A Korean Perspective on Rising China

Dong Seok Kim keeps an eye on the action inside the Bird's Nest.
Photo by: Dong Seok Kim

The Crouching Tiger and Sleeping Dragon are about to wake up. That’s what the Far Eastern countries witnessed during the Beijing Olympic Games. South Korea was among the nations watching the magnificent opening ceremony with mixed emotions. Congratulations, admiration, wonder, exclamations and, from some, a little bit of shock and awe.

China is a big country with a population of 1.3 billion, about 22 times that of South Korea. And it’s definitely rising in every sense of the word. Historically, China thought it was the Center of the World. Now the Chinese say that hosting the Olympics means 100 years of dreams coming true. From the Opium War (1856-1860) onwards, China feels it has suffered unprecedented humiliation of submission to western powers. Then came Mao Zedong's revolution and establishment of the People’s Republic of China. But great China was still poverty stricken.

Now everything is different. For China, the Games’ meaning clearly goes beyond the realm of sports festivities. They mean that “the history of 100 years of disgrace” has finally come to an end. It is more of a declaration of self pride, the joy of hosting the world’s greatest sporting events.

During its “disgrace,” China viewed the economic success of Japan and South Korea with wonder and curiosity. Many Chinese seemed to think they had to follow Japan after its 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and Korea after its 1988 Seoul Olympic games, which marked serious economic breakthroughs for both countries. In fact, Beijing is only the third Asian city to host the Olympics.

Thus, Tokyo and Seoul became symbols for the Chinese. They tried to get many ideas from Seoul and Tokyo while preparing for the Olympic Games. Last year, a bunch of reporters from the influential China Y Youth Daily came to Seoul to fifind stories about the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. It was surprising that they wanted to meet the Games’ theme song singers, who sang “Hand in Hand,” which was almost forgotten back in Korea. During the Beijing Games, the song was given new life. It seemed like every Chinese remembered that 20-year-old song. The Tokyo and Seoul Olympic games, after which both Japan and Korea experienced rapid growth and prosperity, gave China the inspiration that they could do the same once they hosted the Olympic Games themselves. “Hand in Hand” simply symbolized that.

But clouds have two sides: while they look beautiful, they block the sun.

As they say: When the fireplace is burning, you can only fully enjoy the warmth when you have a fire extinguisher close by.

For Korea (and perhaps for other neighboring states, too), the rising China can be good news as well as worrisome news. Having a superpower neighbor could be a blessing – or it could lead to a nightmare if things are going wrong.

The new powerful China could be demanding and eventually even destructive. A strong China could be a balancer and ruler. Those are lessons the neighboring states learned from history.

Before and after the Games, one could feel the sinophobia rising. Which way will China go? Will it try to be on the road to cooperation with other countries or try to regain the hegemony they once enjoyed? To skeptical eyes, the beautiful and luxuriant opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games could mean both.