• Burmese
Monday, July 14, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
30 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

China Shows a Softer Side

Ben Blanchard by Ben Blanchard
December 2, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
China Shows a Softer Side

Chinese President XI Jinping speaks during a news conference with US President Barack Obama in the Great Hall of the People of Beijing on Nov. 12. (Photo: Reuters)

5.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

From a military rules-of-the-road agreement with Washington to US$20 billion in loans for Southeast Asia, Beijing has set aside the tensions of recent years to present a softer side to the world last month.

But proof of whether President Xi Jinping is serious about narrowing differences that have marked his first two years in office will depend on how China’s festering disputes are managed in the months ahead.

The possibilities for disagreement are many, from cyberspying to land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea and the deeply emotional issue for China of how Japan deals with next year’s 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

RelatedPosts

Ma Win Maw Oo, soaked in blood, is carried by two medics on Sept. 19, 1988 in downtown Yangon after troops gunned down peaceful demonstrators. / S. Lehman / Visions

Why the Past Can’t Be Put to Rest

September 19, 2020
8.2k
Renowned Myanmar language teacher John Okell is still inspiring students, five decades on.

Love of the Lingo

August 5, 2020
10.2k
Maung Thaw Ka (standing, left) accompanies Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (with microphone) during her first-ever speech to the Myanmar public, delivered outside Yangon General Hospital on Aug. 24, 1988, two days before her historic address to a huge crowd outside the city’s Shwedagon Pagoda.

A Tribute to Maung Thaw Ka

June 11, 2020
7.6k

China set nerves on edge with its air defense zone over the East China Sea, by sending an oil rig deep into waters disputed with Vietnam and by unveiling advanced new weapons, including a prototype stealth fighter.

But China has recently gone out of its way to set minds at ease as President Xi hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

China made conciliatory gestures to Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan, and, with US President Barack Obama, agreed to a climate deal and to lower the risk of misunderstandings during military encounters.

“We still have to observe what happens in the next six to 12 months or even longer. But I think that now we stand at the beginning of a substantive change in Chinese foreign policy,” said Shi Yinhong, head of the Centre for American Studies at Beijing’s Renmin University who has also advised the government on diplomatic issues.

Reliance on the military has been replaced by money to guide China’s diplomacy, Shi Yinhong added, pointing to the $40 billion New Silk Road fund and the $50 billion China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced before APEC.

More than $120 billion has been promised since May to Africa, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.

“The message is that China sincerely hopes that it can play its role as a responsible power,” the official China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial on Nov. 17.

The root causes of past disagreements have, for now, been set aside.

State-run Xinhua news agency sought to temper expectations following President Xi’s meeting with Mr. Obama on Nov. 11-12, saying that, despite the “amicable tone,” “still much has to be done to translate promises into reality.”

As if to remind the United States of China’s growing military power, the day before President Xi Jinpingand Mr. Obama’s summit, the Chinese military unveiled a sophisticated new stealth fighter jet at an air show in the south of the country.

“A lot of problems exist and there will be a lot of uncertainty in the days to come,” said JiaQingguo, dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University who has also advised the government on diplomacy.

China has long sought to address fears in the region, and globally, that economic growth will inevitably bring a more muscular diplomatic and military approach.

During a summit of Southeast Asia leaders in Myanmar last month, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed a friendship treaty, yet held to the line that Beijing will only settle South China Sea disputes directly with other claimants.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said he and President Xi Jinping had a good meeting in Beijing, but the Philippine military says there has been no sign of China reducing its presence in parts of the South China Sea that Manila also claims.

Then there is Japan.

China and Japan, the world’s second—and third—largest economies, have argued bitterly for two years over disputed islands, regional influence and the legacy of Japan’s wartime occupation of China.

While President Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held breakthrough talks just before APEC, in recognition of the economic damage inflicted by their row, suspicion runs deep.

“Whether or not incidents or disturbances can be prevented from happening again between the two countries depends on Japan’s attitude and actions,” Han Zhiqiang, acting Chinese ambassador to Japan, was quoted saying in state media last month.

China has already promised high-profile events to mark next year’s World War II anniversary, offering another opportunity to accuse Japan of not properly atoning for its past.

“Japan is particularly worried about how the anniversary will be handled in China,” said one Beijing-based Western envoy.

India presents another problem, with no sign of lasting resolution to a festering border dispute.

In recognition of the world’s concerns, President Xi, speaking to Australia’s parliament on Nov. 17, channeled an ancient expression to assuage worries: “A war-mongering state will eventually die no matter how big it is.”

He did not finish the saying, whose last line reads: “Though the world is peaceful, you will be in danger if you forget about preparing for war.”

This story first appeared in the December 2014 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.

 

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Magazine
Ben Blanchard

Ben Blanchard

Similar Picks:

Aung San: A Legacy Unfulfilled
Stories That Shaped Us

Aung San: A Legacy Unfulfilled

by Kyaw Zwa Moe
February 11, 2015
14.6k

Born in 1915, Aung San’s aspirations for a unified and democratic Myanmar went unfulfilled in his lifetime and have yet...

Read moreDetails
Kokang: The Backstory
Burma

Kokang: The Backstory

by Bertil Lintner
March 9, 2015
18k

The site of fierce recent fighting, Shan State’s Kokang region has a complex history of feuding warlords and thriving drug...

Read moreDetails
Trickle Town
Stories That Shaped Us

Trickle Town

by Aung Zaw
August 13, 2014
7.7k

As Yangon’s Golden Valley enjoys an unexpected cash bonanza, questions around some surprise beneficiaries of the current reform period are...

Read moreDetails
The Kola of Cambodia
Features

The Kola of Cambodia

by The Irrawaddy
January 9, 2015
8.2k

A Buddhist pagoda and an elderly woman are among the last traces of a group of mysterious Myanmar migrants.

Read moreDetails
Neruda’s Burmese Days
Culture

Neruda’s Burmese Days

by Seamus Martov
June 15, 2015
12.5k

The late Chilean poet Pablo Neruda found love and lasting inspiration in the colonial capital.

Read moreDetails
Quality Talk?
Burma

Quality Talk?

by Tamas Wells
February 27, 2015
3.6k

Developers and donors are big on “community consultation” ahead of large projects, but are the touted listening exercises really sincere?

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
India Takes Step Toward Resolving Border Dispute With Bangladesh

India Takes Step Toward Resolving Border Dispute With Bangladesh

Thai Banks Chase Regional Dreams as Domestic Lending Boom Fades

Thai Banks Chase Regional Dreams as Domestic Lending Boom Fades

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

5 days ago
1.2k
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

6 days ago
1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KIA Denies Rumor Chief Under House Arrest in China

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Parading Comedians and Machines for Election Circus; Rousing the Military Vote; and More

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.