with its neighbors. Many of them had new post-war governments, too, and some were unsure about how to deal with the "new" China. Others — Russia, for example — had border disputes with the PRC. But China's leaders persevered, working for "win-win" solutions in each case, and the country gradually resumed its role as a regional mainstay. Indeed, patience is one of China's assets. In 1991, for example, it opened a dialogue on free trade with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In 2002 (more than a decade later!), both sides finally agreed to form a mutual free-trade zone. In fact, trade with China is a major link throughout the region. In combined exports and imports, China is now the No. 1 trade partner of Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea — and the No. 2 trade partner of India, Pakistan, and Russia....

Seeking security. For China and the other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), security concerns form another kind of regional link. Three members — China, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan — border on Afghanistan, where a long struggle against terrorism has yet to be resolved. The other three — Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan — are close by. Thus, all SCO members work together to prevent the spread of terrorism within Central Asia. An even more difficult challenge lies to China's northeast, where it borders on North Korea. News of this neighbor's pursuit of armed nuclear power has troubled China and others for years. As a member of "six-party" talks (which also include North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia, and the USA), China has urged its neighbor to forego nuclear weapons. But in April 2009, North Korea withdrew from the talks. What next? Many hope China can find a way forward.

Re-Focus! In China's eyes, the pursuit of harmony among nations ranks close to the pursuit of security. Thus, despite sad memories of an invasion by Japan in the 1930s, the PRC has been looking for ways to form closer ties with Japan's people. In June 2009, they succeeded: Both nations pledged to "promote cooperation on ... environmental protection." And the PRC signed a contract with Japanese environmentalists, inviting them to help turn China's old industrial city of Shenyang into a model of conservation.... (Wait! Is this an example of something new? Could this be "win-win-win"?)