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Audience: This tour is a perfect compromise between back packing and being bussed around with a new hotel every night. Day Hiking, as opposed to back packing, means that each day after breakfast, a bus takes us to the beginning of a hike, transfers our luggage, and pick us up at the end of the hike. A hot shower always awaits us at the next hotel. Every night we stay at a comfortable hotel. Although the hiking is not difficult, daily hikes of 10 to 15 km (1 km = 0.621 mile) require good endurance. You should be an enthusiastic, experienced day hiker to enjoy this trip.After two or three days spent on hiking, we will take one day sightseeing because there are many history, cultural and traditional events you do not want to miss. For detail itinerary please click on the menu-bar at the top of each front page of above mentioned six individual tours.
China Hiking Adventures Inc., hereafter referred to as the company, acts as agents for transport companies, hotels and other contractors and shall not be held liable for any injury, damage, loss, delay or irregularity that may be occasioned for any reason, including, but not limited to, any defect in a vehicle, the acts or default of any company or person engaged in conveying a passenger, acts of God, detention; delays or expenses arising from quarantine, strikes, thefts, pilferage, force majeure, civil disturbances, government restrictions or regulations; accidents by aircraft, boat, bicycle or motor vehicle, or in any hotel, inn, restaurant or accommodation; failure of any means of transportation to arrive or depart as scheduled or changes in transit, hotel, inn, guest house or camping services. The passenger understands that during the course of the trip certain risks and dangers may occur, including but not limited to the hazards of travelling in mountainous terrain, accident or illness in remote places without medical facilities, and the forces of nature. The passenger agrees to assume all risks associated with the journey and agrees that no liability will attach to the company or its outfitters, employees or agents, or to any member of the tour group in respect of death, personal injury, illness or delay of the passenger, or for any loss of or damage to the property of the passenger during the course of the trip, howsoever caused. The company reserves the right to cancel any tour prior to departure. In such a case, full refund of all payments will constitute full settlement with the passenger. The company reserves the right to decline, to accept, or to retain any person as a member of any party at any time.
OLYMPICS will be held on August 8 to 24, 2008
Our tours is scheduled before and after OLYMPICS
Year 2008 Tour schedule click here
2003 Hiking Group Diary click here
To Learn About China click here
Tibet in eyes of foreign journalists click here
SARS/Bird Flu situation in China click here
2005 Huang Shan Hiking Group Diary click here
Essays from Seniors After China Tours click here
Welcome to the home of China Hiking Adventure Inc. on the Internet, providing Hiking and Cultural tours of China.
China Hiking Adventure Inc. licensed under the Ontario Government Travel Agency Act TICO for your financial protection. Our TICO registration number is 50015540. To check us out you can phone TICO (Travel Industry Council of Ontario) at 905-624-6241. This is the travel industry regulating body which maintains a bonding insurance to protect consumers' funds.
We currently offer six tours of China : three hiking tours, one QiGong cultural tour, one 'Tibet + Three Gorges' Tour and one tour specifically targeted towards seniors:
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On July 1, 2006 Qinghai-Tibet Railway put into operation
which changed the History of Tibet forever !!
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Qinghai-Tibet railway marks anniversary
www.chinaview.cn 2007-07-01 21:01:06
LHASA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Tibetan people have celebrated the first year of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, recalling the changes brought by the rail link that connects the landlocked region to the rest of the country.
"When the rails rattle, the money comes in" was how Losang Cering, 40, of Liuwu Village, near the Lhasa railway terminal, described the railway's benefits.
"Before, we depended on the land for a living, but my people are working in construction, running home-style hotels, and some are driving cabs. They can earn about 2,000 yuan a month now, an unimaginable sum before," he said.
A year after its inauguration, the railway has transported 1.5 million people into Tibet, nearly half of the total tourist arrivals. The regional tourism administration says Tibet will receive more than three million tourists this year.
"The railway is like a colorful hada (ceremonial silk scarf regarded as a token of respect) that brings us good fortune," Losang said.
"The railway has facilitated access for pilgrims and believers in and outside Tibet, and we are seeing a major increase rather than decline in the number of pilgrims," said Chilai Qoisang, deputy director of the regional Buddhism association.
Statistics from the regional government show 328,000 pilgrims visited the Potala Palace, Norbuglinkha and Johkang Monastery, the top three religious sites in Lhasa, last year up by 62,000 from the previous year.
The 1,956-km railway, runs from Xining, capital of the northwestern Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/01/content_6317397.htm
A train is seen on the bridge over Lhasa River near Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region July 1, 2007.
Information About Your Train Soft-Sleeper
Compartment
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to foster people-to-people relations between China and USA
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Cancellation Policy and Insurance
For the China We Rarely See
This paper was printed on Lifestyles
section,?
THE DAILY PROGRESS, Charlottesville, Va.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
By David A. Maurer
Daily Progress staff writer
The Chinese painting of mist-veiled mountains are so beautiful as to seem otherworldly.
The mountains stark-sharp peaks appear impossibly shaped, the serenity of the tranquil scenes too good to believe. Small wonder many viewers feel they are just creative renderings from an artist's imagination.
"We used to live in San Francisco, and I'd go the Chinatown and see these beautiful paintings with mountain scenes and little temples, "said Dr. Jim Krag, medical director of Valley Community Services Board of Staunton-Waynesboro.
"I thought, 'Is this place for real or is it sort of like dragons, and just something that's in the Chinese culture? 'Then I was in a Chinese restaurant I frequent in Staunton, and I saw this photograph on the wall.
"I asked where it was taken, because that was the kind of place I had seen in the paintings, I learned it was the Huang Shan mountain area of China, and that poets and artists have been inspired by this region for thousands of years "
Krag found more information and photographs of this area on the Internet. He also found a company at www.China-Hiking.com that specializes in taking small groups of people to remote areas of China that most tourists never see.
Dr. Jim Krag and a villager
Krag signed up for a walking tour of AnHui Province, where the beautiful mountains are located. He recently returned from the 20-day excursion, during which he hiked into villages and visited mountain temples far from the beaten track.
What the psychiatrist came away with was a new appreciation for the Chinese culture and the beauty of the countryside. He also was amazed at how different the nation was from what he had perceived it to be.
"The thing that was really amazing is that you wouldn't know it was a Communist country, "Krag said. " People have their own shops, their own vehicles and, from what I saw, freedom.
"I didn't see any military presence or anybody checking up on where I was or saying I couldn't go here or there. I would wander around these little villages and towns and feel completely comfortable.
"The people would be smiling, friendly and very welcoming. It was a very comfortable experience.".
Before going on the trip, the Albemarle County resident watched a 12-part documentary series on China made in 1984. When he got to China, he was stunted by what he found.
"Wow, what a difference, "Krag said with a laugh and disbelieving shake of his head. "Everybody in the videos I borrowed from the public library was wearing blue and Mao caps.
"There's almost none of that now. I only saw a couple of old people dressed that way. There weren't pictures of Mao everywhere, either. In fact, there's a lot of open ambivalence about Mao. I asked a local guide what he thought about Mao, and if he was good for the country or not.
"He said that was a hard question, because there were some things that were terrible and other things he helped with. They are grateful that he cracked them loose from the type system they had, but it's Deng [Xiaoping] who they feel particularly grateful to, because he pointed them in the direction of prosperity through flexibility. "
On Dec 11, 1978, Deng, the newly named head of Communist Party in China, made a speech credited for launching the country in a new direction. In what would have once been considered heresy, he called for facts, not ideology, to guide the nation.
"Deng said a cat is good cat whether it's a black cat or a white cat as long as it catches mice, " Krag said. " Basically , what he was saying was, ' let's do whatever works to get out of poverty."
"They made mistakes, huge mistakes, and nobody would want to go through the Cultural Revolution again, and things like that. And they seem to be doing their best to avoid those kind of terrible cultural mistakes.
"The country is now protecting their relics, whereas during the Cultural Revolution with Mao at the head, they were destroying them. When I visited Taoist and Buddhist temples, there were no guards. I saw many Chinese people making pilgrimages to these places, and there was no persecution of religion that I could see. "
Krag became so enamoured with the new China he found that he plans to return with his family for another visit. While he said he didn't find a hint of the oppression one might expect in a Communist country, he said that the areas he hiked were some of the most beautiful he had ever seen.
"The AnHui Province, where we were, is due west of Shanghai in the east central part of the country, "Krag said. "I think the Huang Shan area is probably as beautiful as it gets in China.
"It has the feeling?of enchantment about it. The granite mountains are three thousand to six thousand feet high. Because of the shearing of the granite and earlier glaciation, they've been left with these very sharp peaks.
"Climbing up into the mountains, you would suddenly come to these beautiful temples that are build right into the crags and caves and on the peaks. As a huge bonus, I was also meeting the Chinese people and seeing these incredibly interesting small villages that have buildings hundreds of years old. "
Brantly Womack, professor of foreign affairs in the department of politics at the University of Virginia, has been a regular visitor to China since 1978. He just returned from a trip to Beijing and Shanghai.
In Womack's Albemarle County home hangs a painting of one the sacred mountains of Huang Shan. The work was done by an artist who only does Huang Shan, and the professor said it's worthy of that singular attention.
The professor applauds people such as Krag who have taken the initiative to visit China and see?for themselves what it's like today.
"Things have changed amazingly in China, " said Womack, who is putting the finishing touches on his book, "China and Vietnam : The Politics of Asymmetry, " scheduled for release by Cambridge University Press in January.
"Clearly, our relationship with China will be one of the most important relationships we'll have for the foreseeable future. It's also one of the least predictable. Not because China is unpredictable, but because of mutual ignorance.
"So the best thing we can do as individuals, and as a country, is to make more contacts. It sounds like Jim Krag has done it. "
Krag recounted a typical day where the tourists left their hotel and rode a small bus into the mountains, He continued on foot along narrow paths and up stone steps to a Taoist temple built on a craggy peak.
"Our guide knew the abbot of the temple, so we were able to have lunch with him, "Krag said. " Afterward, we walked down through this beautiful valley with waterfalls.
"It opened into these fields where people were working. Then we came to a river where two bamboo rafts were waiting for us.
"We rode the rafts back to town, it was just lovely. I can't tell you how much fun that was. "
During a free afternoon, Krag asked a couple of schoolboys to take him to their English teacher. The psychiatrist taught impromptu English lessons to middle school and high school students.
"Apparently throughout China, English is a required subject beginning in the first grade, "Krag said. " When I went into the classrooms, the students would spontaneously applauded.
"They were very polite, well behaved and their English was incredible. We did a question-and-answer thing and they wanted to know about the simple daily things we do in the United States.
"On another day, we saw how silk is made and that was fascinating. We also went to this home where orphaned children and old people live together. They would take care of each other and, as a physician, I was impressed by what a novel idea this was. "
Krag also was impressed by the reasonable prices. The entire trip, including roundtrip airfare, lodging, food and travel within the country, cost about $3000. He said a beautifully prepared buffet breakfast in a four-star hotel cost less than $4.
But the natural beauty of the area and the friendly outgoing people make Krag want to return. Womack said a trip like Krag took provides an important perspective on China.
"More than half the population in China still lives in rural areas, "Womack said. "So if you just visit Shanghai or Beijing, you haven't seen the China most Chinese wake up to.
"That is not to say that these remote villages are the true reality, and Shanghai is just a false show. China has become a very complex society.
"It's easier to visit a city like Shanghai, because there's much of it that's basically familiar to us. It's more of a cultural challenge and more of an introduction to a totally different way of life when visiting the villages. "
Womack's advice for people thinking about visiting China is to learn as much about China as they can before they go. That's what Krag did. Since his return, he wants to continue to learn as much as he can about the country and its people.
During the trip Krag helped give out medical supplies that were brought there by a couple from Alaska. As he explained the supplies to a local doctor, photographs were taken.
Two days later, and 100 miles away, a hotel doorman looked at Krag and then excitedly handed him a newspaper from a stack.
"There we were in a picture on the front page of this local newspaper giving the medical supplies away, " Krag said with a smile. "I was wearing the same shirt, and the doorman recognized me.
"I had someone translate the headline about the story.
I was told it read, ' Loving hearts know no boundaries.'
"
Kissinger sees Sino-U.S. relations as chance to build new international understanding
"UPDATED: 20:36, April 03, 2007
"
Relations between China and the U.S. should be used to shape a new international understanding, said former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Beijing on Tuesday.
Addressing the China Sciences and Humanities Forum (CSHF), Kissinger said he regards Sino-U.S. relations as a key component in a new system of international relations, a system based on cooperative action and the prevention of catastrophes.
"Throughout history, when one country becomes stronger, the former super power feels uneasy", said Kissinger. "But China's rise is inevitable. There's nothing that can be done to prevent it. And there is no reason to oppose it. America needs to cooperate with the world's most populous country."
Kissinger, invited back to China by CSHF president Zheng Bijian, began his 45 minutes speech by recalling his first visit to China and his dialogue with former premier Zhou Enlai.
"The first time I met Zhou, I told him that I was in a mysterious country", said Kissinger. "But Zhou replied that no one here -- surrounded by 900 million others -- felt in the least mysterious." "It showed us how little we knew about China", he added.
"Since then, I have learnt a lot about China and I have witnessed huge and unexpected changes", said Kissinger. "
"International relations are now going through a sea change. The center of the world is moving from the European Continent to the Pacific. The key countries in tomorrow's world are located in Asia." "
"China was dominant in Asia for centuries. Japan only emerged last century. America only reached prominence in the last few decades. It was because of their common concerns about the USSR that China and America came together."
Kissenger spoke highly of Sino-U.S. cooperation in the six-party talks. And he expressed his confidence in the ability of the two countries to develop harmonious bilateral relations. He said that China and the U.S. share common views on a number of key international issues, such as nuclear non-proliferation, energy, globalization and environmental protection.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the "Sino-U.S. Shanghai Joint Communique".
In July 1971, Kissinger made a secret visit to Beijing as former U.S. President Richard Nixon's national security advisor. Nixon's ensuing "ice-breaking" visit to China on February 21, 1972 marked the beginning of the normalization of relations between China and the United States.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200704/03/eng20070403_363468.html
Relief goods from China arrives in US
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, the United States, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet)-- A total of 104 tons of relief aid from China arrived Wednesday afternoon at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, the United States, on board a Boeing 747 airplane.
The relief materials provided by China include tents, light power generators, bed sheets and clothes.
The US side extended warm welcome to the arrival of the aid. "Welcome our People's Republic of China friends" and "Thanks for your support" were written in electric bulletins around the air base.
Commander for Little Rock Air Force Base, General Joseph Reheiser, greeted at a civil airport in Little Rock China's Consul General at Houston Hu Yeshun, who arrived here to receive the cargo plane.
Reheiser told Xinhua, "It (the airlift)'s quite unusual. I'm not a historian, but I can't think of a time when China has airlifted relief supply to the United States. I think it's a historic event and we're very appreciative that China has done it."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency would arrange cargo trucks and see to it that the relief materials be sent to the stricken areas, he added.
Hu said the airlift showed deep sympathy and condolences of the Chinese Government and people to the American people who have suffered a severe natural disaster.
General Reheiser had expressed the hope for increased exchanges between the armed forces of China and the United States, apart from the efforts to boost the governmental and non-governmental exchanges between the two countries, said Hu.
According to General Reheiser, Little Rock Air Force Base has been the sole distributing center for international relief materials for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which ripped through the southeastern part of the United States on Aug. 29 and inflicted heavy casualties and damages.
So far,the base has received 14 air
cargos loaded with relief materials from Russia, Spain, France,
Italy, Britain and other countries, said General Reheiser, adding
that another 13 dispatches of relief aid are expected to pour in in
the next two days. Enditem
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-09/08/content_3460897.htm
Pour encourager le d¨¦veloppement des relations entre le Qu¨¦bec et la Chine
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How China solves nationwide Water Shortage Problem
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Chinese minister calls for enhanced Sino-US
cultural exchanges
UPDATED: 10:43, October 04,
2005
China and the United States should enhance cultural exchanges to promote the heart-to-heart communication between the peoples of both countries, Chinese Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng said on Monday in Washington.
In a keynote speech at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, Sun said there are many differences between China and the Untied States which will undoubtedly bring about some confrontations and friction, but it is these differences that have produced great curiosity and mutual appeal between the two countries.
"Without such differences, the world might become more tranquil, but at the same time, to a large extent, it would lose its glories and fall into monotony," he said.
Sun was in Washington to inaugurate the month-long Festival of China at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which opened on Saturday.
He said China and the United Sates share common interests in many areas, such as economy, trade, anti-terrorism, international and regional security, and culture. "The two countries can learn from each other in many areas," he noted.
The development of Sino-US cultural relations, he said, is still not in perfect balance, and the American public's understanding of China and Chinese culture still has room for improvement.
China imported a large quantity of TV plays and movies in 2004, with 40-50 percent of them from the United States, whereas China's export of cultural products to the United States was insignificant, the minister said.
Sun cautioned that there are some people who tend to exaggerate the differences and friction between the two countries and the two cultures, while overlooking their common interests and compatibility.
"It is natural and not surprising for any two nations to have differences or conflicts, but what matters most is that we should solve these conflicts and problems on the principle of candidness, sincerity, reciprocity, mutual respect and equal consultations," he said.
At home, the Chinese government pledges to build a harmonious society, securing peace, tranquility and the well-being and happiness for all the Chinese people, while in the world, China sticks to the peaceful foreign policy of independence and self-reliance, seeking friendly relations with all other countries in their common pursuit for peace, cooperation and common development, he said.
Sun noted that China stands for the independence of all nations' cultures and also the diversity of world cultures, advocates the concepts of "cherishing peace and harmony, preserving solidarity in diversity and pursuing common development."
China will integrate itself into the world with more open gestures and further expand international culture exchanges, he pledged.
Cultural exchanges will not only bring enormous economic benefits, but also immense social benefits. Cultural exchanges can reach deep into people's minds with a lasting and profound effect, he said.
China and the Untied States should enhance communication and find the differences and similarities between the two cultures, and embrace the connections and concord of the two cultures in all their diversity, he said.
Sun called for open minds and open hearts in the exchanges between China and the United States.
Citing Martin Luther King's famous speech "I Have a Dream," Sun said people today share King's dream "that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight."
"We firmly believe that art and culture, as the greatest vehicle for human emotions, can best express our dreams," he said.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200510/04/eng20051004_212426.html
The HuangShan hiking trip makes a stop at the village where the movie was filmed.
Yellow Mountains( HuangShan) is located at 118 east longitude and 30 north latitude
For thousands of years it has been regarded as a Natural Wonder in China landscape
In 1990 it was listed in Catalogue of World Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO.
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The following is part of a letter from Jeff and Ellen in Maine,USA (email : MessyJean@aol.com), who hiked with us on Yellow Mountains October 5 to 19, 2001 :
". . . . You have done a wonderful job choosing fascinating places to visit. These are places that would be so hard to visit on one's own. I absolutely fell in love with the villages and scenes along the Xin An River. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to see the rural China that has existed for so many centuries and that is fast disappearing... Climbing the religious mountains was spectacular as well. QiYun was a fascinating place with its Taoist shrines and grottos. It was exciting to be there during the National holiday and to see so many Chinese families visiting the shrines. Jiuhua was the experience of a lifetime. The Buddhist religion is still very much alive ? it was totally unexpected to see so many temples being built. Attending the Buddhist ceremony at night was incredible ?I felt like I had been transported several centuries back in time...'" . . . " |
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To meet Jeff and Ellen click here
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Hiking Can Be A Bone Booster
Experts have recommended high-impact aerobic exercise as a means for increasing bone mass, but a review of 24 studies on aerobic exercise and bone mineral density in women suggests that walking just 30 minutes per day a few days a week is enough to moderately increase overall bone density.
A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital institute of Health Professions in Boston analysed studies that followed predominately sedentary women assigned to aerobic exercise programs lasting 16 weeks or more. Walking/hiking was the preferred form of exercise by most participants. Compared to non-exercisers, the regular exercises increased their bone mass by about 2 percent.
Exercise helps strengthen bones because it forces them to bear weight, which is why high-impact exercise elicits even greater gains in bone density. The fact that walking/hiking and other low-impact activities are also beneficial, however, is particularly encouraging given that many women find high-impact exercise painful or difficult to master. Experts recommend woman follow a program that combines both aerobic activity and weight training, which also increase bone mass, to lower their risk of developing osteoporosis.
Source : American Public Health Association.
For details please click on the links to be directed to the Home Page of each indivual tour. A handy navigation bar is also available at the bottom of this page. For details on how to contact us, please click Contact on the navigation bar.
We invite you to look at
Photos
from hikers in the past tours
(click for photos)
Extension Tours are available :
1. China's most famous Gardens Cities : SuZhou and HangZhou
2. Xian -- Terra Cotta Warriors Museum and its photos
3. Three Gorges Cruise down YangTse River and its photos
15
days of Tibet Nomad hiking experience
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From Pat Camenzend
In October 2000 I joined a tour group to hike China's Great Wall from Beijing to the China Sea. The tour was an absolutely fantastic two weeks spent with five other single women, the tour coordinator, and a local Chinese guide.
Before I describe the highlights of the trip, I need to explain my background. I am not a hiker by profession or hobby. I walk! And I do not walk in the mountains or any major hills, if they can be avoided. I am in my mid-fifties and not as slim as I was in my twenties. Now, with that said, I decided to join this hiking tour because it sounded exciting and adventurous with an opportunity to see more of the 'real' China outside the normal major tourist stops generally found in tours.
I did my homework before leaving for the trip and studied travel books, visited internet sites on China, and talked to others who had been to the country. Even with this preparation, I was not ready for the truly awesome sight of the Great Wall when I saw it for the first time in person. With photographs showing only two dimensions, it is hard to appreciate the immense size of the wall as it snakes over and around the mountain peaks. Although the steps are steep (and there are many), the hiking is done at your own pace. There are no marathons to win and the time allocated to the actual hiking is sufficient to enjoy the sights and to stop and take pictures...
The above was written by a participant in the Great Wall Hiking Tour. For more information about our tours, please browse our website or e-mail us at e-mail info@china-hiking.com.
China's growth helps power world economy
UPDATED: 17:02, October 14, 2004
China 's rapid economic growth over the past years has been eye catching, so much so that reports, analyses and predictions are rife about its development momentum, implications and future directions. A most recent example is an article in the UK-based renowned magazine The Economist.
In the "The Dragon and the Eagle", carried in the publication's September issue, its economic editor Pam Woodall made a detailed comparison between growth in China and in the United States. Woodall asserted that if China continues with its reforms, it will enjoy faster growth than America has ever achieved. "Within a decade it will probably be the world's largest exporter and importer, and one day it may overtake America as the world's largest economy."
The world economy has expanded by nearly 5% over the past year, the fastest we have ever seen in two decades. The article lists two factors as major contributors to the growth: one is America's exceptionally loose monetary policy, which has encouraged relentless consumer spending, the other is an unprecedented investment boom in China.
Woodall highlighted China's catching-up efforts, stressing that "only a few years ago, the term 'the world economy' was used as shorthand for the economies of the developed world; China would at best rate a brief mention. But now it is too big to ignore."
China's GDP already accounts for 13% of world output, second only to America's. By the end of this year, the country will probably be the world's third biggest exporter, after America and Germany. It is also the largest recipient of foreign direct investment as multinationals have moved operations to China to take advantage of its cheap labor and huge market. It has now become the new workshop of the world, producing two-thirds of all photocopiers, microwave ovens, DVD players and shoes, over half of all digital cameras and around two-fifths of personal computers.
Besides its producing power, China is at the same time a big new market. Its imports grew by 40% last year, and over the past three years it has accounted for one-third of the total increase in world import volumes.
Woodall is concerned about China's somehow too rapid growth. However, he said China's policymakers have been trying to cool the economy, and there are signs that their measures are working.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200410/14/eng20041014_160234.html
Join us 'Hiking in China' to verify this Growth !
Will China's rise trigger Sino-US confrontation?
John J. Mearsheimer, professor of political science of Chicago University said that as China is gaining rapid development in the economic field, whereas the United States cannot tolerate the existence of rival that maches it in force, the result will be fierce and dangerous competition for security which is similar to the confrontation between the United States and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War period. But this writer thinks this view is open to discussion.
At the invitation of the Global Times, John J. Mearsheimer, professor of political science of Chicago University, on November this year had a dialog with Professor Qin Yaqing, vice-president with the Foreign Affairs Institute on big powers' political issues. While predicting Sino-US relations in the next 20 to 50 years, Mearsheimer said that China is gaining rapid development in the economic field, whereas the United States cannot tolerate the existence of rival that matches it in force. The result will be fierce and dangerous competition for security, such competition is similar to the confrontation between the United States and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War period. But this writer thinks this view is open to discussion.
The main shortcoming of this view is that it fails to notice the unprecedented changes that have taken place in today's world. It is these changes that have created the possibility and necessity for cooperation between the world's powers amid their confrontation. The key factors for these changes are economic globalization and the accompanying progress of science and technology. After World War II, science and technology have developed by leaps and bounds and productive forces have experienced unprecedented growth, thus giving rise to a series of changes in the world economic relations and international relationship, including ties between big powers. It was these changes that have prevented big powers from "taking the crooked way of repeating historical disputes."
First, after World War II, there appeared the "third sci-tech revolution" as indicated mainly by computer technology, electronic energy technology and space technology. Since 1985, marked by software development and large-scale industrialization, humankind has entered a new era of information revolution. The swift and vigorous science and technology development have raised productivity by dozens, hundreds or even thousands of times.
The big bourgeoisie in capitalist countries have reaped huge amounts of exorbitant profits from the dramatic rise in labor productivity. The annual evaluation report of the global rich and powerful people released by Thames Sunday in early 2001 showed that five out of the first 10 richest in the world are engaged in software and computer production. Tycoons in major capitalist countries are hunting for their interests with their own economic strength powered by science and technology. By relying on the enormous economic strength formed by scientific and technological progress, the big bourgeoisie in major capitalist countries reaped profits worldwide, they do not need to grab colonies or expand territory as colonialist and imperialist powers did in history, and so will not spark fierce conflicts or even leading to world war. China is a developing socialist country whose production aims to meet people's growing material and cultural needs, it does not seek hegemony or outward expansion, still less to engage in confrontation with the United States in this regard.
Second, with enormous rise in productive forces and due to the fact that the big bourgeoisie of the capitalist countries and their politicians, who drew a lesson from the Great Depression in the 1930s, adopted many measures to regulate economic activities, for instance, the macro-control means such as finance, interest rate and taxation, What's more, they constantly effected a change from labor-intensive industries to capital- and technology-intensive industries and then to high-tech and high value-added industries, as a result, although economic recession still appeared in this or that country, except individual cases, their economies, however, rapidly headed toward recovery and prosperity, Great Depression of the 1930s type did not appear after war, nor had there been fanatic fascist war forces as had there been in Germany, Italy and Japan after World War II.
Take the situation in the United States in the last 10 years of the 20th century for example. The economic periodic, phased characteristics had been obviously faded away, its economic self-regulating capability had been greatly enhanced. In the past three years, the US economy was once stagnant, after measures such as the lowering of interest rate and drastic tax-cut were adopted by the US government, the country's economic growth rate has been notably quickened. The requirement for ridding of the economic crisis through war did not arise in the capitalist countries.
Third, through high progressive tax and other methods, US and European capitalist countries take out part of the super profits gained by the big bourgeoisie for redistribution, for improvement of social welfare and harmony of class contradiction. Many European countries which are or once were under the rule of the social democratic party generally put exclusive stress on material benefits, the social welfare of the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, and Singapore also greatly improved, capitalist countries enjoyed relatively social stability, whereas before World War II, there were the Great Depression of Economy, the unemployment of large batches of workers who were unable to eke out a living.
Hitler cheated the people with national socialism, boasting that only he himself could save Germany and form the Nazi Party, he found from reportage a way out for arms expansion and invasions of other countries, thus provoking World War II. Over the past more than 50 years after the war, no such great panic has appeared in Western countries and there was thus no soil for fascist rampage. In Japan, the United States and West European countries, some Right-wing organizations stirred up troubles from time to time, but that didn't amount to anything. The people in big capitalist countries universally oppose war and demand peace. China is a peace-loving country and the Chinese people long for a peaceful world environment for economic development. So there is no social basis for China-US confrontation.
Fourth, along with hi-tech development, the number of transnationals has increased day by day, the development process of economic globalization has been quickened, mutual investment among major world powers has multiplied, forming a situation in which there is something of each in the other. Particularly with the arrival of the information era, the world has become increasingly small and nations are getting nearer to each other. Economic links between nations, especially between big countries, have become closer, Production elements are circulating worldwide, interaction and interdependence relationship has taken shape economically among various big countries.
After World War II, the United States and other major capitalist countries drew a lesson from World War II and initiated the establishment of the "General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade" GATT, now WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank (WB). The "three pillars" that supported the world economy established an open trade regime and created a stable monetary exchange system. These, plus the Seven -Nation Summit, or G7 (now G8) mechanism, reconciled the economic contradictions among big powers. Trade frictions, though endless, did not run out of control. As far as China and the United States are concerned, the United States is the biggest developed country in the world, while China is the largest developing country, the two countries' economy and trade are of strongly mutual benefit, with great development potential.
After China's entry into the WTO, Sino-US economic and trade cooperation continued to maintain the good momentum of sustained and rapid development. According to China's statistics, in the trade field, Sino-US trade volume reached US$102.48 billion in the first 10 months this year, up 30.7 percent year on year. Of which China's imports from the United States hit US$27.56 billion, a rise of 25.7 percent over the same period last year.
In the investment field, the United States newly added 3308 projects in China between January and October, up 22.5 percent year on year, Chinese enterprises' investment in America also increased. According to statistics from the US Department of Commerce, the growth rate of US exports to China reached 18.5 percent in the first nine months of this year, far exceeding the growth of its exports to other main trade partners. China has now become America's fourth largest trade partner and will possibly rise to the third place by the end of this year, the United States is China's second largest trade partner.
America's exports to China create 500,000 high-salary job opportunities for the United States each year, China's cheap and good commodities have helped US consumers save expenditures to the tune of US$20 billion each year. Besides achieving positive growth in bilateral trade, the two countries also maintain close consultations and dialogs on economic and financial questions and conduct fruitful coordination and cooperation within such multilateral frameworks as the WTO and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization). The development of Sino-US economic and trade contacts is a "win, win" result, bringing solid benefits to the two peoples.
As Mersheimer pointed out, the United States cannot tolerate any rivals of its match, but compared with the United States, China lags far behind in strength whether in terms of science and technology, economy and military. China's present GDP is only one-ninth of the United States', and China's nuclear weaponry is only an odd of that of the United States. As for the saying that competition between China and the United States is "similar to the confrontation between Moscow and Washington during the Cold War", we cannot agree to this saying.
Zhang Yijun, an expert on international issues, once in his article made a comparison between Sino-US relations and US-Soviet relations. He noted that at that time the United States and the Soviet Union were both superpowers, and both had military strength and overall national strength which were greater than other big countries' strengths added together. While China is still a developing country, and the strengths of the two sides are unmatched, China's strength is only for self-defense and it is not in a position to make an all-round confrontation with the United States.
Both the United States and the Soviet Union had the ambition to assume hegemony, the two powers contended for world domination, China does not seek hegemony, nor does it have spheres of influence, it simply has no intention to contend for hegemony with the United States; the two camps of the United States and the Soviet Union not only confronted each other politically and militarily, and economically they were divided into two isolated markets, whereas China has set up a socialist market economy and has merged itself into the international trade system dominated by developed countries of the West; the United States and the Soviet Union both had a strong tradition of expansionism, while historically China had many opportunities for expansion, but it had not made much use of them to establish any sort of colonial empire, today's China has not the least intention of expansion.
As two large, influential countries in the world, China and the United States shoulder important responsibilities in many fields, such as safeguarding Asia-Pacific and world peace and stability, promoting global economic growth and prosperity as well as attacking terrorism and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
(The above article relayed from the China Economic Times was written by Zhou Yihuang and translated by PD Online)
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200312/26/eng20031226_131270.shtml
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