China’s aspirations to be the world’s biggest super power, it seems, flows from the barrel of a gun. There is no apparent reason why Chinese President Xi Jinping, arguably the most powerful in that country’s history since its founder Mao Zedong, should be flexing his country’s formidable muscles, without any serious provocation. At a meeting of its top military brass last weekend, Xi urged upon his military commanders to “prepare for battle”. With who, pray? Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted the President as saying that China faced increasing risks and challenges. Well, if threats from minor neighbours, many times smaller than the big dragon in South China Sea, is considered national danger, than good luck to countries living in the periphery of the region. In language that can only be considered overtly militaristic, Xi went further.
The Chinese armed forces, he insisted, must take on the responsibilities to prepare for waging war. For a country that aspires to replace the US as the world’s policeman and leave its imprimatur on global politics, such language is hardly ideal. If in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to speak in a similar vein, he would immediately be branded a warmonger and a Right-wing revanchist. China’s behaviour in South China Sea and its riding roughshod over legitimate opposition from nations in its neighbourhood and the inability of the United States to intervene effectively — as it does elsewhere in the world — have given China the idea that they can jolly well get away with whatever they want. The constant threats issued against Taiwan hardly behooves a country with super power ambitions.
