To rise above Trump’s trade war, China should let go of its ‘century of humiliation’
Tian Feilong says China’s history of ‘humiliation’ is not conducive to its new-found role in world affairs. A China that wishes to enjoy internal peace and friendly external relations must refrain from nurturing a sense of victimhood
China and the US are locked together in a trade war, which is a dispute over interests, technology and institutional values. The trade war is also a major event with regard to the modernisation of the East and West and the history of competition between them.
The history of humiliation must not repeat itself, but this also limits modern China’s policy decisions with regard to its national ethos and its trade war with the US.
Hong Kong was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Nanking. In the Chinese nationalistic view of history, this event was the starting point of “national humiliation”; the beginning of the time when, to quote Joseph Stalin, “those who fall behind get beaten”; and the impetus for becoming a rich country with a strong army.
Judging by history, there is a solid basis for “national humiliation”. Beginning in 1842, China continually ceded and leased territories to foreign powers. Under a series of treaties, foreigners in China had extraterritorial rights and China lost tariff autonomy to foreign powers.
Generations of patriots and revolutionaries failed to save the country through the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days of Reform, the Chinese Revolution and the New Culture Movement. But in the Chinese cultural spirit, there is a Confucian feeling that was set down in the Doctrine of the Mean: “Understanding shame, you approach courage.” This has been fully reflected in modern history.
After the Hundred Days of Reform failed to transform Qing China into a constitutional monarchy, two one-party states – the Kuomintang and the Communist Party – made their respective debuts, mobilising and revolutionising the nation. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded, but the normative transformation of the one-party state into a republic has been full of twists and turns and is not yet complete.
The history of “national humiliation” has played an important role in bringing the nation together, but also created a confrontational attitude to the modern Western normative system and made a negative impact with regard to the modernisation of governance.
Second, it stirs up feelings of sadness and thoughts of revenge, which is not conducive to China’s role as a responsible big country on the global stage.
Third, it wrongly blames China’s backwardness on traditional culture, resulting in a structural breakdown of Chinese historical and cultural traditions.
A China that wishes to enjoy internal peace and friendly external relations must refrain from nurturing a sense of victimhood. It must distinguish between the evils of colonialism and the virtues of Western modernisation, and assimilate the rational values of Western civilisation with critical discernment.
The world dominated by the West has maintained a dual relationship of prejudice and instruction with China. It maintains its sense of superiority with Orientalism, but also promotes freedom and democracy, pushing China towards normative transformation. But a purely Western view misunderstands China’s autonomy as a civilisation, as well as the complexity and structural resilience of the one-party state.
And Donald Trump’s all-out trade war on China is a failed response to this history. Contemporary China has inherited the history of “national humiliation”, but more importantly it has to develop a rational plan:
First, it must reconcile with traditional culture and rebuild the legitimacy of contemporary Chinese institutions in the context of Chinese civilisation, and bring radicalism under control.
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Second, reconcile with individualism. Respect and protect the liberalism and freedoms that have been embraced in China since economic reform was implemented. Establish the political and cultural legitimacy of individual dignity.
Third, Beijing should establish a coherent rule of law, rebuild the relationship between the party and the government by legal means, and establish due process and an accountability mechanism for all public powers.
Tian Feilong is an associate professor at Beihang University’s Law School in Beijing. This article is translated from Chinese