Chinese Publication Dismisses Comparison with India

Chinese Publication Dismisses Comparison with India

By Bhaskar Roy

Referring to western comparison between the development process of India and China, a commentary in the Chinese official publication, the Global Times (September 16) dismisses them as misplaced and based on wrong models. In conclusion the commentary suggested the way to understand the differences between the two countries as follows: “It will be of more significance to analyse deeply as to why the Chinese government even after winning the war of defence against an Indian attack in 1962 decided to withdraw immediately”.

The Global Times is a publication of Chinese government, and a subsidiary of the Xinhua, and mainly devoted to the external issues. The publication, especially commentaries carried by it, reflect at least a section of the official view.

The Chinese regularly fall back on the 1962 border war between China and India to emphasise Chinese superiority. Stating that the Chinese troops withdrew militarily from the territory which is India’s Arunachal Pradesh State, they try to convey that China taught India a lesson. This is a kind of psychological warfare, the CCP’s propaganda department resorts to, periodically.

The reality is, however, somewhat different. The Chinese troops obviously could not hold on to the territory. They were over stretched. More importantly, India had not used the full military force available in the area because of some internal miscommunications. Otherwise, elements of the Indian air force located in the region could have demolished the Chinese forces without any significant opposition. Equally important, the Indian Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, trusted the Chinese and backed China among the international community. He felt shocked and betrayed and never really recovered from it. He died in 1964.

When the Global Times commentary says that the Indians are too orthodox to adopt to the changing situation in the world, it may be right in one way. Trust and emotion is deep rooted in the Indian culture, thus losing many a battle in the making of its history. Emperor Qin Shi Wangdi, China’s most celebrated ruler buried intellectuals alive. After his victorious Kalinga war, Emperor Ashoka could not accept the scale of deaths and became a Buddhist monk. There in lies a large chunk of difference between India and China. The cultures of each of the two countries manifest in their development model.

Chinese “official” intellectuals and writers rarely refrain from some amount of sarcasm when discussing India. This particular commentary refers to the much maligned caste systems in India and the country’s static mindset against the industriousness of the Chinese people, which determines as to which country will leave the other behind. The Indian caste problem is true, so is the industriousness of the Chinese people which has now revealed its dirty underbelly in huge scams including adulteration of baby food. Even innocent children are not spared in the quest for “profit”. Historical and cultural? The Global Times cannot answer this question.

The Global Times commentary comes following several western analytical reports including scholarly studies by Chinese experts now settled in the west, that China and India are following different models of development, and that India may be gaining over China eventually.

The recent Sanlu dairy product company scandal has gone much beyond China’s boundaries. Milk product for babies sold by this company was deliberately contaminated by the toxic chemical melamine to artificially increase the protein content. This has led to death of at least four babies and seriously affected 53,000 others, in China alone. These are Chinese government official figures. While initially it said Sanlu was the only company involved in adulteration, it is now revealed that almost two dozen Chinese dairy companies were involved in adulterating their products.

Deliberate adulteration of food products is a serious offence. This is not the first instance for Chinese companies. Earlier, a variety of preserved food exported to foreign countries were contaminated by dangerous chemical preservatives. Chinese officials quietly negotiated with the complainant countries after denying publicly any fault on their part. Toys manufactured in China had to be withdrawn the world over because of the harmful chemical contents in these. This never ending problem raises serious concerns over Chinese products all over the world, and may hurt its export market.

The problem with the Sanlu case is that the adulteration was discovered in the period ahead of the Olympic games. But the matter was kept under wraps till the games were over. In this act of omission, this product was allowed to create avoidable damage to children.

More bewildering, a foreign news agency revealed quoting Chinese officials, that senior Chinese officials and party leaders consume special grown rice and similarly reared vegetables and similarly reared livestock. This practice reminds one of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” --- all animals are equal, but some or more equal than the others.

With such a de facto polity with leaders considered a special category against a vast majority of common people, the CCP leadership is surely inviting a people’s revolution once again. Protests and rumblings are increasing. Perhaps, they are looking for another Mao Zedong?

Hu Yasheng, a highly reputed professor of Chinese origin at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has carefully discussed the problem with China, especially its political control in following 1989, that has created more problems. Exploitation of the people, especially the peasants by the party – bureaucracy – business nexus is another challenge. And this is most important: wasteful use of energy and raw material, and the paucity of these two vital inputs domestically. There are other negative issues, too.

In contrast, India is apparently plagued with negatives. Caste clashes, recent communal clashes, terrorism, a democratic system where each political Party is trying to undo the other, and the “static culture” as the Global Times says. The Indian media gives much more space to the negatives because excitement sells. Market economy. But the basic strength of India lies in the fact that when the warring parties come to a consensus everybody, everyone is happy. The progress may be slow, but it is firm.

In China, decisions are taken by fiats or the Emperor’s dictates. Mostly, the majority of the people are left unhappy. The Chinese leaders have brought themselves to a point that they must run to stay at the same place. This does not inspire much stability in the long term.

The Global Times commentary appears to be a deliberate though nervous reaction on India and its development as viewed by the international community vis-à-vis China.

(The author is an eminent China analyst with many years of experience of study on the developments in China. He can be reached at grouchohart@yahoo.com)