China: 1995 vs. 2011

By Kang Hyun-kyung

BEIJING — Jiang Yu, spokeswoman of the Chinese foreign ministry, took the podium at 3 p.m. last Tuesday for a regular briefing at the International Press Center (IPC), held every Tuesday and Friday.

As soon as Jiang finished her opening remarks, a swarm of foreign correspondents had questions in English.

The reporters were curious about China’s position on the coalition’s military campaign against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, and whether China had any plan to resume the construction of nuclear reactors amid radiation fears after the Japan earthquake.

Jiang answered them in Chinese in a clear and unmistakable tone. Her words were translated into English by simultaneous interpreters.

Hundreds of reporters at the IPC illustrated that the world is checking closely how China is reacting to global issues, a reflection of its economic and diplomatic influence on the world.

Liu Zhiping, counselor of the foreign ministry’s department of information, told The Korea Times that approximately 800 foreign correspondents are currently based in Beijing. The number of international journalists in the capital city of the world’s most populous country has rapidly increased since 2000, she said.

“The 2008 Beijing Olympics marked another milestone prompting another increase of foreign journalists in Beijing,” Liu said.

It was not difficult to find stark differences between “an old China” that was jealous of prospering neighboring economies back in 1995 when this reporter visited Beijing for the first time and “a new China” on the latest visit.

Over the past 16 years, there has been an outstanding shift in China’s global profile; and on the landscape and neighborhoods of Beijing. Back in 1995, the air in Beijing was hard to breathe. There used to be vendors selling fruits and food items on the streets. But these are gone.

A new China

Old China was jealous of South Korea, which was labeled in the 1990s as one of four Asian tigers for achieving remarkable industrialization in a relatively short period of time. New China doesn’t display these feelings.

Back in 1995, a female Korean student on the doctoral program at Peking (Beijing) University said that Chinese students often compared Koreans with Japanese when they talked about the economic prosperity of Korea.

“They are basically saying that South Korea is rich but it is not as rich as Japan. Hyundai exports cars, but the quality of those cars is not as good as that of Japanese automakers,” she said.

In a meeting that took place between five other Korean journalists and several senior Chinese officials and reporters last week in Beijing, it was obvious that a jealous China doesn’t exist.

However, there was a mismatch between their words and deeds. Chinese officials tried to underestimate their nation’s global standing. They and journalists of the state-controlled media repeated the same story that approximately 200 million Chinese still live below the poverty line. They said the world’s second largest economy has a long way to go when it comes to the people’s standards of living.

Yet at the same time, China displays a keen interest in how it is portrayed by the Western media. Chinese officials said that China doesn’t deserve the accusation of being assertive as it aims to rise peacefully and has no intention of invading other nations. It is also striving to polish its national image in an attempt to make the world better understand China’s motives. And it tries to put all policy options together to make it look attractive.

There seems to be no doubt that the time is on China’s side.

The United States, the world’s number one economy, is facing an uphill battle. Washington is under criticism as its military is stretched thin by two wars, and it launched airstrikes against Libya. Last week, analysts calculated that the United States is spending upward of $1 billion on the military campaign against the Libyan leader. This comes in the wake of one of the toughest times for the U.S. economy after the global economic crisis in 2008.

Japan is dealing with the aftermath of the magnitude-9 earthquake, tsunami and radiation fears.

Asking not to be named, a source said “the backbone of Japan” was seriously damaged, hinting it will take time for the Japanese government to recover from the disaster.

The deep trouble facing Japan, a close ally of the United States,will add a burden to Washington.

It appears China’s economic and diplomatic landscape, which survived financial crises in 1997-1998 and 2008, couldn’t be better.

As the new China continues its rise, Seoul needs to learn how to decode China’s motives to keep downplaying its rise.

China: 몸 낮추는 중국

기자가 중국을 처음 방문한 1995년 11월의 베이징은 춥고, 매연으로 공기는 매우 탁했다. 베이징 대학에 재학 중이던 한 한국학생은 중국학생들에게 “한국이 잘살지만 일본 보다는 못하고, 한국이 자동차를 수출하지만 일본 차에는 뒤지지 않느냐”라는 말을 자주 듣는다고 했다. 외환위기 이전 당시 아시아의 용으로 불리며 “잘 나가던” 한국에 대한 일종의 시기심이었던 셈이다.

16년이 지난 후 다시 방문한 중국은 과거의 중국과는 딴판이었다. 중국인들은 더이상 한국을 일본과 비교하면서 끌어내리려 하지 않았다. 중국은 이미 세계의 중심으로 우뚝 자리를 잡고 있는 듯한 느낌이었다.

중국외교부 브리핑룸을 가득 채운 수백명의 외국기자들은 모든 국제현안에 대한 중국의 반응에 귀를 기울였다. 베이징에만 800여명 가량의 외신기자가 상주한다는 사실은 중국에 대한 국제사회의 관심이 어느 정도인지를 반영한다.

G2로 등극한 현재, 중국관료들은 오히려 몸을 낮춘다. 중국이 국제사회의 관심을 집중적으로 받는 현 상황에서 중국 관료들은 “많게는 2억 가량의 중국인들이 아직도 빈곤생활을 한다”고 강조한다.

1995년 이후 외환위기와 2008년 세계금융위기를 슬기롭게 극복하고 부상하는 중국은 미국과 유럽경제가 회복하는데 어려움을 겪고, 일본이 대지진 이후 방사능 공포에 휩싸이는 것과 대조적이다.

리비아 공습으로 미국내에서는 아프칸에 이어 두개의 전쟁을 치르면서 군사비 지출이 대폭 증가하는 것에 대한 비판이 힘을 얻고 있고, 지진과 방사능 후유증으로 문제에 직면한 우방 일본을 돕는 일 역시 미국의 국제사회 리더십을 테스트하는 계기로 작용할 것이다.

시간은 확실히 중국편인 셈. 그런데도 중국은 계속해서 몸을 낮추고 있다.