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The perspective of considering China as a person seems a good approach; taking the state as a person is not new among certain scholars and politicians. Regardless of the differences between the major schools of thought in international relations, Hans J. Morgenthau, Kenneth Waltz, Robert Keohane and Alexander Wendt in different publications have all discussed the idea that a state can behave "as if" it were a person, or that a state "really is" a person -- into which we need not probe further here. But however precise these arguments might be, considering the state as a person can be very helpful for our analysis of China's mentality and the ideas behind its foreign policy.
In this regard, China may be viewed as a person with a body structure in terms of its physical structure -- location, lifestyle, size, government and people. It has its own psychology -- mild, angry, lacking confidence, sentimental, and so on, which is related to its historical experience. Personality is also important, of which culture and philosophy have played an important role in forming values. Hence it is useful to look at China with the cubic vision of geography, psychology and culture.
Physically China is a continental land with a vast population, under the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China. In its long history China faced many opponents from the north -- the Great Wall was built to defend the country against such enemies. This situation lasted roughly until the end of the 17th century, when China had to beware of its eastern neighbor, Russia. Later it faced invasion by sea from the British and other Western forces.
For most of its history China followed an agrarian lifestyle. This shaped the nation's character and developed self-sufficiency, diligence and self-reliance. (Mao Zedong stressed these qualities in his policies.) The farming life is often viewed as an ideal in human history -- people become satisfied with their surroundings and lifestyle, and so do not take the initiative to set out on voyages by land or sea, and they tend to remain sedulous and conservative.
So it is no wonder that, although China invented gunpowder in the 11th or 12th century and innovative sailing ships in the 15th century, the country did not take advantage of this knowledge to develop weapons or seek to discover new continents. Its continental thinking rendered China's personality rather defensive, conservative and backward-looking.
Psychologically, due to the steady growth and development of its kingdom, China constructed its own worldview, in which neighboring states revolved around the axis of the Chinese kingdom. China was the center and master, with a sense of responsibility toward it neighbors, as well as some degree of arrogance, which allowed little disobedience toward its governance. Then the Opium Wars threatened the kingdom abruptly. China very reluctantly had to abandon its feudal system. As a result, the kingdom collapsed and the neighboring states were "freed."
There was an alarming contrast between China's history before the 1840s and afterwards, through the 1940s. It is no wonder that China would strive for modernization in order to wash away the disgrace it experienced at this loss.
While British and other foreigners occupied parts of China's coastal cities, and later when the Japanese invaded, Chinese were humiliated -- treated by some almost as a species of dog. It is no surprise that they would develop nationalistic feelings toward foreigners who deprived them of their sovereignty and human rights. It is no wonder that Chinese would be sensitive toward territorial and historical issues. In the 1930s and 40s, the experience of Japanese troops invading and terrorizing the Chinese population especially intensified these anti-foreign feelings. So now, when Japanese rightists visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo where their war dead are honored, it is not surprising that these nationalist Chinese feelings are stirred.
On the other hand, we also need to understand China in terms of its unique culture and philosophy. Examining Confucianism is a good way to approach Chinese thinking. Some might argue that Chinese thinking has also been shaped by Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity, but upon second thought it becomes apparent that all these beliefs were interpreted or "readjusted" through the lens of Confucianism, especially the Principle of the Golden Mean.
A key concept in Confucianism is the argument for harmonizing or reconciling differences through compromise and consideration of others, which emphasizes self-restraint and abiding by social norms. We see traces of this argument in the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence put forth by China in the 1950s, originally to manage relations with India, and in the "harmonious world" promoted by today's Chinese leaders -- although many have been suspicious about the motivations behind these concepts, both past and present.
The above analysis is not comprehensive -- there are additional ways of probing for an understanding of China -- but considering China as a person is a useful alternative in seeking to understand a huge and complex nation.
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(Zhang Quanyi is an associate professor at the Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a PhD candidate at Shanghai International Studies University, studying policy making and collective identity. He is currently a research fellow at the School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, under a grant by the Korea Foundation. He can be contacted at qyzhangupi@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi.)
