"Since China adopted its reform and opening-up policy, the Chinese have come to share a broader vision and more objective viewpoints, and they have become more confident," David Sehnal, a Czech expert in Chinese studies told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Sehnal's interest in China dates back to when he studied Chinese in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s. Since the early 1990s, he has frequently traveled between the Czech Republic and China, witnessing the Asian nation's huge transformation and development.

"China has changed so much and so fast, and the changes involved such broad fields that I was surprised or even startled at what I saw each time I got there after one or two years. The changes, contemplated from any angle or aspect, deserve to be discussed at length," said Sehnal, dean of Chinese Studies at the Prague-based Charles University.

More than China's modern city construction and the fashionable attire of its people, what impressed Sehnal were the changes in the thinking of the Chinese people. He said the reform and opening-up had sparked the curiosity of the Chinese about the outside world and provided opportunities for them to gain more in-depth knowledge about it.

"I don't need to explain some general knowledge to Chinese people any more...They have much more and deeper knowledge about the Czech Republic than the Czechs do about China," Sehnal said.

"Each time I visited China during the past several years, my Chinese friends would ask me questions about the European Union, the euro and the Schengen zone. I was astonished at their strong curiosity and in-depth knowledge," he said.

The Czech scholar also found that with China's significant economic achievement and success in fields such as space science, the Chinese no longer exhibit a "blind adoration" of foreign countries. Instead, they look at themselves and the outside world with a more objective eye, and boast of higher national pride and comprehensive ideological acceptance.

"They no longer simply praise foreign lands...They approach issues objectively, and I find the Chinese becoming more and more confident," Sehnal said.

This spirit of confidence has entered the field of art, he noted. In talks with some Chinese modern artists, Sehnal found that they deeply cherished their calling.

"They are so confident, and are proud of their motherland. They told me that China's support for domestic artists has reached an unprecedented level."

At the end of the interview, Sehnal summed up his thoughts in these words: China has experienced unimaginable changes thanks to reform and opening-up, and a confident, strong and modern China is rising.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2008)