Wang Xiaodong: China's forward march is unstoppable

From a speech by the Chinese writer, given at the London School of Economics

Nationalism once occupied a relatively important place in recent Chinese history. It is one of the three ideologies espoused in the "Three Principles of the People" of the National Father Sun Yat-Sen. Nationalism was once an element of the official ideology of the KMT Nationalist Party regime that ruled China before 1949.

Nationalism once occupied a relatively important place in recent Chinese history. It is one of the three ideologies espoused in the "Three Principles of the People" of the National Father Sun Yat-Sen. Nationalism was once an element of the official ideology of the KMT Nationalist Party regime that ruled China before 1949.

But after 1949 and the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party regime, the official ideology was changed to Marxism-Leninism and the term "nationalism" seemed to disappear from the life of the Chinese people. I don't think I heard this term before I was 30.

China is still a developing country and has countless problems. Nevertheless, I believe that China's forward march is unstoppable, in economics, in politics and in national defence. Whether or not the EU sells weapons to China does not have much significance for China's defence - it is just an expression of whether or not Europe is friendly with China. Once China devotes resources in this direction, its progress will be faster than the experts predict.

In the next few decades, the Chinese must use their honest labour to obtain large amounts of natural resources. If this process is obstructed then it means that China's existence is being challenged. The Chinese and Westerners must work hard to research how the world can cope with the impacts of the rapid development of a country with a population as large as China's.

Some problems are already imminent, such as oil. If China unilaterally restricts its demand, as some conservationists in China have suggested, this will be unfair. Why is it only the Americans who have the right to consume so much oil? Without doubt, China needs the help of advanced countries with this kind of problem. And when the advanced countries help China, they are helping themselves.