Opinion | Time for China’s elite to embrace the Zheng He spirit and open up to a wary world

By most accounts, the Communist Party had a momentous first century as it transformed a war-torn, impoverished homeland into a secure, prosperous nation. In the next century, the party’s storyline is likely to take on an international trajectory as China’s destiny becomes increasingly intertwined with the wider world.

This fact is not lost on President Xi Jinping, who has extolled his vision of a “community with a shared future for mankind”. To realise this, the party must guide a historically insular China to engage more openly with, and win over the trust of, a wary world.

The story of modern China began, like most, with the abandonment of the monarchy. But the People’s Republic of China then charted its own course, sidestepping liberal democracy to install a one-party state. The party and the government forged themselves into a formidable one-party-state machinery that, among other things, lifted hundreds of millions out of abject poverty. But the Communist Party’s ideology of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” is seen as illiberal and a threat to world order.

According to the “Thucydides trap” hypotheses, China’s rise could lead to conflict with the United States, the incumbent superpower. Tension accompanies all geopolitical realignments, and a rising China is no exception. But if the past can serve as a guide, China could be a different kind of world power.

One possible historical precedent is Zheng He’s maritime expeditions. To be sure, the Ming dynasty’s fleet was not pacifist. Its formidable naval might was deployed to reinforce Imperial China’s suzerainty. The sultanate of Malacca, for example, became a vassal state in exchange for trade and protection.