Military Review English Edition July-August 2016 | Page 99

DELUSIONS

China since World War II
The modern incarnation of China as a nation is in
some ways parallel to the rise of Germany. In the late
twentieth century, China began to rise from a long
period of colonial subjugation. In 1949, the Chinese
communists defeated the nationalists after an extended and unforgiving civil war. This was the culmination
of the struggle to throw off a colonial yoke placed on
the Chinese people, first by several European powers,
and later by Japan. Between 1945 and 1949, elements
with competing Chinese political ideologies battled
each other for hegemony over China. The communists, who emerged victorious, quickly established a
harsh system of centrally controlled governance that
doomed China to a period of stunted development and
political suppression.
However, in the 1970s, a new generation of leaders
began to steer China in a different direction following
the death of Mao Zedong. The new leaders sought to
bring greater prosperity and economic growth to China
through state-managed capitalism. Communism was
not abandoned, but many of its economic mechanisms
were liberalized and modified to enable growth, albeit
still centrally overseen by the party. This led to China’s
rise from stagnation and poverty to an unprecedented
level of economic prosperity and enhanced political
influence in the world. By the 1990s, yearly double-digit economic growth was pulling China toward a place
among the top tier of nations. With its staggering
growth came China’s demand for greater respect.7
Similar to the concerned views of neighboring nations toward Germany in pre-World War I Europe, by
the late 1990s China’s neighbors began to fear it would
encroach on their sovereignty. Chinese actions such as
missile tests off the coast of Taiwan in 1996 and claims
on the Spratly Islands that originated around the same
time have fueled such fears.8 Therefore, some states
have taken steps to protect their interests. For example,
after a decades-long period of cool relations between
them, India and the United States are cultivating a
strong relationship that includes both economic and security agreements. According to Ted Galen Carpenter,
initiatives such as these cause Chinese leaders to believe
the United States is leading “a containment strategy
directed against China.”9
In response, China is countering the perceived containment through a rapprochement with Russia. Since
MILITARY REVIEW  July-August 2016

2013, China and Russia have been cooperating for mutual benefit. For example, in 2013, they signed a $270
billion agreement to double the amount of Russian oil
delivered to China. In 2015, Russia and China signed a
deal in which Russia would build a pipeline to facilitate
the delivery of natural gas from Siberia.10
China and Russia have a long history of antagonism, as do Russia and the United States. Yet, if
China and Russia are now working together, why?
For Russia, an economic agreement with China offers
a way to stave off the effects of stifling economic
sanctions imposed by the West because of Russia’s
heavy-handed actions in Ukraine. However, in China’s
case, overlooking the previous adversarial relationship
with Russia appears to offer a way to counterbalance
the United States, and thus provide protection against
containment.11 A historical parallel can be found in
Germany’s attempting to counter the Triple Entente
with the Triple Alliance of Italy, Austria-Hungary,
and Germany (as well as with an alliance with the
Ottoman Empire).
In fact, the parallels between the nineteenth-century rise of Germany and the modern rise of China
are quite intriguing. Much as Germany had emerged
as a great power from a sprawling backwater, China
rose in the twentieth century. Further, the claims and
statements uttered by their leaders are similar. For
example, during a 2010 meeting of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, according to Washington
Post writer John Pomfret, some attendees claimed to
hear the Chinese foreign minister say, “China is a big
country and other countries are small.”12 If that statement reflects prevailing attitudes, China’s demand
for respect combined with claims for regional hegemony—that some have dubbed a Chinese Monroe
Doctrine—have the ring of an earlier time.13
One consequence of China’s power is that nations
bordering it, such as the Philippines, Vietnam, South
Korea, and Japan, have developed closer ties among
themselves. Additionally, Chinese encroachment of
international waterways has drawn the United States
closer to these countries as well.
Although there are currently no formal alliances
or reassurance treaties in effect, the sum of the tighter
relations between the United States and China’s
regional neighbors is leading some Chinese scholars
and leaders to believe there is a concerted effort to
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