Challeges for China at 60: Change at home

Frank Ching, a Hong Kong-based writer whose book, “Ancestors: 900 Years in the Life of a Chinese Family,” was republished few months ago in paperback, writes in Yale Global on the Challenges for China at 60. Ching says that while cagey about its internal affairs, and always warning foreigners of interfering in China's internal affairs, be it Tibet, human rights or media freedom, China does not hesitate to tell others to restrain their sovereign rights.

China, a significant beneficiary of globalization, is happy to go out into the world, but seems less willing to let the world come in, according to writer Frank Ching. In fact, China, which asserts that it does not interfere with the internal affairs of other countries, appears to do the exact opposite, especially with regard to issues surrounding alleged separatism in China. Notably vocal whenever a foreign leader meets with the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama or a country grants him a visa, Beijing claims that such actions “grossly interfere” with China’s internal affairs and “hurt the feelings” of the Chinese people. For a country that prides itself on having signed more human rights treaties than the US – certainly a mature approach to international affairs – such a reaction seems oddly truculent. Indeed, as Ching argues, globalization is a two-way street where the benefits hopefully compensate, even outweigh, the loss of sovereignty. Rightly or wrongly, China seems yet to agree with such logic. – YaleGlobal

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