ramana wrote:
Chinese have had a long journey since the century of humiliation beginning with the Opium Wars.
They got rid of the European mandates, got rid of the monarchy, fought the Imperial Japanese, created the People's Republic, fought the Korean war, exploded nukes to become NPT members, got the UNSC security council with veto seat. And refashioned their economy from the twin failures of the Great Famine and the Great leap Forward. And accepted the industrialization pace to become the #2 economy.
ramana, of the above you have cited, I agree on the bolded part because they reversed their obsession with merely clinging to a rotten 'ideology' to take their country phenomenally forward. Let me clarify. I do not use the word 'stupid' lightly. It has a particular context, in terms of their tactical or strategic approach, except for the one exception above. I do realize that the Chinese are one of the cleverest people on Planet Earth, they have an appetite for knowledge, hard working, have kept their doors open for new ideas to come in etc. including taking the extreme position that knowledge could be acquired through stealing.
But, I have a different take on the rest of the issues that you have cited. I do not credit the Chinese for the outcome of any of these. There were many reasons for the Mandates to disappear. The Chinese did fight the Imperial Japanese, but the effect was minimal. It is a fact that the Japanese defeated the vast Chinese Imperial Army in the Korean Peninsula and in the Yalu naval battle (which is regarded as one of the finest) and then immediately in Weihaiwei, posing a pincer attack on Beijing from Liaoning and Shandong hurriedly leading the Chinese to make peace with the Japanese leading to the Shimonoseki Peace Treaty which freed Korea from Chinese vassalage, gave Formosa and Liaodong, Dalian in perpetuity to Japan and made Japan as its MFN. Thus, Japan achieved its 2000 year ambition of having Korea as its buffer from the giant neighbour. The Ryukyu Kingdom came under the Japanese control in the 17th century itself without the Chinese Emperor being aware of it for the next 200 years. Similarly, the claim by the Chinese that they fought
successfully the 'Fascist forces' in WW-II is CCP's spun-story. They did fight, even Mao's Red Army and the Chinese Army under Chiang Kai-shek fought together against the Japanese with some American help. But, to what use? The Japanese left
*only* on their own volition after Hiroshima/Nagasaki. The Korean War of the 50s was a disaster for China with a million lives lost, which of course no totalitarian regime cares about. The Chinese intervened in Korea under Soviet prong, to show consolidation with international Marxist-Leninist ideology and to enhance CCP's position. The possession of the nukes happened fortuitously because of close collaboration with the USSR. I do concede that they have worked on further designs and fusion etc. There has never been a doubt about their ability. An authoritarian China, which was at the nadir anyway, had nothing to lose in terms of more sanctions by exploding the bomb in c. 1964. Losing millions of lives was also not a problem for Mao anyway. After Galwan they have made India a permanent enemy, thus undoing the previous three decades of efforts. China has only made itself friendless in the neighbourhood and beyond. May be, that's their ploy. The 'one and only Middle Kingdom' cannot treat anyone else as equal and has to put everyone else in 'their places' which are below that of China's. If this is what they consider as a brilliant strategy, well, good luck.
Even tactically, they shoot themselves in their foot. For example, in opposing India's involvement in drilling in Vietnamese EEZ while citing 'economic reasons' for CPEC through GB. For opposing terrorism in Xinjiang but supporting Hafeez Saeed & Masood Azhar. For their grandfathering of Pakistani nuclear plants. For trying to create an impression that several members of the UNSC opposed withdrawal of Art 370 & 35A while we know that China was the lone opponent. Similarly, in its position on our admission into the NSG. For their 'spot and immediate punishments' for any perceived transgression. There are many other instances where its bluff has been called many a time. Even the term 'Wolf Warrior' that they relish is a reference to the Mongols who ruled them for 200 years. They could never tame the steppe warriors.
The only point where I admire Chinese strategy was in temporarily giving up its ideological hatred towards the USA in order to join hands with her to dismantle the USSR. The Chinese also set aside their 'civilizational hostility' with Japan to attract investments & technology to grow. Then, it turned against them both.
