BEIJING, Sept. 23 -- A nation that boasts the largest population on the globe. The world's second-largest economy, which is still rising at astonishing rates. A top military spender with an encouraging space program and blue-water ambitions.

Any one country with all these might seem to be only steps away from becoming a hegemonic power.

But China is aiming at exactly the opposite direction.

By definition, hegemony implies domination, yet this notion runs counter to Chinese philosophical traditions that expound on "harmony without uniformity."

Indeed, Chinese leaders have repeatedly stressed that the country has no appetite for regional or global dominance.

In an interview with news media from four Latin American and Caribbean countries in July, President Xi Jinping said, "It is not in the genes of the Chinese nation to invade other countries or seek world hegemony."

"China does not subscribe to the outdated logic that a strong country is bound to seek hegemony," he said.

His recent visits to nearby countries also shed light on the country's positive approach to neighborhood diplomacy, which highlights peace and common development.

In a recent trip to Mongolia last month, Xi told Mongolian lawmakers that China is willing to offer opportunities and room to Mongolia and other neighbors for common development. "Welcome aboard China's train of development," he said.

But despite China's repeated denouncement of hegemonic ambitions and gestures of good will, talk of the country menacing international order and security is still routine rhetoric in the West whenever politicians decide it seems fit to drag China's name through the mud.

The reinvention of the "China threat" theory came with little surprise. China's enviable economic growth has for decades unnerved many established powers.

After more than 30 years of reform and opening up, China is now the world's second-largest economy, having pulled hundreds of millions out of poverty at home and breathing new life into the world economy.

Yet in the eyes of those still locked in the mindset of zero-sum games, China's rapid rise and its positive contributions to the world are only cause for concern.

Much of their concerns center on China's expanding military. China said in March that it would raise its military expenditures by 12.2 percent to 808.2 billion yuan (about 132 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014.

The figure quickly drew ire from the West, with some describing it as worrying news for China's neighbors, particularly Japan.

Such "concerns" are unfounded and misplaced, particularly given the sheer dominance of Western militaries.

A report released by London's International Institute for Strategic Studies showed the United States remained the world's biggest defense spender in 2013, with a budget of 600.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2013. The figure was close to five times that of China in the same year.

Furthermore, as China is still a developing country, it needs a stable environment both at home and at its doorstep to sustain growth.

Though the country has experienced an unprecedented surge in national GDP, its per capita GDP is still low, and problems such as the wealth disparity have the potential to cripple the country's further development.

People still wait too long to see a doctor. Family incomes are too low to raise and support both children and elderly parents.

Sustainable growth is impossible without a stable and peaceful environment. It is for this very reason that China will not resort to violence and hostility, but will choose a path of peaceful development.

Those skeptical of China's peaceful rise fail to grasp the importance of China as a responsible player in maintaining regional peace and security. A country as large as China yet unable to protect itself only bodes ill for world peace and stability.

They also overlook the contributions China has made to the world economy, which has become more interdependent than at any other time.

According to figures from the National Statistics Bureau, 19.2 percent of world economic growth came from China in 2007, compared to only 2.3 percent in 1978.

Those who are stuck in the zero-sum mentality need to come to terms with the fact that in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, there is no such thing as "winner takes all."

As French philosopher Henri Bergson put it, "The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend."

Western politicians should stop reinventing their "China threat" theory and cast away their ideological prejudice so they can appreciate and benefit from China's peaceful rise.