Olympic Games enable world to know China better

World media have been doing a very positive coverage of the Olympic Opening Ceremony and Games competitions in Beijing. And some media and people of insight alike in the Western countries acknowledge that the opportunity should be seized to re-appraise and get to know China rationally.

The Olympic Opening Ceremony was a perfect start to the Games, noted a "Wall Street Journal" article published on August 9, or last Saturday. The ceremony arena burst repeatedly into cheers and applauses from about 91,000 viewers as well as athletes, Games organizers and dignities around the world. And China hopes to deliver via the Games Opening Ceremony a message of peace and harmony worldwide to the best of its ability.

Earlier, the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, conducted an opinion poll in Britain, the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Brazil and India, and the poll outcome shows that China is not the maker of global thorny problems. Most of those surveyed in Britain and the U.S. deem that surging food and oil prices and climate change problems are not ascribed to China; and populace in Britain has increasingly taken China as an ally.

The "China threat theory" has turned prevalent for a period of time in the U.S., where many Americans of insight have recently appealed for their government to discard this outlook as soon as possible. The future of the US-China relations are very optimistic, China is playing a constructive role in global community and the "China threat theory" is on a steady decline in the U.S., according to Zbignew Brenzinski, a noted U.S. strategist and former secretary of State.

To counter with erroneous views in Europe, Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder published an article, titled "Why do we need (to) Beijing" in the German "Time" weekly newspaper on July 29. To carry out an all-dimensional foreign policy of peace, he wrote, China is dedicated to the settlement of any issues through peace talks particularly when it comes into disputes with its neighboring countries or regions, Schroeder noted. The resolution of numerous problems confronted by the contemporary world, such as climate change, energy security and war on terror, cannot do without China, and still less to antagonize it. So, he said, the West is in need of China as a partner.

The Western world has begun re-appraising China again, because the nation, to a great extent, has given scope to its positive, irreplaceable role in resolving global thorny issues and won a growing recognition of the global community. Against a backdrop of global economic slowdown and sustained high inflation, China has not only contributed tremendously to the global economic growth, but also alleviated the inflation pressure worldwide.

China has been exerting a strong effect on global inflation ever since the year 2000. In 2001-2005, according to the analysis of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), inflation in the U.S. was reduced by 0.28 percentage points annually, by 0.37 percentage points in the European Union (EU), and by 0.65 percentage points in Japan, due to its export price affect. When world food prices are soaring and global food security is facing a grave threat, China, with a population of over 1.3 billion, has basically achieved its self-sufficiency in food.

With regard to global security, China has hosted and presided over the Six-Party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular, and has set up a most crucial platform for resolving the nuclear issue. Moreover, since 1989, it has participated in 16 United Nations peacekeeping operations and sent an accumulative total of more than 7,000 peacekeeping soldiers to the troubled countries and regions.

Furthermore, on the issue of eradicating global poverty, China has reduced and exempted more than 20 billion RMB yuan of debts of 44 least developed counties (LDCs); it has also decided and promised to provide 10 billion U.S. dollars of preferential loan to developing countries and written of debts for the LDCs.

Meanwhile, to address the climate change and promote the sustainable development, China has reportedly had 5.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption by stepping up the man-made afforestation and improved forest management in the last two decades. And the nation's per capita GDP fuel consumption had been cut by 46.6 percentage points between 1990 and 2005, equal to the reduction of 1.8 billion tons of CO2 during the 15-year period.

All these facts have eloquently proven that China has made an irreplaceable contribution to the world peace and prosperity. And the hosting of the ongoing Beijing Olympics has enabled the people across the globe to have more opportunities to know China better as well as the high hope and firm conviction of the Chinese people for advancing the harmonious world. It is precisely owing to such an understanding that the world will be able to "look to China with smiles".