Peace on Earth can be achieved, but only if we are careful of historical symbolisms

As an Australian of Chinese descent, I, and many Chinese people around the world should be proud of what the Chinese government has done to raise the living stands of millions of her citizens. This is in spite of the disastrous Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. However, I wonder if the recent actions of the Chinese government in the South China Sea and the controversial Belt and Road initiative are the behaviour of a maturing super power? Sadly, the recent APEC forum has generated doubt regarding the maturity of the current generation of Chinese leaders and their ability to work constructively with the community of nations.

2018 is the 100th anniversary of the 1918 armistice and it provides us with a strong reminder to be vigilant of our history. When Germany defeated France at the beginning of World War 2, Hitler insisted that France must formalise her surrender in the same place where France formalised her defeat of Germany in World War I. Hitler knew how to use historical symbolism to exact revenge from France. No details were spared, even the train carriage that housed the 1918 Armistice meeting was dragged out from a museum so Hitler could further humiliate France.

Clearly, deliberately enacted or deliberately avoided historical symbolisms are powerful tools that can be used to reinforce hate or to bring about peace. I lament the lost opportunities at the recent 2018 APEC forum. In particular, the failure of the Chinese delegation under Xi Jin Ping to use the forum’s historical location to repair her relation with an old ally – the United States of America. Worse still the Chinese delegation also managed to put Australia (another old ally) into an unnecessarily difficult, political position.

The important symbolism for APEC 2018 is Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Seven

decades ago, Papua New Guinea, along with the nearby Coral Seas were where the Allies (the USA and Australia) were finally able to halt the Japanese Army and Navy advance in the Pacific. For the first time in history, two opposing naval fleets, Japan and the USA, were able to use carrier-based aircraft to attack an opposing fleet. In fact, the ships from the two fleets never saw each other. By the end of the Battle of the Coral Sea both fleets had lost one carrier each to the enemy. While loses in the two fleets were similar, the e Americans and the Australians gained the upper hand because the Japanese Navy had lost too many aircraft to be able to mount a direct assault on Port Moresby. Instead the Japanese had to go overland to try to take Port Moresby (leading to the Kokoda campaign).

 The Coral Seas and Kokoda are a long way from China but without this first victory, the Battle of the Coral Sea, how many more years would the people of China have continued to suffer under Imperial Japan? How much more would the people of Hong Kong have to suffer under Japanese rule? I still recall my Auntie telling me how Chinese girls in Hong Kong darkened their faces with shoe polish to avoid being targeted by the Japanese soldiers in Hong Kong.

Clearly the people of China owe the USA and the Australians a great deal for defeating Imperial Japan. However, seven decades later, the Chinese delegation blundered into Port Moresby even before the APEC forum began as though they were already the new imperial power. This time the direct assault was in the form of vague promises of infrastructure loans. Did Xi’s team actually research the historical significance of Port Moresby? Do they even know the people of New Guinea suffered as much under Imperial Japan as the people of China? Even the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, from a former enemy nation was smart enough to visit Darwin before proceeding to APEC.

Unlike World War 2, the current dispute between China and the United States will not have a winner because the world is facing a far bigger enemy in climate change and continual environmental degradation that no missiles or aircraft carriers can ever defeat. What we need is a community of nations willing to work together where democracy and the rule of law are respected.

Finally, China, unlike Rome, has never been a great conquering nation. In fact, two Chinese dynasties (Yuan and Qing) were not ruled by Han Chinese and yet the it was the Han Chinese who had the last laugh as the Yuan emperors (Mongolians) and Qing emperors (Manchu) adopted the Chinese culture as their own. But isn’t this what the Chinese restaurants have done to the restaurant industry? Is there a single city in Australia that has no Chinese restaurants? As we approach Christmas, perhaps peace on earth can really be realised with a larger dose of Chinese restaurant diplomacy.