How to manage China’s rise as a civilisational power
The world must deal with China by recognising its civilisational rhythm. China, in turn, must avoid the mistakes of arrogance
Prudent Chinese literati do not lightly discuss how China should act in public. Weightier reflections are reserved for private circumstances, where the tone can be measured and the words chosen with care. Foreigners, if they wish to deal with China, might consider this. The world’s approach to China, in its variety of gestures, also sets the stage for how China may shape its outward posture.
Zichan, the statesman of Zheng in ancient China and my favourite go-to expert, believed that small states must behave with caution towards great powers, and that great powers should show care for small states. His counsel was not abstract philosophy but practical advice, meant to prevent ruin. He argued that if small states acted rashly, they would invite destruction, and if great powers acted arrogantly, they would sow resentment and instability.
The lesson is that restraint is a condition for endurance. Western history also echoes this. Thucydides recorded the dialogue between Athens and Melos in 416 BC, in which the Athenians declared “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”. The tragedy of Melos shows what happens when power forgets restraint: a small island was destroyed because Athens could not temper its dominance.