太平洋时代和中国

The Pacific Age and China

本文回顾了“太平洋时代”思想的由来，分析了“地中海时代─—大西洋时代──太平洋时代”这一常用提法的弱点，从人类文明发展不平衡的规律和太平洋地区的历史与现实出发，论述了太平洋时代的标准、特征与主要内容，以及它与中国的关系。文章认为，仅用经济发展的眼光看太平洋时代将导致失误。从政治、经济、文化及文明总体发展水平来看，太平洋时代的到来，将是一个较长的历史过程。２ｌ世纪可能是这一时代的初期阶段。

his essay retrospects the origin of the idea of the“Pacific Age”,analyses the weaknesses ofthe frequently employed notion of“the Mediterranean Age-the Atlantic Age-the PacificAge.”Keeping in mind the uneven development of human civilization and the history and the pre-sent state of the Pacific region,the author puts forth the criteria,characteristics and the main con-tents of the Pacific Age,and its relationship with China. The author of this article believes thatdefining the Pacific Age from merely the stage of economic development will be misleading. LooK-ing from a larger perspective,in the light of the general development of politics,economy,cultureand civilization,the Pacific Age will be a fairly long historical period,and the 2lst century is prob-ably only the beginning stage of this age.