Year-end special edition, page 33 issue 400, December 29, 2008
Translated by Liu Peng
Original article: [Chinese]

A heavy curtain has already drawn to a close over 2008, the 30th year of China's reform and opening-up. As an anniversary year, it ought to have been a grand stage to showcase the nation's dazzling achievements during that time.

Yet, when we actually take a moment to take stock of 2008, we are only filled with the impossibility of describing such an infinite year.

When the curtain first raised, we witnessed in southern China a historic snow storm that stranded tens of thousands of people making their way home for the Spring Festival.

That was soon followed by the Sichuan earthquake, sending shock-waves to the nation as the death toll climbed into the tens of thousands. Images of broken land and souls were heart wrenching, but the outpour of compassion and solidarity that followed was heart-warming.

The shared agony catalyzed by the major disaster was later dispelled by a common revelry in August during the Olympic Games.

As China was struck by waves of unexpected events, only the Olympics had come as no surprise on August 8.

The fateful date held such symbolic meaning that it almost acquired a magical power, charming its way into China's foreign policy and economic trends.

It gave strength to the nation to soldier past the natural disasters, as if those were only minor obstacles on the road to progress, or trials of Chinese confidence and might.

Through the games, China demonstrated its resilience in the face of adversity. When foreigners arrived for the Games, they seemed to enter a different world the moment they stepped into the Beijing International Airport.

For them, China was a living labyrinth, as puzzling and curious as it was brimming with vitality.

They could sense China's dedication to embracing change. Some wondered if the "American dream" was being replaced by a Chinese one. The onslaught of the financial crisis seemed to serve as a verdict on the century.

Looking back, when China opened its door to the world in 1978, all we wanted was to catch up with the rest of the world.

Thirty years later, we were taking off on the world stage with substantial influence over global affairs. But our relations with the world seem to have become more clouded.

Against all hopes, the Olympics did not change this course of events, and the revelry was soon dispersed by yet another set of mishaps.

As the US was coping with its most severe recession in decades, Chinese dairy farmers were pouring fresh milk into the rivers, much like their US counterparts did during the Great Depression.

The US did it some 70 years ago to stabilize milk prices during an economic crisis; China did it because its most reputed dairy brands had produced melamine-tainted milk powder that was claiming the lives of Chinese children.

Glory and shame seemed to be racing each other in China last year. Even the launch of the Shenzhou-7 manned spaceship couldn't restore the country's morale.

Amid panic, sorrow and anger resulting from the poison milk scandal, the public began to reappraise those entrepreneurs who had once been lauded for creating social wealth.

Distrust quickly spread beyond the dairy industry, a sentiment that could be more destructive than a global economic slowdown as it could ruin public support for companies and their products, and possibly widen the rifts between different social strata.

We have always believed that entrepreneurs were the main propellants of China's reform and opening up. As a positive force for change, the public held great expectations for them. But despite their eagerness to talk about social responsibility, many of them ultimately failed to shoulder their professional duties and moral obligations.

To our disappointment, we instead saw this group simply offering apologies or insisting on their innocence outright.

Of course, the entrepreneur can’t assume responsibility alone. The public should also be accountable for social problems. We have seen too many problems, but are often reluctant to express our own objections or even reflect.

We built the tallest building, produced the cheapest industrial products in the world, and held an unprecedented sports competition. We've used nearly half of the world’s cement to build one landmark after another. But all of this is only one part of the growth and modernization.

We should take more time to reflect on ourselves and what still needs to be done.

The renaissance of ideas in the 1980s ultimately failed to cultivate habits of self-education among the public, and failed to be passed on to the next generation of officials and intellectuals.

As a result, modern core values like rationality, liberty and virtue were replaced by an obsession with economic growth rates. Consequently, paradoxes were embedded deeply within the development process.

The long history of China striving for modernization over the past centuries has been ridden with setbacks. Time and again, when the nation faced external threats, it tapped into a nationalistic approach rather than an enlightened push for progress; it turned to strengthening the country through materialistic richness and military prowess.

Can China escape this historic cycle? This very question was bothering Qiao Xiao, chairman of China Merchants Group (CMG).

The CMG, a daughter and symbol of China’s modernization process with over 130 years of history, has experienced all the ups and downs of China's turbulent modern history.

Qiao believed modernization and modernity were two different concepts. While the former was a process and a tool, the latter epitomized fundamental changes through fresh thinking and systemic reform.

He tried to initiate discourse among friends about the subject, but none reciprocated to such an invitation of soul searching for a nation in transformation.

That we care not of such matters today is indeed disappointing.

In a time filled with uncertainties, the world is watching us closer than ever, as if China possesses an enchanted key to the future. And as China steps into the mainstream international arena, it is bound to contribute to the cross-pollination of cultures - be it value systems, principles on development or modernization.

What shall we bring to the world? Is it to build a distorted modernization at all costs? Or is it to inject new vitality into the modern civilized order? Undoubtedly, it should be the latter.

With that in mind, We should seize upon our individual responsibility no matter what groups we belonged to.

Let the entrepreneurs be responsible believers of a market economy, not unscrupulous seekers of wealth and power. Let them be the corporate citizens with a sense of empathy and integrity, not targets of public mockery and hatred.

Let the politicians be responsible public office holders. Exhibiting good virtues aside, they should have the courage to own up to mistakes, and observe and reflect global trends to drive the nation forward.

Let the intellectuals take responsibility, too. They should have the audacity to raise their voices against hegemony, moral decadence, corruption, and other ills, from a constructive perspective; and to push for dialogue to promote understanding and trust in the society.

The year 2008 has concluded. In the past year, we were eager to create brilliance, anxious to counter challenges, eager to defeat disasters and impatient to accomplish tasks.

Though every person and institution could write their own extensive memoir for the past year, we are already preoccupied with confronting the financial crisis and stimulating the economy. As the new year is upon us, we should, as scholar Li Shuguang has said, reflect on the pains we experienced, on what we have gained, and what we still hope to gain in 2009.

In 1978, beset by immense hardships, our country embarked on a new development path.

If we look back with wisdom on all that has happened, perhaps we can, as we did 30 years ago, seize upon this moment of challenge as if it was an opportunity. By doing so, the year 2008 would not have been endured in vain.