outlandish, their behaviour unruly and their pressure for trade and missionary activities disruptive to Chinese society, while the Chinese felt humiliated by Western military superiority, the establishment of foreign concessions and other privileges extracted by the West.
g.
REACTIONS TO WESTERN INFLUENCE
A struggle ensued between the defenders of Chinese tradition who sought to restrict western influence as far as possible and the advocates of modernisation by means of assimilating western techniques and ideas. Among the latter were admirers of Japan's achievements. Others were impressed by the anti-imperialist policies of the Soviet Union, and by the early Soviet government's gestures towards China, including its disavowal of "unequal treaties". Western prestige, damaged by the 1914-18 war, was further impaired by resentment over western acquiescence in Japanese claims on China and other actions seen as directed against Chinese interests. The aim of redressing humiliations of the past was a matter of importance for the Nationalists, as for the Communists who supplanted them in 1949. This involves insistence on a concept of national unity which involves rule over the Tibetans and other races within China's present frontiers and the recovery of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. Continuing sensitivity to foreign influence is amply demonstrated in China's conduct of relations with the Soviet Union and United States.
h.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Political discussion is formalised, with authority seldom being questioned openly. The Chinese have no experience of western traditions of abrasive political debate. The centralised control and bureaucratic methods characteristic of communist societies lead to slowness of decision-making. This noticeably affects the conduct
of foreign relations and trade.
Current attitudes
2. Reflecting historical experience and traditions, the following are noteworthy aspects of current Chinese attitudes and sensitivities:-
a.
THE INTERNAL DIMENSION
Despite China's increasing international role and commercial exchanges, the leaders' main concern is with the major internal problems of meeting the needs and expectations of the enormous population, some 80 per cent of whom are still directly dependent on agriculture. Foreign trade is of growing importance but still small in relation to the domestic economy. It remains less than that of Taiwan, and less than Hong Kong's. "Foreign things for the use of China" is a commonly used expression which sums up the Chinese attitude to dealings with the outside world.
b.
SELF-CONFIDENCE
Consciousness of the size of their territory and population, of their basic agricultural self-sufficiency, and of the durability of Chinese culture remains an important element in Chinese attitudes.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.