"Is China Dreaming Of Becoming An Empire?" Topic

"In the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun famously never set on the British empire. A commanding navy enforced its will, yet all would have been lost if it were not for ports, roads, and railroads. The infrastructure that the British built everywhere they went embedded and enabled their power like bones and veins in a body.

Great nations have done this since Rome paved 55,000 miles (89,000 km) of roads and aqueducts in Europe. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Russia and the United States established their own imprint, skewering and taming nearby territories with projects like the Trans-Siberian and the Trans-Continental railways.

Now it's the turn of the Chinese. Much has been made of Beijing's "resource grab" in Africa and elsewhere, its construction of militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea and, most recently, its new strategy to project naval power broadly in the open seas…"
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Amicalement
Armand

…for the last 4000 years…

I thought they were already.

I'm sure they think they are already, which explains a lot of their actions, and future plans.

Do they look eager to add the problems of their neighbours to their own?

China has always viewed themselves as the center of the world and all other nations owe them obeisance. Their Confucian philosophy dictates that overt aggression and conquest are unnecessary as long as the other party acknowledges their suzerainty. Even the ideograms that spell out China translate to "center" and "world." The communists turning inward for a few decades was a minor blip in the nation's 5000 year history of dominating other nations.

I also believe they are past the dreaming phase.

'The communists turning inward for a few decades was a minor blip in the nation's 5000 year history of dominating other nations.'

Really? The isolationist policies of the Communists followed a long tradition of isolationism and trying to keep the rest of the world out. The Ming turned their back on the world and they were not the first or last dynasty to do so.

China's most notable man-made feature is a wall to keep others out.
And the most expansionist eras of Chinese history were under the Mongols and the early Ching – both of whom were foreign invaders that the wall failed to keep out.

China certainly wants regional superpower status. But it also wants to stay uniquely Chinese. They are very proud that over 90% of their population are Han and do not want that diluted. The 10% non-Han population of their population already give them more trouble than all the Han put together.

They want to be top dogs in their neighbourhood sure, but I do not think they want the hassle of actually ruling more non-Chinese. Keeping other nations 'in their place', sure, but I doubt they want to expand their land empire.

China expands by slow assimilation. The Han eat slowly, but digest very thoroughly. There are hundreds of years of assimilation to do within their current borders yet.

Maybe you are right my friend, but see with attention what they are doing in Africa.(incluiding troops for support of their investments in those "countries")

Amicalement
Armand

Indeed.

But as yet they are getting their resources the old-fashioned way: by buying them. And their troops seem to be there to protect their investments rather than conquer and colonise. AFAIK, all their deployments to date have been with the permission of what passes for lawful authorities in those parts.

As yet of course. Who knows about tomorrow? If I could tell the future, I'd be spending spend less time here and more time buying Lotto tickets.

Study the Confucian impact on Chinese foreign policy. Their goal is not to conquer other nations in the Western sense, but to dominate them. What is important to China is that other nations are economically and politically subservient to them. They use force only as a last resort to achieve a vital interest.

"But as yet they are getting their resources the old-fashioned way: by buying them".

Excepting the land creation/grab in the South China Sea, of course.

Cold Steel,
I agree entirely.

Mako,
You're right, and I should have mentioned that. But even there, it is a move to dominate their local surroundings, not a far-flung foreign adventure at the end of a long-supply line. It is in line with the aim of being the dominant Regional Super-Power, and does not necessarily mean they will start establishing a world-wide presence or empire.

There are orders of magnitude between being a regional superpower and a worldwide superpower. China is a long-long way from being the latter, and I am not sure they will think it is worth the effort, expense and risk to try.

What they are doing in the South China Sea is an outrageous grab, but (despite other folks having good claims to what they are grabbing) it is not taking over any population, or anything that was actually occupied by anyone else. It is opportunist, and there are not that many opportunist targets out there.