Thinking big, thinking small

By C. Raja Mohan

KUNMING, JUNE 2. China thinks big; India thinks small. What a difference it has made in just one generation! By adopting a bold strategy, China has raced past the timid India on the economic front in just one generation.

Well-being and prosperity are evident everywhere in China. Provincial towns like Dalian and Kunming have developed so fast that they make similar Indian cities look rather miserable.

It is not just the political leaders in Beijing who are thinking big. Taking advantage of the new openness to the world in the Chinese capital, provinces like Yunnan, too, are reaching out to their neighbouring countries.

An increasingly prosperous Yunnan province and its capital Kunming want to deepen economic ties with Indo-China, Myanmar and the subcontinent.

Kunming hopes that it can revive the old ``Southern Silk Route'' that linked all these regions through exchange of goods and ideas in the past. As South Asia begins to increase its living standards, Kunming hopes it will emerge at the centre of a thriving economic zone cutting across national frontiers in the region.

Taking advantage of Beijing's open door policies, Kunming wants to recapture its old glory as the overland gateway to China from India and South East Asia.

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Barely two hours to the East from Calcutta by air, this thriving capital city of Yunnan province hardly rings a bell for most Indians. With Sino-Indian relations dominated entirely by the ups and downs of political ties between New Delhi and Beijing, there is little awareness in India of the potential for greater interaction with a region of China that is so close to its borders.

Yunnan province is reaching out to countries in its neighbourhood to promote trade and cultural ties. Kunming is linked by air to Vientiane, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The Consulates of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are already operating out of here.

Yunnan is working on a mega project to harness the waters of the majestic Mekong river through cooperation among China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Delegations from Yunnan have been knocking at the doors of Indian Government and the business community to begin a new adventure in cooperation, without much affect yet.

Even during the political chill that descended on Sino-Indian relations after Pokhran II, the Provincial Government at Kunming sought to keep up its contacts with India.

The President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan's visit here on the last leg of his week-long State visit would hopefully raise the Indian awareness about the potential for a productive relationship with Yunnan.

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It was only five decades ago, when India was deeply involved with Yunnan. During World War II, when Japan occupied China's southern ports, it was Yunnan that gave China a strategic access to international assistance.

When Burma fell to the Japanese and the land lines got choked, an aerial link called ``Hump Air Route'' was opened between Assam and Kunming, with American pilots ferrying materials to China.

Later Indians, Burmese and Chinese along with American engineers built a land-link between India and China called Stillwell Road. This passage, and an oil pipeline along the road led from Baoshan and Tengchong in Yunnan, to Myitkyina in North Burma and on to the Indian North East.

As Yunnan deepens its economic links with Myanmar, and goods flow from Yunnan into the Indian North East with or without the permission of the economic bureaucrats in New Delhi, the time has come for India to seriously weigh the strategic importance of Yunnan and begin building bridges.

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Like in the Indian North East and northern Burma the Yunnan province has a large number of minorities, 25 to be precise. Yunnan in fact has the largest number of minorities in any region of China. These include the Yi, Dai, Bai, Lisu, the Hani and of course the Tibetans. Some like the Naxi are as small as 80,000.

A ``village of minorities'' set up here is a major tourist attraction. It depicts the life and culture of various minorities in Yunnan. Mind you, the village is no Soviet style show-case for minorities and their development.

It is a full-fledged business and tourist enterprise. Almost every other room happens to be a shop. The immaculately clean and beautifully landscaped complex is full of ethnic restaurants. It is a place that invites tourists and lets them spend money in salubrious surroundings.

But there remains some old influence of the socialist bureaucracy. The stores on the main street of the complex have names like ``Tourist Commodity Street Store no. 1''. But what is in a name, when you are having fun.

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The Bai nationality here has rediscovered its old custom of the ``three course tea ceremony''. In the past the Bais welcomed the emperors and their plenipotentiaries with an elaborate ritual of serving tea. Today you could have it for a price.

The Bais mix tea leaves from the Cangshan mountains with ginger, cinnamon, cheese, and Chinese ash to make a very special concoction. The first course is bitter, the second sweet and the last one is to bring back a powerful after taste.

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