From The New York Times:
China’s leaders announced last week at the annual National People’s Congress that they will give themselves legal authority to attack Taiwan if they decide that the disputed territory has ventured too far toward independence. It was their boldest ultimatum to date, backed by China’s rapidly modernizing military.
But the banner headline in the next day’s China Daily, the official English-language newspaper was: “Peace Paramount in Anti-Secession Bill.”
Rising China has two faces. Its leaders want – arguably need – to be viewed as managing a new kind of emerging superpower, one that will not threaten neighbors or the world. Only a gentle giant can attract $60 billion in foreign investment and rack up $160 billion annual trade surpluses with the United States, the thinking goes.
