China’s global ambitions require peace with neighbors

China’s global ambitions require peace with neighbors

ERIC BACULINAO, BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF, NBC NEWS:

Eric Baculinao stresses a point at a talk before media and guests

By Beatrice Paez

Four decades ago, Filipino law student Eric Baculinao found himself stranded in a socialist country, trading the certainty of an arrest if he returned home to the Philippines, for the unknown.

What were supposed to be two weeks visiting China as a student, turned into a lifetime and a career-shifting move from studying law to working as a journalist.

It was the year of 1971 and the conditions leading to Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos were in motion. Baculinao, a student leader and activist campaigning against Marcos’s policies, was blacklisted for his efforts and was forced to stay in China. After all, his record included being Chairman of the politically involved University of the Philippines Student Council, a leader in the four-day student occupation of the campus known as the Diliman Commune, and the spokesperson of the radical Kabataang Makabayan (Patriotic Youth).

Leap into present day, Baculinao currently holds the title of Beijing Bureau Chief for NBC News. At a Philippine Press Club of Ontario public forum on June 7, he delivered a talk on China and the media in China, drawing insights from his expansive career.

The discussion was grounded in a sweeping overview of the state of the Chinese government and economy, along with China’s global ambitions to overtake the U.S. as the reigning superpower.

Voltaire de Leon of Rizal Society of Ontario asks a question.

On rising nationalism and the Chinese Dream

Within the impenetrable ranks of China’s politburo, a new elite has risen. The fifth generation of Communist leadership is the country’s most highly educated crop thus far, said Baculinao. President Xi Jinping holds a post-graduate degree and Doctor of Laws degree from Tsinghua University.

The scholarly party chief has articulated a grand vision for China, playing on nationalist sentiments to appeal to a gargantuan population rife with divisive tensions. Xi’s Chinese Dream simultaneously evokes and reworks the historical narrative of a strong, prosperous China for the future.

The idea of a Chinese Dream resonates well with his political base and beyond, because it harkens back to a time when China was revered as a great civilization. For some, a strong and forceful leader, like Mao Tse-tung, should cultivate patriotism and defend the national interest, said Baculinao.

The dream is also in stride with where China is headed, with its shift from an export-driven economy to a consumer-driven economy. Baculinao explained that with rapid urbanization well underway, and about 300 million people set to make the exodus from the rural to urban areas in the next 15 to 20 years, the surging appetite for consumer goods is imminent. Greater purchasing power at the till means more demand for oil and other energy sources.

But is Xi’s Chinese Dream within his grasp? “Global ambition translates into vulnerability, so it needs security. It needs good relations with its neighbours,” said Baculinao.
Unresolved territorial disputes threaten to thwart Xi’s efforts to lead China on his planned course.

On territorial disputes and bilateral relations

China is locked in a dispute over the Spratlys Islands with major claimants, the Philippines and Vietnam, and a more minor claimant, Malaysia. The age-old battle has paralyzed its relations with the Philippines, and the only way to mend fences is for Malacañang to initiate conciliatory overtures that persuade China that it can be resolved peacefully, said Baculinao.

Part of the audience

The enduring alliance between the Philippines and the U.S. has not helped matters.

“The China-Philippine dialogue has been stymied by the fact that the U.S. is now reasserting its presence in Southeast Asia, by positioning itself as a balance to a rising China,” Baculinao added. “The question that China will be grappling with is whether it considers the Philippines a friend or a foe.”

The power of persuasion lies in illustrating the benefits to both parties, marked by a “give and take approach,” according to Baculinao. He says the Philippines can continue to pursue its claims in court, but that would merely drag out the conflict.

He cited a past dispute between China and the Soviet Union in 1969, the Zhenbao Island incident, as an instance where border clashes were defused. The Soviet Union convinced China that a compromise was in both their interests, settling the conflict would allow it to re-assign troops to secure its border with Taiwan, Baculinao explained.

There are plenty of missed opportunities for the Philippines in gaining greater access to the Chinese market with this impasse because there is a deep lack of trust, Baculinao noted. And in a twist of irony, and a sign of its growing nationalism, the Chinese perceive the Philippines as “bullying” China.

Because Xi has set himself up to be significantly graded based on his ability to defend China’s national interest, President Benigno Aquino must be seen as taking public steps to develop its relationship with Xi, Baculinao added.

On socialism

The Chinese assess their leader and the party based on their ability to consistently deliver strong, stable economic growth, over the communist ideology. “Its citizens think of things in terms of whether the government will deliver jobs, provide them with higher living standards,” explained Baculinao.

And in some instances, it has caved in to popular dissent, abandoning projects when protesters have rallied. Personal issues also figure largely on people’s minds, and a rapid response to scandals as opposed to a deflected reaction has been the government’s approach to winning over the rising middle class.

Some members and guests of PPCO who finished Eric’s comprehensive talk on China and its media and wouldn’t want to miss the chance for a photo op with him. With the lively Q & A portion, the session took about two and a half hours.

On the media

The years that followed the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 marked a significant change in the government’s tone and strategy. Though the Tiananmen crackdown was under Communist Party leader Deng Xiao Ping’s watch, he pivoted away from the closed-door policy of resisting Western influences.

He saw the consequences of rejecting a global outlook — the withdrawal of foreign investment and a trail of ghost towns left in the wake of its departure.

“He urged an end to the debate between socialism and capitalism — adopting the attitude that ‘it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice,’” said Baculinao.

The government grip on media is still largely managed, but there have been some significant changes since Baculinao started his career. Opening China up to foreign investment paved the way for reporters to roam more freely across the country, he noted. Years after Tiananmen, foreign media were no longer restricted to designated offices and residential areas.
But state-sponsored and -controlled media continue to be its most vocal mouthpiece, and censorship still has the unyielding effect of silencing journalists and opposition.

The Internet is its own creature. In the early 1990s, the party cautiously confiscated computers, but soon realized it could facilitate economic reform and strengthen the party.
“What’s more dynamic is the Internet,” said Baculinao. “Censorship is on and off.”

Stories tied to corruption can often be leaked online if they fall at the lower level. Bigger scandals, namely one involving the Chinese government corporation, Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Co. (ZTE) and former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, are absent in the local media.

China tops the rankings as the world’s biggest Internet user, with 564 million people on the web. It has encouraged the development of the local tech industry, and also created its own search engine, Baidu, to take Google’s place, which left in 2010 because of censorship battles.

China has a lively social media. Sina Weibo, its answer to Twitter is also a popular tool of dissent and propaganda. Party leaders also have a strong Weibo presence, using the social media platform to set the agenda and moderate the debate to counterbalance dissenting voices.

Twitter has 140 characters, limiting the context to any issue. Weibo also has 140 characters, but each Chinese character is equivalent to one word, giving people a mouthful of words to express themselves in ingenious ways.

Eric Baculinao receives book “When the Gods Changed” by Canadian political journalist Peter C. Newman, as token gift signed by attending PPCO members. Book is handed by Rose Tijam, PPCO VP, while president Hermie Garcia and Mila Astorga Garcia look on.

Alpha Phi Betans (from left) Atty. Silvestre “Boy” Acejas (visiting from Georgia), Joe Rivera and Eric Baculinao had a mini-reunion

Baculinao (left) with, from right, John West, Jonathan Canchela and Rose Tijam.