Robert Kuhn: China engaging the world more proactively in 2019

A China Reform Friendship Medal winner is suggesting that China has been engaging the world more proactively in the year 2019.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn does a live coverage for CGTN on the grand parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Oct 1st, 2019. [Photo: CGTN]

Robert Kuhn says China's major diplomatic events in 2019 effectively convey China's willingness to open up further to the world.

"Looking back at 2019, China hosts a number of critical international events, the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, the 2019 Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition, the Second China International Import Expo. All of these reflect a new perspective that China has towards its domestic economy and towards the world, its engagement with the world, showing China's willingness to open up to the world, to communicate more with the world. China is in every respect engaging the world more proactively than ever before, indeed ever before than its 5000 years of history, at the current time."

Kuhn says the China International Import Expo, or CIIE, is especially important, not only because it is an innovative initiative that China takes to open up its market to the world, but CIIE is also conducive to enhance economic and trade exchanges among countries as well as to promote fair global trade.

"The Second China International Import Expo in Shanghai is particularly important. China obviously needs to do that for balance of trade issues, but it also reflects China' engagement with the world, so that China's prosperity and growth will be a benefit to the world, not a liability. There's concern in the world about China Threat, and China says No, we'll buy your products, we'll create jobs in other countries. It's good for us because we want to raise sustainable living for our people, that's our main job and our main responsibility. By encouraging imports, China is doing two things at the same time, fulfilling its objective in raising the living standards of the Chinese people, and rebalancing balance of trade and encouraging the development of industry in other countries by buying their products."

In reviewing China's innovative approaches to open up to the world in 2019, Kuhn says not all the events are fairly understood or accepted.

While misunderstandings and misconceptions remain, he says China has been constantly making proper adjustment along the course.

"As we look upon the international situation, all the events we've talked about show China's proactive engagement with the world, but each of these in its own way is challenging. China has been looking at those and making midcourse corrections to be sure that it's going forward. One has to greatly appreciate and laud China for being pioneering in doing new things, and also recognizing that when issues come up, they'll make midcourse corrections."

As a renowned U.S. observer on China who was widely known for introducing a comprehensive and realistic China to the world, Kuhn says the international community should also focus on China's long-term contributions to the world, such as its achievement in poverty alleviation, other than developing mounting distrust.