Embrace the World and Tell Our Own Stories

——after reading When I Was There Selected Speeches of Fu Ying

These days I have read a book called When I Was There. It’s a book of speeches delivered by Fu Ying who is regarded as the first ambassador to use wit and charm as a weapon. In this book, we can get a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing China and the rest of the world.

Fu Ying made a lot of points in her speech , since the book was published more than a decade ago, we can see that now in 2021, many of her assumptions have come true. China is now playing a significant role in the economic, political and security affairs of the world. The foremost change of China’s external environment is the result of China’s own historical transformation in terms of its overall strength, its international image and the growth of its interests. These changes overall have positive impacts on China, however, they also bring about challenges, especially rising concerns of “China Threat”. In the US and Europe, some people disagree with China’s social system, and therefore, the idea of blocking or containing China still sells. It seems that western prejudice against China has never disappeared.

Let's see what China has done. On the one hand , we have always maintained a humble attitude, as Fu Ying said in her speech in Australia, “I believe there is a lot we can learn from Australia”, so as well as from the whole world. On the other hand, we never deny that there are serious challenges: the gap between income growth in the rural and urban areas, corruption amongst some government officials and environmental pollution, to name a few. And to meet the challenges, the government is laying greater emphasis on the quality of development instead of only pursuing a high growth rate. We can see that it’s not easy for China to get to where it is today, and in the security field, China doesn’t belong to any military alliance, nor does it intend to join any. Despite the efforts of our diplomatic talents to present China's true face to the world, it is clear that our image is still distorted in the eyes of the Western world.

In my opinion, it’s our younger generation’s responsibility to engage the world and explain our intentions, to let the world see China as it is and win us understanding and acceptance. We should keep our patience and modesty. There is no need to feel shamed of who we are, and no room for arrogance at all. We should read more about history to understand how China has come this far, and cherish all the more the opportunities opening up for us. Only a generation with history in heart can live up to the responsibilities to our nation’s future on their shoulders. Image-shaping is a big challenge and an urgent task, and it’s our time to embrace the world and tell our own stories now.