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Beijing Olympics: the end of an era

Date: Thursday, 24-July-2008

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Dr Zhengxu Wang, a senior research fellow in the University's ChinaPolicy Institute, says that to claim a legitimate place in the globalcommunity, China needs to begin to realise that there is currently ahuge perception gap lying between East and West.
Media-Newswire.com
July 23, 2008

The Beijing Olympics and the associated global controversy will markthe end of an era in which the Chinese people can ignore the opinionsof the Western world, says an expert at The University of Nottingham.

Dr Zhengxu Wang, a senior research fellow in the University's ChinaPolicy Institute, says that to claim a legitimate place in the globalcommunity, China needs to begin to realise that there is currently ahuge perception gap lying between East and West.

But, he warns, international 'China-bashing' over the country'shandling of the Olympic protests and events in Tibet will only leadto confrontation and further division.

Writing in a new online blog section on the China Policy Institutewebsite, Dr Wang said: "Furthermore, for the rest of the world tobring about changes in China, it must realise that confrontations,blaming, or shaming China (whether its government or its people) willnever work. This round of China-bashing has only produced anger amongits people.

"The West needs to realise that China has a legitimate place in theworld. It needs to work with China as members of a global communitythat gives China due respect.

"For China, the era in which it could afford to ignore the opinionsof the rest of the world has come to an end. To claim its legitimateplace in the global community, China now needs to come to therealisation that there is a huge perception gap lying between the twosides. It is time that China begins to understand the values andbeliefs of others."

Dr Wang says that the Chinese people see the Olympic Games, due tostart in August, as a way of showcasing China's achievements andestablishing its status as a great nation, so were perplexed ? andlater angry -- when protests began to gather momentum last year.

He believes that much of the Western world's misgivings about Chinastem from a general unease about the country's rise to globalsuperpower. "In the eyes of many people, China imports too much,exports too much, produces too much, consumes too much and pollutestoo much. With its large-scale real and potential impacts, Chinacannot but arouse great anxieties: How would we fare if this giantgoes out of control?" he asks.

In the end, he argues, it is the confrontation of ideas between Eastand West that will lead to soul-searching among the Chinese people,allowing China to become truly open and achieve mutual understandingand acceptance with the rest of the world.

The China Policy Institute is a think-tank dedicated to building amore informed dialogue between China and the rest of the world whichproduces quality analysis in the fields of international relations,economics, business, politics, the environment and society. It ispart of The School of Contemporary Chinese Studies at The Universityof Nottingham, the UK's only academic institution centred on thestudy of modern China.

A full version of Dr Wang's blog, along with others from academicscentred on topical subjects such as media reporting following theSichuan earthquake, the Chinese Government's stance on Tibet andChina and the credit crunch in the West, can be viewed on the web athttp://www.nottingham.ac.uk/china-policy-institute/

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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is ranked in the UK'sTop 10 and the World's Top 70 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong( SJTU ) and Times Higher ( THES ) World University Rankings.

It provides innovative and top quality teaching, undertakesworld-changing research, and attracts talented staff and studentsfrom 150 nations. Described by The Times as Britain's "only trulyglobal university", it has invested continuously in award-winningcampuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. Twice since 2003its research and teaching academics have won Nobel Prizes. TheUniversity has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in both 2006 (International Trade ) and 2007 ( Innovation ? School of Pharmacy ).

Its students are much in demand from 'blue-chip' employers. Winnersof Students in Free Enterprise for four years in succession, andcurrent holder of UK Graduate of the Year, they are accomplishedartists, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators andfundraisers. Nottingham graduates consistently excel in business, themedia, the arts and sport. Undergraduate and postgraduate degreecompletion rates are amongst the highest in the United Kingdom.

More information is available from Dr Zhengxu Wang on +44 ( 0 )115823 2117 or +44 ( 0 )115 846 6322, zhengxu.wang@nottingham.ac.uk orEmma Thorne, Media Relations Manager in the Communications Office atThe University of Nottingham, on +44 ( 0 )115 951 5793,emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk