Editorial
India has an edge over China
China is become a problem to many countries of the world It is a worry for the world and a headache for India. Many Asia-watchers have written volumes about 'The Dangers of a Rising China'. There are political pundits who are predicting that Western World will end and there will be a birth of a new global order. These pundits are expecting China's influence to extend well beyond the economic sphere. They feel it will have social, cultural and political repercussions. Thus, China which has twenty percent of the human race is soon expected to become the world's largest economy. It has the biggest standing army in the world. Another thing about China is it is ultra-nationalistic.
In China today, nationalism has replaced communism as the driving ideology of the nation. When it comes to settling border dispute with India, China bares its teeth over territorial claims. It demands chunks of Indian territory and threatens to stop granting visas to Indians.
When Liu Xiaobo, an imprisoned dissident, was awarded the Nobel peace prize, Beijing said that the Nobel committee consisted of a bunch of clowns. About 18 countries, mostly dictatorial nations, joined China in boycotting the award. As leader of the world's largest democracy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was absolutely right in ignoring Beijing's demand that India join them in the protest. It is high time that New Delhi stopped being apologetic to anti-democratic clowns.
India shows signs of becoming China's rival as a beacon of growth and sustainable prosperity. It is a contest of ideals between India and China. In the future, they will each be a billion and a half strong and they will be two of the world's three largest economies. India's democratic alternative to China's authoritarianism can prove to be the better option. As far as age of youth is concerned, India will make its average age 29 against China's 37. By 2020, India will have more productive workers of an active age than China, which will bear an economic and social burden of age while India's productivity will rise. According to World Bank, China's growth will slow by 2015 when India's rate is expected to surpass it. In 10 to 15 years, India's economic potential may turn out better than China's.
India has free speech and that allows an escape for pent-up frustrations. China is just the opposite since there all mouths are forced to be shut. It is true that uneven growth, weak governance, poor hygiene and persisting mass poverty continue to hamper our quest for prosperity. But democracy helps hold this hugely diverse nation together by allowing a plurality of views to compete with one another.
Hence India has an edge over China in the race to the top. If China is a dragon that breathes fire, India is a tiger that roars loudest.
India has an edge over China
China is become a problem to many countries of the world It is a worry for the world and a headache for India. Many Asia-watchers have written volumes about 'The Dangers of a Rising China'. There are political pundits who are predicting that Western World will end and there will be a birth of a new global order. These pundits are expecting China's influence to extend well beyond the economic sphere. They feel it will have social, cultural and political repercussions. Thus, China which has twenty percent of the human race is soon expected to become the world's largest economy. It has the biggest standing army in the world. Another thing about China is it is ultra-nationalistic.
In China today, nationalism has replaced communism as the driving ideology of the nation. When it comes to settling border dispute with India, China bares its teeth over territorial claims. It demands chunks of Indian territory and threatens to stop granting visas to Indians.
When Liu Xiaobo, an imprisoned dissident, was awarded the Nobel peace prize, Beijing said that the Nobel committee consisted of a bunch of clowns. About 18 countries, mostly dictatorial nations, joined China in boycotting the award. As leader of the world's largest democracy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was absolutely right in ignoring Beijing's demand that India join them in the protest. It is high time that New Delhi stopped being apologetic to anti-democratic clowns.
India shows signs of becoming China's rival as a beacon of growth and sustainable prosperity. It is a contest of ideals between India and China. In the future, they will each be a billion and a half strong and they will be two of the world's three largest economies. India's democratic alternative to China's authoritarianism can prove to be the better option. As far as age of youth is concerned, India will make its average age 29 against China's 37. By 2020, India will have more productive workers of an active age than China, which will bear an economic and social burden of age while India's productivity will rise. According to World Bank, China's growth will slow by 2015 when India's rate is expected to surpass it. In 10 to 15 years, India's economic potential may turn out better than China's.
India has free speech and that allows an escape for pent-up frustrations. China is just the opposite since there all mouths are forced to be shut. It is true that uneven growth, weak governance, poor hygiene and persisting mass poverty continue to hamper our quest for prosperity. But democracy helps hold this hugely diverse nation together by allowing a plurality of views to compete with one another.
Hence India has an edge over China in the race to the top. If China is a dragon that breathes fire, India is a tiger that roars loudest.
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