Safety or stagnation? Why China’s isolationism may backfire.
One day in late August, shortly after China’s leaders reportedly gathered at the Bohai Sea resort of Beidaihe to put the finishing touches on the agenda for next week’s 20th Communist Party Congress, a government think tank posted an obscure academic article online, sparking a surprising debate.
The article challenged the mainstream view that the isolationism of China’s Ming (1398-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) dynasties severely weakened China, recasting the policies as targeted efforts to defend China’s territory and culture against “aggressive Western colonial forces.”
Chinese netizens and China watchers alike interpreted the article – unusual for having no named author – as a political bid to lend historical ammunition to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s drive to make China more self-sufficient and fortify it against foreign
