Learn from India: ex-PLA officer

[tariqkhan18]

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China should learn from India by encouraging religious beliefs and promoting democratic values, a retired official of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has said in a commentary that has stirred debate in Chinese cyberspace.

China also needed to follow India's example in strategic affairs, devoting more attention to its navy to project power across the oceans and being steadfast in enforcing its territorial claims — as India was over Arunachal Pradesh — wrote Song Zhongping, a retired military instructor at the PLA's influential Second Artillery Force and now a widely-followed military strategist.

His article, titled “China should be humble and learn from India”, has sparked debate in China's thriving online community, receiving more than 250,000 views within just two days of being posted on the news website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix television.

“We should not only learn from the West, but India as well,” Mr. Song argued, pointing to five specific areas where he felt China could learn from India. Most Chinese, he said, tended to “look down upon India”, showing “contempt for a poor, democratic country” when they saw images such as huge crowds on trains that often circulated on Chinese blogs.

However, “China should be humble and learn from India since each country has her merits and faults,” he said. Most of the comments in response to his piece supported his views.

The first lesson, Mr. Song said, was to learn from a government that encouraged religious beliefs, in contrast to China where “a national grief” was that “people regard money as their only pursuit”. “Our nation attaches primary importance to economic development and everything else should give way to it,” he said. “As a consequence people are morally bankrupt.”

He also pointed to India's more balanced economic model, amid a challenge faced by China's export-driven growth to stimulate domestic-driven demand and innovation industries. “India has enjoyed strong economic growth without overdependence on foreign trade,” he said.

Mr. Song said India was also better at “protecting the national core interest.” While India had ensured it had strong claims to Arunachal Pradesh — which China refers to as “southern Tibet” — China had “lost control over this area of over 90,000 square kilometres”, he claimed.

India also projected its power better across its borders. He viewed India's growing presence in the Indian Ocean region as favourable in comparison to the protracted disputes China faces with many of its neighbours across the South China Sea. India was developing and modernising its navy rapidly, acquiring three aircraft carriers, while he viewed China's progress as being slow with fears in Beijing of reinforcing a “China threat” perception. “We should realise the value and interests of the sea, because others are already one step ahead of us,” he noted.

A fifth area was in diplomacy and soft power, with the world, according to him, welcoming India's rise but fearing China's. India's democratic values were largely behind the positive reception accorded to its rise, and also acted as an enabler by giving India access to technologies that the West denied China.

“If we are to make friends with Western countries, we should have the same values,” he said. “China is trying to improve its democratic value system, but there is still a long way to go.”

The Hindu : News / International : Learn from India: ex-PLA officer

[DragonKnight]

"Another propaganda article by the Indians......" is going to be the most probable response by some ...... and from whom? it won't be surprising.

[tilopa]

Most Chinese, he said, tended to “look down upon India”, showing “contempt for a poor, democratic country” when they saw images such as huge crowds on trains that often circulated on Chinese blogs.

Yeah as if the same things don't exist there and they are super rich....outside of their eyecandy cities the condition is same.