Xi's foreign policy demands a Confucian revision

series of diplomatic coups lately. Relations with the United States are at their lowest level in a decade, and Malaysia this month suspended four China-backed projects as its prime minister tries to move away from the Beijing. From Myanmar to Sri Lanka, via Vietnam, Chinese investments abroad are the subject of a brutal reaction

. These are all setbacks for President Xi Jinping's hope of becoming a global country. Despite his aspirations to play the role of a responsible state, Xi's record of foreign policy is full of quarrels, failures and broken promises. If he wants to give China back its superpower status and consolidate its dominance in East Asia, it should be inspired by Chinese history to exercise its power.

For centuries, Chinese dynasties played a role in world affairs. Mr. Xi seems to want today. They were at the center of a diplomatic and economic order in East Asia that was stable, peaceful and prosperous for long periods.

This order was based on the "tribute system". In the West, this phrase evokes unsavory images of tyrannical emperors and vassals who are receding. And it is true that other East Asian countries were supposed to recognize the supremacy of China. But the tribute system was also a sophisticated framework for diplomatic relations, with its own rules, customs and values.

The system was imbued with the noble principles of Confucianism, which served as a government ideology for the Chinese imperial court and cultural cement. which linked the region together. In the Confucian ideal, relations were hierarchical, but not unfair. The higher power had the duty to treat his subordinates with kindness and wisdom. "When one forces men by force, they do not submit to him with a heart," said Mencius, one of the great Confucian thinkers. "When men are subjugated by virtue, in the depths of their hearts they are happy, and submit themselves sincerely."

China had the military and economic power to force its neighbors to bow down, of course. But for the most part, the emperors showed restraint. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 up to the first Opium War of the 1840s, China has invaded only one Asian state of the world. East (a fifteenth century disaster in Vietnam), notes David Kang, author of East Asia. the West . In response, other East Asian countries have generally accepted Chinese hegemony; The unfortunate invasion of Korea in the 1590s was the only obvious attempt to challenge Chinese supremacy throughout this period.

To the extent that the tribute system worked, all parties derived commercial and diplomatic benefits. . Emperors often gave gifts to foreign embassies that were worth more to their vassals than the tributes they received. Sometimes they made concessions when they did not have to do it. In 1725, when Vietnam moved part of its border about 40 miles north into Chinese territory to claim copper mines, the Qing Emperor decided to compromise, leaving the majority of the land in the hands Vietnamese

. peaceful, especially with the neighboring peoples in the west of China. But if Mr. Xi had learned Confucian officials in his court, like the former emperors, they would probably advise him to act with more patience, generosity and conciliation – and thus bring foreign leaders to cooperate willingly with him.

On the one hand, China would refrain from further militarizing the disputed areas of the South China Sea and, instead of sitting with other claimants, could give one or two inches to reach a compromise benefiting from foreign support. while maintaining the dominance of China. To resolve the trade war with Washington, China could focus on the very Confucian principle of reciprocity and be willing to treat foreign companies on its territory in the same way that its companies are processed abroad. And with Belt and Road, Xi could be more magnanimous and share the benefits of the program more equitably with his participants, thus avoiding a backlash.

million. Xi obviously should not restore the tribute system; he could not have wanted it. But the emperors and their Confucian scholars knew a number of things about prudent leadership. Just because you have the power does not mean that you should use it. The superpowers must sometimes make sacrifices to maintain their stature. And a little Confucian benevolence can go a long way. – Opinion Bloomberg