China’s rise, through the eyes of its young

BEIJING — China has stepped up its play for more power in calling the shots in world economic affairs — suggesting a new global currency, demanding market reforms and grasping for more say, generally, in world financial affairs.

But what does this increasing government self-confidence mean to Chinese people? With the country facing rising unemployment and potential social unrest arising from the global crisis, questions abound on whether China can and should assume a leadership role as the G20 economic summit convenes this week in London.

There seems no better place to find out what young Chinese think of their country’s power position than “Beida,” the affectionate shorthand by which Beijingers know Peking University — ranked among the world’s top centers of higher learning and China’s haven of relative ideological freedom.

Mao Zedong worked and studied part-time at Beida, and the university has graduated many of the country’s top writers and thinkers from past and present. Beida students led the May 4 movement for reforms 90 years ago and fronted the failed pro-democracy movement at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Its graduates hold leading positions in the Chinese government and its students are keenly aware of China’s place in the world.

If the handful of freshmen I met this week at Beida are any indication, the university remains a place of robust discussion. The earnest international relations majors who hail from all over China agreed on one thing: China is not ready to lead the world out of the global financial crisis. There may be some nationalists who think their country is already a certified superpower, but most think China should continue to listen, learn and play and advisory role.

Jiang Dongxian is a 19-year-old from the nearby port city of Tianjian who lectures like a professor when speaking of China’s rise in the world order. He believes it’s clear: The global crisis occurred under political and economic systems created and dominated by western countries. Western countries need to lead the way out.

“I think where China is now, we cannot be so revolutionary as to call for a complete change in international economic or political systems,” said Jiang, who aspires to be a scholar. “I think we should adopt the posture of a participant on the side, while studying all possibilities.”

Zhao Hanyu, his 18-year-old classmate from Mao’s home province of Hunan, is as brash and quirky as her self-appointed English name: Zelda. She’s also a practical, outspoken devotee of former Premier Zhou Enlai (Mao’s second-in-command credited by many for mitigating his damage).

“China’s position as the world’s factory hasn’t changed,” she says matter-of-factly. If China wants to be a real world leader, she says, it must follow the path of other industrialized nations and improve its homegrown innovation to build economic self-reliance.

But Dong Yuting, 19, who hails from a small village near the Siberian border, said she believes it’s time for China to make its voice heard. Maybe China can’t solve the global financial crisis, but given its stronger position in large economy, it’s essential that Beijing contributes to the discussion.

“Before, our voice was too small,” said Dong, the daughter of engineers who has long been fascinated by international affairs. “Before, we never said anything. We’ve started to express ourselves and, like a child, we’re still finding our voice.”

Her classmate, Liu Binbin of Taizhou on the central coast, agreed but cautioned, “I don’t think the country is strong enough yet.”

Liu, 18, belies a fierce intelligence by saying she hasn’t chosen a career and only wants a “quiet comfortable life.” Yet she quickly jumps into the discussion saying she worries about China as a global leader, “because inside our country, we still have so many problems to solve.”

Though the economic crisis is not evident to many in Beijing, in her home province of Zhejiang, Liu has seen how thousands of factory closures have affected real lives.

Sometimes, she fears, “Chinese people are too optimistic about the crisis.”

Jiang, the aspiring scholar, sees it all as a matter of perception. Western media, he says, love to portray a rising China; but only because they underestimated China for too long. It’s not a place that can be painted with a single brush but rather a massive, developing and changing landscape.

“If you go to interview people from all walks of life, in fact, the answer would not be the same,” said Jiang. “Some people will tell you China is a very powerful country, and in a few years we will be the same as the United States and England. Others will tell you that China still has many, many problems, even though they will be very careful to say China is a strong and great nation.”

But, he says: “Some Chinese are overconfident. If we’re overconfident, we can’t see our own problems clearly.”

Other recent GlobalPost stories about China’s rise:

Does China think the U.S. is too big to fail?

Tough decision: Poke the dragon?

Pay attention to seven little words