pat tse's blog

(Editor note: This article is originally written in Chinese by An Tao at inmediahk.net on October 10, 2010, commenting on the 2010 Nobel Peace Award to Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo. The writer explores the usage of the term "peace" in contemporary China and the implication and practice of Liu Xiaobo's peaceful act in such context.)

Over the years, I have been puzzled by the swift change of discourse from the “powerful rise” of China to its “peaceful rise”. Peace is neither derived from Marxist-Leninst principles, nor observed by the Chinese Communist regime as a virtue. How the slogan of “peaceful rise” can be realized remains in doubt.

The meaning of “peaceful rise” per se is confusing enough. Does it mean that a rising power is still peace-loving and unthreatening to other countries, or peace is a feasible or even necessary strategy during the rise of a nation?