WHERE GOES CHINA?
If you have read any of my other pieces you may recall that I believe humans act similarly, their actions governed by three personality traits, that may differ in degree but are found in every living adult person. To repeat, they are Power, Self Interest and Hypocrisy. I literally can predict, if I have all the facts, how individuals or nations will act
I bring this up in relation to a book-review I have just read by an author Yuan-Kang Wang who wrote” Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics”
“Does Chinese strategic culture emphasize harmony and defense, thereby assuring that China’s rise will be peaceful? Or is the culture realist, encouraging China to push its interests harder as its capabilities increase? Wang`s thesis is that China has a strategic culture that is predominately peaceful and defensive but that this culture has little influence over the country’s grand strategy. He tests the thesis with a rich historical account of China`s international actions from 960 to 1644, showing that the Song and Ming dynasties alternated between defensive and offensive behaviour depending on the balance of power with neighbouring political units. The practical implication is that China’s behaviour will continue to emphasize defense so long as it is weaker than the United States but will become more assertive if the opportunity arises.” How assertive will China become. It just depends on how much stronger it is than the United States. That’s the way the world works and will work in the future. China’s neighbours will side with the U.S. as long as they feel the U.S. is strong enough to protect them and will change sides quickly if and when conditions change.
