China's path to modernization differs from Western one -- Turkish experts

ISTANBUL, April 19 (Xinhua) -- China has found its own path to modernization, which differs from the Western model of modernization, Turkish experts have told Xinhua.

Chinese modernization embraces the masses while balancing development with the harmony of nature, setting an example for the world, said Dogu Perincek, chairman of the Patriotic Party of Türkiye.

"The modernization of the People's Republic of China has followed a path that embraces the society as a whole and attaches importance to the spiritual enrichment of humanity," he said, adding that it is admirable to achieve modernization with a population of 1.4 billion people thanks to Chinese socialism.

"Capitalist modernization could not embrace the people, because it only modernized the very elite and property-owning, capital-owning sections of the society," Perincek said. "That was a modernization based on private interest and profit."

Perincek also praised China for pursuing development while taking harmony between humanity and nature into account. "And accordingly, it follows a route that sets an example for the world," he said.

Perincek's view was echoed by Baris Doster, an academic at the Istanbul-based Marmara University, who said Chinese modernization is very different from capitalist modernization, as many Western countries "have developed by destroying the environment and nature."

Western modernization has also "involved barbarism, pillage, occupation, war, confiscating the raw materials of other countries, and usurping their cheap labor," Doster continued explaining the differences between the two paths.

However, China's growth isn't stained by a history of imperialism and colonialism. Its path, Doster said, is one of peace and development, and harmony between humanity and nature.

Among the essential requirements of Chinese modernization are building a community with a shared future for mankind, and creating a new form of human advancement, according to the Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

For the world, China's task to modernize a country of 1.4 billion people, or nearly one-fifth of the global population, is unprecedented.

Advancing Chinese modernization "reveals the self-confidence of the CPC and the People's Republic of China," Doster said.

"Today, China has proven its economic and diplomatic success," he said.