Asian Politics

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BOOK REVIEW ESSAYS

Everything Under the Heavens equally tense relationship with Việt Nam is given similar treatment. French
argues that what seems like a new, aggressive shift in Chinese foreign pol-
How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for icy is in keeping with the historical sense of hierarchy based upon the
Chinese tribute system. In 2010, this attitude was summed up by Foreign
Global Power Minister Yang Jiechi’s response to a Singaporean official who questioned
By Howard W. French China’s grab for the South China Sea: “China is a big country and other
New York: Vintage, 2018 (reprint) countries are small countries, and that’s just a fact” (126). Acquiescing to
the big neighbor was the foundation of the historical Pax Sinica in East
352 pages, ISBN: 978-0804172455, Paperback
Asia. The choice for “small countries” historically was “accept [China’s] su-
periority and we will confer upon you political legitimacy, develop a trade
Reviewed by Robert W. Foster
partnership, and provide a range of what are known in the language of

F
modern international affairs as public goods” (5).
or the past several years, I have trav- While China was unable to make good on this vision for much of the
eled in China at the end of Septem- nineteenth and twentieth centuries, its economic growth over the past thirty
ber as the country ramps up for Na- years has provided leverage with its neighbors. Like any power, promises of
tional Day on October 1. In the cities, one aid and trade are often linked to political concessions from the recipient.
cannot avoid Xi Jinping’s China Dream French points to a moment in 2014 when the Philippines challenged Chi-
campaign, with various attractive posters nese territorial claims in international court. A Chinese official remarked
urging “Chinese spirit, Chinese culture, to Filipino reporters that Malaysia had US $100 billion in annual trade with
Chinese forms, Chinese expression.” On China, despite being much smaller than the Philippines, which only had US
an internal flight, I watched Jackie Chan’s $20 billion in annual trade with China (83). His point was none too subtle.
over-the-top “Kung-fu Yoga,” in which he The clearest and most ambitious attempt to shift economic power away
plays a Chinese archaeologist working with from the United States is the OBOR initiative. According to one source, the
a beautiful South Asian colleague to find project “would encompass 4.4 billion people, sixty-four countries, and a
missing Silk Road treasures. At one point, combined economic output of $21 trillion—roughly twice the annual gross
Chan’s character turns to his counterpart domestic product of China, or 29 percent of global GDP” (258). Through
and notes that their cooperation will help promote the One Belt, One Road developing overland infrastructure in Central Asia, China will connect
(OBOR) initiative (more on this below). And, indeed, in Xi’an, with its with Europe; through developing maritime infrastructure, China will
park and statuary commemorating the Silk Road, banners proclaimed the connect with Asian neighbors and Africa. China would become the hub
imminent OBOR meeting. Somewhat more darkly, television program- of this international system, leaving the United States and its floundering
ming was replete with anti-Japanese war dramas. All these things point Trans-Pacific Partnership on the outside. OBOR would be the carrot to the
to a concerted effort to restore Chinese pride at home and abroad. This stick of its expanding navy. The vision of OBOR is of a benevolent China
nationalist trend is at the heart of Howard W. French’s Everything Under that treats all impartially within the system. The vision fits with Liu Ming-
the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power. fu’s 2010 book The China Dream, which argues that China has never been
French’s book is quite readable. It is aimed at a general audience and expansionist. French quotes Liu: “The Chinese empire, at its peak, could
succeeds in making complicated issues clearer. It is suitable for high school have looked at the world in disdain, because there was no other nation
world history teachers or undergraduate classes. The central issue is how strong enough to challenge it, and if China had had the desire to expand,
China’s rise is challenging the international power structure, particularly no other nation could have resisted . . . As we can see, China is a nation that
the position of the United States. Unlike many other works on contempo- does not invade smaller or weaker nations and does not threaten neighbor-
rary China, French explains Chinese foreign policy through the lens of the ing countries” (243). And yet, conquest and expansion is a constant theme
imperial tribute system. His catchphrase for the system is tian xia, which in Chinese history—Việt Nam being a classic case.
he translates as “everything under the heavens.” French writes: The introduction and six chapters of French’s book make a clear case
Whatever the needs of the moment, the ideological foundations of Chi- for understanding the PRC’s current irredentism as historically grounded.
na’s move to take over its near seas were bound up in the concept of tian Interestingly, the conclusion posits that the current urgency for territori-
xia, namely that it was China’s manifest destiny to once again reign al expansion is the party leadership’s recognition that China’s window of
preponderant over a wide sphere of Asia—the old “known world”— opportunity may close soon. French argues that China’s power will soon
much as it supposedly had in a half-idealized, half-mythologized past. wane, for a number of mainly domestic reasons, so leaders hope to get
Only by doing so could the country realize its dreams; only in this way what they can while they can (270, 282). While the majority of the book
could its dignity be restored. This kind of thinking was shared not just seems a wake-up call to Chinese expansion, the conclusion attempts to re-
by Deng and Mao, but by every modern Chinese national leader since assure. French believes that China’s actions will, on the contrary, promote
Sun Yat-sen . . . (248) America’s position in the region, the main reason being that the tribute sys-
French applies this historical understanding to China’s current at- tem of tian xia is a power hierarchy without higher ideals. French believes
tempts to expand into both the East China and South China seas, which that American liberal values still have cache internationally (284), though
has led to conflict with its neighbors. One of the strengths of French’s work he does argue that the US will have to deal with China’s rise skillfully (282).
is that it examines the neighboring relations through the lenses of both This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book. The only caveat is
Chinese and non-Chinese history. For example, much effort is spent on that China’s internal problems, which French argues motivate China’s cur-
the fraught relations with Japan. French provides a balanced overview of rent assertiveness, are not dealt with in detail; however, the book cannot
the territorial and ideological disputes from the 1500s to the present. The do everything. Yet it does what it does—linking past foreign relations with

65
 Asian Politics
RESOURCES
BOOK REVIEW ESSAYS

those of the present—well. In a classroom, I would use it with a source How so? He draws on a classic in international relations as the spring-
that examines China’s domestic dynamics. Susan L. Shirk’s China: Fragile board of his analysis: Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War.
Superpower and James Kynge’s China Shakes the World both predate Xi’s The ancient Greek thinker deemed it likely, if not inevitable, that due to the
rise, but introduce domestic concerns.1 Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom’s China in circumstances of a status quo power (Sparta) and a rising power (Athens)
the 21st Century is more current, but I find it harder to use since it is writ- in contention, there would be a war or wars between the two. Sparta re-
ten as brief responses to related questions and issues, rather than having garded Athens a threat, while Athens perceived Sparta as wanting to block
a strong central thesis.2 For a Chinese perspective, one might look to the its rise and keep it down; that was the basis for their conflict.
English-language works of Wang Jisi, dean of the School of International Bolstering the argument, the Belfer Center at Harvard University,
Studies at Peking University.3 ■ where Allison serves on the faculty, carefully studied subsequent situations
wherein the Thucydides “trap” applied to the relations of major world
NOTES powers and reported that in twelve of sixteen such cases, war was the re-
1. Susan L. Shirk, China: Fragile Superpower (New York: Oxford University Press, sult. This Allison offers as proof positive the theory works.
2007). James Kynge, China Shakes the World: A Titan’s Rise and Troubled Future—and There is more. China is not only a rising power, it is also a resentful
the Challenge for America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006). one, given its humiliation by the West for almost 150 years after the Opium
2. Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know
Wars in the mid-1800s. Chinese regularly recalling the sting of imperial-
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).
3. Jisi Wang, “China’s Search for Stability with America,” Foreign Affairs, September
ism and China’s intense desire to restore its status as a great power, which
2005, 39–48. Joseph S. Nye Jr. and Wang Jisi, “Hard Decisions on Soft Power,” Har- China held throughout most of its history, contribute powerfully to its urge
vard International Review 31, no. 2 (2009): 18–22. for change.
Then, there is the reality that China is an extremely fast rising power,
while the US exhibits many signs of being a declining power, not just a sta-
ROBERT W. FOSTER is Professor of History and Asian Studies at Berea College, Berea, tus quo power. Add to the fact that China is demonstrating its dominance
Kentucky. He currently chairs the Asian Studies Program and teaches courses in Chinese, in certain elements of power that are especially predictive of it becoming
Japanese, and Eurasian history. Foster has contributed to works on biography in premod- the global power. Its arguable supremacy in artificial intelligence and quan-
ern China, Silk Road studies, teaching Confucianism, and the recent revival of Confucian- tum computers, which many thinkers see as the critical assets to dominate
ism in China. He is currently working on a translation of the oldest extant text dealing the coming new world order, has special salience.
with the game of weiqi (go in Japanese), which was found at Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Last but not least, as Richard Haass in his recent book, A World in
Disarray, observes, the international system is in a state of breakdown. This
means that the contest between the world’s status quo power and its rising
Editor’s Note: Two reviews of the following title were intentionally challenger is more acute and pressing than it would be otherwise.
solicited in order to provide readers with contrasting perspectives But there is a major flaw in Allison’s analysis: His theory predicted the
on a potentially influential book. Cold War would turn into a hot war. Also, the bipolar system was a ze-
ro-sum system and was asymmetric or out of balance throughout its histo-

Destined for War ry; that should have made war even more likely. However, mutually assured
destruction (MAD) served as a damper on the desire to win harbored by
Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? the United States and the Soviet Union. Another factor was they colluded
to keep their superpower prerogatives, and that also kept the system stable.
By Graham Allison Currently, the leaders of the US and China seem to realize the critical
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017 importance of their relationship as they are recreating the bipolar system.
384 pages, ISBN: 978-0544935273, Hardcover MAD is still around. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping
have established working, if not cordial, understandings and may be will-
ing to collude. The term Chinamerica, coined by historian Niall Ferguson,
Reviewed by John F. Copper describes this vividly.

M
Alas, both leaders also seem very cognizant of the reality that the glob-
ost readers will likely find Graham al financial system, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, environmental issues,
Allison’s newest book, Destined for and more cannot be managed satisfactorily without US–China coopera-
War, interesting and fresh. Many will tion. Thus, their relationship is “too big to fail” for everyone.
agree with this reviewer that it is a work that There are other variables. Fortuitously, the wannabe powers, Europe
may entitle Allison to join the ranks of Fran- and Japan, have pretty much resigned themselves to second-class status
cis Fukuyama (The End of History) and Samuel (though Russia has perhaps not), and India is rising but is too distant in
Huntington (The Clash of Civilizations), who of- economic and military power to be a contender. Thus, a multipolar sys-
fer powerful templates, if not plausible theories, tem is not in the cards. In addition, Trump and Xi harbor no illusions that
to help explain current international politics. international institutions are not capable of serving as the driver of a uni-
This book is therefore highly recommend- versal system.
ed to students of US–China relations, strategic studies, international poli- That the US–China-based bipolarity is asymmetric, with China domi-
tics, modern history, and more. nating in economic power and the US dominating in military power, seems
Allison provides an easily understandable formula to unwrap the fore- to be a condition that both their leaders accept. Trump has “signed on” to
most strategic issue that faces the world right now: the likelihood of a war China’s One Belt, One Road initiative to connect the world and run global
between the United States and China, and the implications of such an event. commerce, quite in contrast to President Barack Obama, who opposed US

66 Education About ASIA Volume 23, Number 1 Spring 2018