Syricide

🇺🇸JEFFREY SACHS: "China is a fascinating case because it's one of the great civilizations of the world and one of the longest-lasting. As a unified state, it's traditionally dated to 221 BC, when China became unified in a geography that is not so unlike today's China. China did expand its land base in part of its history, but geographically, it's boxed in. To the north are the drylands or the steppe regions. China was repeatedly invaded from the north by nomadic invaders like the Mongols. To the west are the Himalayas—a pretty steep barrier. To the south are the tropical rainforests, an effective barrier as well. China skirmished with Vietnam throughout history, but Vietnam is Vietnam, not China, because the tropical rainforest barrier held. To the east is the Pacific Ocean. China has remained pretty much in that rectangle, in that box, for 2,000 years. China's statecraft never went for world colonies. Never. China has not been in a war since a one month-war with Vietnam more than 40 years ago. The US, in the meantime, has been in perpetual war. Interestingly, if you think about its proximity to Japan and compare it with France and Britain, France and Britain were at each other's necks for most of a thousand years. They fought endlessly, sometimes centuries-long wars of competition. How many times did China invade Japan in 2,000 years? The answer is zero. Now, the Mongols ruled China briefly in the Yuan Dynasty and tried twice, unsuccessfully, to invade Japan in 1274 AD and 1281 AD. That was 700 years ago. China never did. Interestingly, when Japan industrialized at the end of the 19th century, Japan invaded China twice, in the 1890s and the 1930s. What's my point? Saying that China's the belligerent—are you kidding? We've been at non-stop war; China has not been at war at all. If we just have normal relations and accept the fact that, thank goodness, China is experiencing an economic rebound after a disastrous century at imperial hands—Britain, France, the US, Japan—and now China is recovering from that, we should say, hoorah! Now we can have good relations."