In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.“China,” Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly said, is a “sleeping giant.” And “when she wakes, she will stir the world.” Two centuries later, China’s rapid rise is remaking the world. China’s economy and its military might are familiar topics. Ditto for Xi Jinping, the longest ruling and most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.
But amid the focus on specific Chinese leaders, economic figures, and hard power is a more basic, but no less important question: what does China actually want?
Sleeping giant
For centuries, China stood at the center of world affairs, its various dynasties expecting tribute from the foreigners they often labeled “barbarians.” But by retreating from the world, China sealed its fate. Half a millennia ago, Western powers began to overtake the Middle Kingdom. Chinese power receded while the West’s rose.
By the 1830s, China’s so-called “century of humiliation” began. The Qing dynasty lost a succession of wars, beginning with the so-called Opium Wars against the British.
