THE ongoing evolution of human civilization brings with it a need to revise established views of the world. This is particularly true of China's peaceful development.

The conventional wisdom about world politics is obsolete in the face of China's ongoing peaceful development. This Eastern nation, following a time-honored tenet established by Chinese philosophers more than 2,000 years ago, upholds a deep-rooted commitment to peace and harmony.

In an article published in December, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo articulated China's strategic intention in the plainest words: "The Chinese people have suffered long enough from poverty. Our greatest and only strategic intention is to live a better life, in which every day is better than the previous one. We wish the same for all the people in the world."

Some in the West remain vigilant in their concern about China's rise on the basis of the perception that great powers seek hegemony, a conclusion derived from the historical record of Western powers.

But things are different with China, an Asian country whose rise happened at a time when the global systems that saw Western powers rise through war and colonization have passed.

As pointed out by Kazuteru Saionji, director of the Confucius Institute at Kogaku University, China's development to date is not at the price of other countries' interests.

Dan Mahaffee, a scholar from the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, says China's rise is off the beaten track of powers rising from conflict. He noted that many European powers used to feed on colonizing other countries, but China had never done so.

Yakov Berger, a professor at the Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, held that China's policy of peaceful development evolved from a lengthy theoretical and practical study of the times and a rigorous search for its place in the modern world.

The policy consists of two parts: development and peace, he said, adding that development was a main theme of the current times and long-lasting peace was not only possible but necessary in the post-Cold War world.

Integrated world

Professor Kjeld Broedsgaard, head of the Asia Research Center of Copenhagen Business School, said China had shown no intention of expanding its territory, but aimed to integrate into the current international order.

Chinese leaders had ruled out the path of a hegemonic rise, and China was engrossed in growing economically and creating a well-off society for its population, he said.

Noting that "we are living in an integrated world" where the West and the East were highly interdependent, he said China, a beneficiary of globalization, would only harm itself if it threatened other countries.

Nonetheless, some Westerners keep trumpeting the alleged "China threat" theory. Unable to find conclusive evidence, they simply cite what they call a lack of transparency over China's strategic intentions to fan groundless suspicions about China's future development.

Mahaffee says some countries have succumbed to this paranoia because they are uneasy about the differences in political systems or culture, or because they feel threatened by the shift of the world economic center from the West to the East and the eastward movement of many manufacturing bases from the cradle of the industrial revolution.

According to Berger, the doubts over China's peaceful development stem from at least two sources: some are accustomed to the old order and refuse to accept change, and others harbor exclusivism and even discrimination.

Rebutting the accusation that China's development threatens other countries, Kenyan scholar Elizabeth Kalambu said China respected the sovereignty of other countries and provided assistance without strings attached to the benefit of the world, particularly many African countries.

Some in the United States and Europe questioned China's commitment to peaceful development because they thought China was competing with their countries for international influence and natural resources, she said.

"If we view China as a kind of threat, we are acting against globalization," Broedsgaard said. "China is acting according to the rules, thus wes have nothing to complain about."

China sticks to peaceful development not only to create a sound external environment for its advancement but to provide the world with more development opportunities.

As early as December 2005, the Chinese government published a 32-page white paper titled "China's Peaceful Development Road" to expound on China's development path.

The white paper noted that China's peaceful development road was aimed at seeking a peaceful international environment for its development, while promoting world peace with its development. "China cannot develop independently without the rest of the world. Likewise, the world needs China if it is to attain prosperity," the white paper said.

Berger says China's policy on peaceful development has been favored and supported by the world, especially the developing countries, which have similar tasks and need to cooperate closely with China, the world's largest developing country, to achieve common development.

China had become a main engine of the world economy, and many developed countries had also established close economic ties with China, which meant that China's development was a boon to developing and developed countries alike, he said.

Mahaffee said China's development made the global geopolitical situation more stable and lifted large numbers of Chinese people out of poverty, contributing greatly to world peace and security.

Win-win situation

Broedsgaard said: "We cannot attempt to block the process of globalization due to the development of new economies. That will trigger economic crises. We should think about a win-win situation."

History and contemporary trends of development have determined that peaceful development is the inevitable course of China's modernization and that the path leads to a bright future.

"To stick to the path of peaceful development is not an impulsive decision. On the contrary, it is a carefully considered choice based on our analysis of the great changes that have taken place in the world, in China and in China's relations with the rest of the world," Dai said in his article.

Echoing Dai's remarks, Berger said China's policy of peaceful development was a strategic choice aimed at long-term and sustainable growth. The policy was formed out of persistent experimentation and exploration, both in theory and practice, and its correctness had been proved by the remarkable achievements China had made in the past few decades, he said.

"Still, many important tasks for China remain to be fulfilled, and first of all, modernization, industrialization and urbanization. This is why China needs strong and long-lasting peace," he said.

Eugenio Anguiano, a researcher at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico and the first Mexican ambassador to China, said that if China built mutual trust with other countries and stuck to the principle of peaceful coexistence, the country would make greater achievements from its adherence to peaceful development.