The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

CHAPTER 3
U.S.-CHINA POWER TRANSITION:
FROM POTENTIAL TO REALITY
Napoleon Bonaparte is probably the first Western
statesman to characterize the geostrategic significance
of China. “Let China sleep, for when she wakes up,
she will shake the world,” said the Emperor of France.
No one knew precisely what prompted Napoleon to
make this warning, but no one seemed to care, either.
Indeed, in the early 1840s, about 2 decades after the
passing of the French strongman, the European colonial
powers forced their way into China. They used
advanced warships and firearms to “wake up” the
Chinese. The pre-modern China under the corrupt
and close-minded Qing rulers was no match to the
Western powers. They easily carved up China into
their spheres of influence, pressed China to open up
its port cities to foreign trade, and quickly set up commercial,
manufacturing, and many other modern operations
in China.
The Western powers ostensibly intended to turn
China into their overseas production and supply base;
yet they had nevertheless brought China into the modern
world. This sudden and forceful change threw
China into a situation of confronting some strong enemies
in the words of Li Hongzhang (李鸿章), a prominent
statesman of the late Qing Dynasty, “not seen
in thousands of years of the Chinese history.” 1 This
centuries-old feudal and agrarian society was pressed
disgracefully to confront modernity. Its fundamental
values, operating rules, and practically all aspects of
its way of life were under pressure for change.
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