There have been heated discussions on why China should rise. I think this is a false proposition, as China's rise doesn't require any reason.

Professor Wang Yiwei believes that if China's GDP takes up one-third of the world total, there will be no legitimacy in China's further rise. But why? Is there any reason China's rise should not transcend history?

When comparing China with the US, many Westerners, including US President Barack Obama, have claimed that the world cannot endure another US, and some Chinese intellectuals follow this mindset without question.

But they forget one basic principle: Chinese have the right to choose the same lifestyle as Americans. Whether they are able to make it or whether they are willing to do it is another question. If the world cannot afford it, why can't Americans live like Chinese?

Meanwhile, is the fact that China is an inland country and its traditional development mode is farming-oriented hindering China from replacing the US hegemony?

Stepping back, as culture can be constantly changing, how can one argue that China's culture will always be traditional and that its traditional development mode will be farming-oriented forever?

Frankly, discussing "why China should rise" is worthless. The most important reason is that China has the possibility and capability to rise. Without this possibility and capability, any reason would be meaningless. As long as it has the possibility and capability, any country will choose to rise.

We needn't look for any obvious reasons to ask foreigners to allow China's rise. Nor would these foreigners believe those reasons.

For example, the argument that our traditional culture will make us take a resource-saving path that is completely different from the US path is not convincing.

Chinese people want to live in big houses and drive cars just like Americans. One cannot assume that the Chinese way of consuming natural resources is different from the US one. If we follow foreigners' views and insist that the world's resources need to be saved, China had better not rise or even die out.

I understand Wang Yiwei's intention of eliminating the outside obstacles to China's rise. Of course, we should explain to the world that the advantages brought by China's rise far outweigh its disadvantages. But such an explanation should be convincing.

As a peaceful rise accords with China's interests, China will maintain and safeguard peace.

The Chinese have already proven that in economic activities their diligence and wisdom will benefit the world. There's no reason to doubt that this benefit won't last.

With thousands of years of civilization and the wisdom of the Chinese people, China will improve its development and ruling mode so as to form a convincing and superior Chinese mode, leading the world out of its current plight.

China has not yet proven it, but it has the confidence to make this commitment to the world.

The author is a researcher at the China Youth and Children Research Center. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn