Time to bid goodbye to victim mentality

Chinese people should no longer feel burdened by our tragic history. This is not only the theme of this article, but also an appeal to our society.

There is no denying that there was suffering in Chinese society in the past. In modern history, we have experienced a time of struggle when we were poor and weak and suffering from bullying and aggression.

As a nation that had made outstanding contributions to human civilization, China at times was one step away from being conquered and subjugated by foreign powers.

We cannot forget our modern tragic history like tossing out a piece of offal, so the history of humiliation is passed down from generation to generation.

However, after quite a few twists and turns, China has finally arrived at a critical juncture of realizing the rejuvenation of our nation, and is now positioned front and center in the international arena. Psychologically, we need to adapt to this change.

Today, we have come a long way from our miserable history. China is now the world's second-largest economy, with its military budget the second-largest in the world. Our military forces as well as comprehensive national strength also rank among the top in the world.

Any fantasy that China could be threatened as it was in the late 19th or the early 20th century is nothing but an illusion.

China has maintained a rapid pace of development, which has triggered some changes in the global order. This will cause certain discomforts in the outside world, and we will experience rejection and pressure from others. This will inevitably make us uncomfortable. However, we have to understand that external pressure does not come to us because we are weak, but because we are gradually becoming a world power.

If we still hold on to this bitter history, we will easily fall into the ambivalent mental state that lies between inferiority and triumphalism. We may feel that there will be more arrogance toward our growth and ambitions to contain China's rise from the world. We may hesitate over whether we should continue on the path of opening-up.

So we must speed up the "normalization" of our own attitude toward the world. Our mind-set should come close, and even surpass the realization of our great power status.

China will hold a military parade this year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. This will be the perfect time to bid goodbye to the mentality of victimization in our society, to build a national sense of self-esteem, and to show our confidence to the world.

Since Beijing proposed the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, 44 countries have applied to be founding members of the bank. Meanwhile, China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative is also catching the world's attention. We have really shifted far from the China of 150 years ago. And more importantly, we will keep going further in the future.