发表于 2007-2-3 00:00:00
楼主
Her words might enrage a lot of people, dismissing her as being too senile to see the phenomenal growth of China. Of course, others might claim that the old lady has been ill-intentioned to disparage China.
Thatcher's political repute, erected over three decades ago, remains indomitable to this day. Even though her words may not carry as much weight now as ever, they are definitely not baseless.
She said China could not become a superpower, as it did not have that kind of force to drive itself ahead, hence erode the influences of Western ideologies.
If this sounds a little too academic to be understood, an example she cited should make things a little clearer.
"China today exports television sets. Not ideas."
TV sets are dead, processed things. If they can be manufactured in China today, they can most definitely be made in Ivory Coast, Africa tomorrow. They are unable to wield remarkable influences on this world, no matter how large the production volume could be.
Ideas are a different matter altogether. While appearing harmless, they actually seep into people's minds subconsciously, without leaving a trace, and propagate over the generations, even form an ideology. Once accepted by the masses, they might even be made into laws.
China does not have any idea which can influence the world, not even TV programmes. What it has are TV sets marked "Sony" or "Samsung," with obscurely placed "Made In China" labels.
Few years back, Chinese officials briefed the visiting British trade minister, that China exported a melange of products and maintained so-much trade surplus with Britain. The English gentleman was unfazed, responding calmly, "With so many Chinese learning the English language, we have actually struck a balance long ago!"
That is what we call "soft power," a term poised to rise to pre-eminence in the 21st century world. Other than a handful of Iraqis and Sudanese, perhaps not many in our future world will resort to violent means. Even in Palestine, the Hamas may have to adopt a softer approach from this moment on, no matter how violent they used to be.
The soft power stresses cultural and ideological advantages. It is organic, living, self-renewing, and continuously expanding. While the ancient Greek and Roman empires disintegrated centuries ago, their cultures have metamorphosed and are inherited to this day.
Claims of the strength and advantages of Western cultures, ideologies and systems are not unfounded.
In 2004, China imported over 4,000 titles of books from the United States, exporting only 14. Similarly, it imported some 2,000 titles from Britain, exporting only 16. The "soft power" gap is all the more obvious!
Those concerned about China's future should contemplate ways to establish a human-oriented culture and modern system, not to brag about the country's economic achievements. Only a culturally and ideologically superior China has the potentials of becoming a superpower of global importance.
By Tay Tian Yan
Sin Chew Daily
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