A more assertive China is here to stay

China's assertive response to the tug of war with Japan over the disputed Diaoyu Islands has strong domestic support. Nationalistic sentiments have been surging. Memories of Japanese atrocities done to the Chinese people have been kept fresh through the mass and social media. Japan's acts denying its war crimes, calling the "comfort women" prostitutes, and enshrining the war criminals have added fuel to the Chinese fury.

To many in China, regaining lost territories such as the Diaoyus is as justified as resuming China's sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macau. In their opinion, it does not equate with territorial expansion. The Chinese leadership cannot be oblivious to the popular sentiment, which can undermine political stability if not properly managed.

Admittedly, Beijing is no pawn to be moved at will by popular sentiment. A forceful response to Japan's "provocation" serves to deter similar actions by other countries with which China has territorial disputes.

China has so far displayed rare assertiveness in the current crisis. Viewed as a strategic competitor to the US, China today looks like a more formidable challenger than the Soviet Union. In retrospect, the Soviet economy never reached 10 per cent of the US gross domestic product at any point during the cold-war years.

China's breathtaking growth in the past three decades has shown that a reforming communist state is no roadblock to growth. According to one estimate, China will replace the US as the world's biggest economy by 2030. Despite this prospect, China's navy is unlikely to patrol the world's oceans for the sake of showcasing its raw power, as Moscow did in the past. China is perhaps more motivated to send its warships overseas to protect the trade routes for its commercial fleet.

Understandably, China's growing strength has not been well received. Japan's right-wing politicians are perhaps most taken aback by its exponential growth. Towards the end of the 1990s, many who questioned the capacity of authoritarian regimes for prolonged economic growth entertained the idea that China's growth could not be sustained and that "China's collapse" was looming. Yet that did not materialise.