China’s Ambitions

China isn’t looking to replace U.S., prime minister says

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China said Friday that his country was still struggling to overcome major obstacles to its internal development and would not seek to disrupt the world order dominated by the United States.

In a news conference broadcast live on national television, Wen deflected a series of questions about China’s rising financial and military power and its fast-growing emissions of the gases that are thought to contribute to climate change. He argued that China remained a developing country that must study the experiences of richer nations, and that the country would always act responsibly on the world stage.

Wen stressed that his focus remained squarely on overcoming what he termed “hidden crises” that threaten to undermine China’s economy, which, he said, remained “unbalanced, uncoordinated, unstable and unsustainable,” even as it grew rapidly. He said the country must also address the “overconcentration of power” that has fueled rampant corruption, and that it must do more to help the poor.

By and large, having traveled over much of China, I agree with the Prime Minister. China has a long, long way to go before it truly stands to rival the US as a superpower, on every level imaginable. However, I have two primary concerns that were also addressed: the Chinese military and freedom of speech. First, on defense:

China’s official defense budget for 2007 rose 18 percent to $45.3 billion, continuing a decade-long streak of double-digit increases. China’s defense budget in 2007 exceeds that of Japan and is fast approaching budgeted levels of defense spending in Britain and France, the largest military spenders after the United States.

Asked to explain China’s recent firing of an anti-satellite missile that successfully destroyed one of China’s own defunct satellites in space, Wen answered obliquely. He stressed that the test — which he referred to as “an experiment in outer space” rather than the firing of a ground-based ballistic missile into space — was aimed at no other country. “China’s position on the peaceful utilization of outer space remains unchanged,” he said.

Someone should tell their military. As for freedom of speech, once again, the evidence speaks for itself:

Wen appeared to be caught off guard when asked about the political views of Zhao Ziyang, a late leader of the Communist Party who was purged after he opposed the use of force to quell dissent during the 1989 democracy protests in Beijing. Zhao’s thoughts on democracy and political reform were the subject of a book published in January in Hong Kong by a longtime confidant of the former leader, who died in 2005. Though Wen once worked for Zhao, he answered the question tersely. “I have not read this book,” he said. The book is banned in mainland China.

And although Wen’s news conference was carried live on Chinese television, all references to Zhao were subsequently struck from the official transcript of the news conference and edited out of a Webcast of the session.

What do readers think of the China’s future? As the stock market slumps and military spending rises, what should we expect China to look like in 2010, just three years away; and further in the future, in 2020?