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Chiss5618 t1_j1o6eh0 wrote

Reply to comment by macross1984 in Chinese ships depart after record-long intrusion into Japanese waters by OceanBreeze246

Not excusing the shit that China has done/is doing, but after you look at Chinese history for the past ~200 years, you can see why they want to be a superpower. It's especially apparent in their propaganda, which always depicts them as the underdogs fighting against the world.

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styr t1_j1ofgen wrote

When a British delegation first tried to make diplomatic contact with the Qing in the 1800s, the Imperial eunuchs told the British delegation to get the sitting Queen to come kowtow to their Emperor in person and offer tribute before even allowing the diplomats to speak their demands.

As you can imagine, such a request did not go over well with the Brits and set the tone for both considering the other "barbarians" and created hostilities almost from the get-go.

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PandaCheese2016 t1_j1ojiqm wrote

Qing and Yuan dynasties were the two “barbarian” dynasties in the eyes of many historical Chinese and quite a few modern day Han nationalists I imagine. Qing rulers were blamed for making China lag behind the West in premodern period, but their claim on Tibet also led to the current boundary of PRC so they can’t just rewrite Qing out of history books.

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jinglepepper t1_j1qo3vy wrote

>sitting Queen to come kowtow to their Emperor in person

I’m gonna need a source for that b/c that’s not how the tributary system in China worked. Never did the kings of Dai Nam (Vietnam), Joseon (Korea), or other tributary states personally come to Beijing nor were they required to. Instead, the diplomatic convoy made the token recognition and brought gifts, then they received gifts from the Chinese emperor in return, usually of much higher value. It was such a profitable exercise that some tributary states would send convoys multiple times a year until the emperor had to limit their visits. So unless there’s something special about the queen of England to warrant special treatment I can’t see how a personal visit was demanded

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macross1984 t1_j1o7szx wrote

That I understand. After being stomped to the ground so often it is natural to want to be strong and able to dictate terms instead of receiving it.

This is not only China but every countries had to show strength if they don't want to be taken advantage of.

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