China\'s Quest. The History of the Foreign Relations of the People\'s Republic of China - John Garver

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China’s Quest for Modernity and the Tides

of World History

First a Scary Story: Will China Be Another “Germany”?

Once upon a time there was a great, rich and powerful people who had raised

themselves to a high position by hard work and tenacity. They were ruled,

however, by a small group of men who claimed for themselves the power to

govern, and who crushed all who challenged that claim. Many among the tal-

ented and hard-working people resented the arrogance of their self-appointed

rulers, and dreamed of the day when the people would be able to chose their

rulers and change them when they saw fit, as many of the neighboring peo-

ples already did. The challenge to the rulers was great, for few among the

people any longer believed the myths used by the rulers to justify their rule.

For a while the rulers of the land were modest, concentrated on improving

the lives of the people, and avoided giving offense to their neighbors. But the

rulers remained fearful that the people might rise against them. Then one day

a clever man among the rulers discovered a way to rally the people around the

rulers—expand the glory and might of the kingdom so that it might warm the

hearts of the people. And the people rallied to the cause of glory, for they were

proud of all they had accomplished and had long believed that their treatment

among the nations had been unfair. But it came to pass that the many nations

who lived around the mighty kingdom grew fearful and united together to

defeat their proud neighbor. The name of the people was Germany. The clever

ruler who sought their glory was Kaiser Wilhelm II (reign 1888–1918). His

failed quest for glory became known as World War I.

History, of course, never repeats itself, and there are great differences

between Germany in the early twentieth century and China in the early

twenty-first century. Yet there are also multiple striking similarities between

the two, and framing a discussion of the domestic determinants of contem-

porary China’s foreign policies by comparison with Wilhelmine Germany