China has relied heavily on history lessons to advance its global interests

Acceptability means jobs for the Chinese, which helps to ensure socio-economic stability. [iStockphoto] Modern China, with an effective government, succeeds in advancing its interests. It infiltrates other countries through cultural diplomacy and the Deng Xiaoping advice on geo-strategic stealth. China displayed this strategy in two events in Nairobi attended by Chinese and Kenyan ministers. First was the launching of the Kiswahili version of Xi Jinping's Governance of China at University of Nairobi's Confucius Institute and second was in showcasing China Media Group, CMG, activities in Africa and the world. It showed the effectiveness of cultural diplomacy and media outreach in reducing tension while increasing China's ability to be almost everywhere and to benefit the Chinese. With such display of presence, questions arose as to the reasons for its global success. Four explanations come to mind. First, China seriously values history, which it uses to craft a 'grand strategy' to secure its long-term global interests. History is its instrument for advancing national wellbeing through security, economic progress, identity creation, and effective governance. It maintains 'revolutionary' legacy by being conscious of history, especially the century of humiliation. It uses that history to forge 54 peoples into cohesive one and to perpetuate a sense of nationalism. Constantly reminding its citizens of past foreign threats to its survival, it insists on interpreting its own past, present, and future. Its current leader, Xi Jinping, for instance, is a serious student of history. He repeatedly refers to the over 4,000-year Chinese past as a guide to his 'grand strategy' of re-orienting global geopolitics. Second, China successfully came out of its self and externally imposed isolation. The symbol of isolationism is the 'Forbidden City' imagery near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Escaping the 'Forbidden' mentality was a shift in national attitude in order to avoid the self-importance mistakes of the Ming Dynasty that had rendered China vulnerable to external threats and control. It then went out to engage other countries, which made China's presence to be felt across the globe. The worldwide establishment of Confucius Institutes helps China to escape isolationism and make it internationally acceptable. Acceptability means jobs for the Chinese, which helps to ensure socio-economic stability. Third, China is consistent about its governing philosophy or ideology. It does not tolerate outside advice on how to govern or protect interests. The governance of China, the government repeatedly makes it clear, is through the Communist Party of China and anyone who does not like this 'can take a hike'. Once others accept the governing principles enshrined in its constitution, China is then willing to engage all in assorted activities called 'Socialism With Chinese Characteristics.' Fourth, China has capacity to respond to perceived threats to its domestic and international interests. China developed ability to be independent in the 1950s, especially after the Soviets refused to assist it in atomic projects. It established nuclear presence in the 1960s. As the world's second largest economy, China built a large military, produces its own sophisticated weapons, and is highly competitive in advanced cyber and space technology. It subsequently has enough war materials for export or donation to other countries as foreign 'aid'. China, therefore, effectively protects perceived interests by paying serious attention to history, avoiding isolationism, maintaining ideological clarity, and through its own defence capacity. It subsequently developed 'grand strategies' for attracting other regions to itself as a global centre. In doing so, it uses 'history' as an instrument of internal governance and global self-projection through cultural diplomacy. In the process, historical consciousness enables it to engage others in agreeable ways and thus reduce perceptions of China as global threat. With clarity in ideology and historical consciousness, China avoids isolationism and feels secure from assorted threats.

China has relied heavily on history lessons to advance its global interests

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China has relied heavily on history lessons to advance its global interests

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