Introduction
“The Great Game” refers to how world politics have shaped the economic and political way of life of the people in Central Asia and the Far East. It’s also used to illustrate how the relationship between US, China, and Russia and their influence on these regions which are not politically unstable but have a lot of the most valued resource in the world-oil. It started in the 19th century with imperial animosities between Russia and The Great Britain (Thomas 34).
China, believed to be the centre of world civilization because of its long unrivaled history in the world, has mainly been characterized by the rule of dynasties. China has always since time immemorial wanted to expand and have control over its neighbors. Nevertheless this was in most cases hindered by its long history of civil wars that led to changes in the respective dynasties. The study, therefore, is designed to give a brief history of the Great Game, and the importance of China in modern international politics.
China and the Western Powers
One cannot talk about politics of China without mentioning the Qing dynasty or dynasties in general. Trade between China and the Roman Empire was symbiotic in nature almost throughout Roman rule before the emergency of the British Empire (Xinru 67). China traded with the western powers as early as in the11th century. For instance in 1271, Pope Gregory X after his election, sent missionaries and some Jerusalem oil to the Chinese emperor (Hopkirk 102). Trade between the European countries and China expanded before the imperialistic feelings emerged between the trading partners. Although China was involved in imperialistic expansion in other parts of Asia, especially Central Asia, opted to adopt a defensive stance towards European imperialistic expansion into its territory. The Chinese culture of violence had always acted as a stumbling block to the Western powers, who wanted to have total control of their natural resources (Boulnois 112).
When China opened up for trade in the 19th century, Britain forced opium into their markets. There was a conflict between the British East India and China after which two wars erupted that weakened the ruling Qing Dynasty. The Second Opium War ended up in the signing of many treaties after several ratifications which followed as a result of China’s failed attempts to control its ports. All the Chinese dynasties wanted or tried to control all of the central Asian resources through their expansionist strategies. They successfully took control of Mongolia, Manchuria and the Koreas (Morris 39). This can be seen on the influence the Chinese have on cultures of the countries of the Central Asia and the Far East.
Despite of civil wars that the government of China experienced, it still managed to stage a strong defense to external aggressions. The Chinese established their control over Xinjiang during the 18th century. Russia extended its control in Central Asia in the 19th century. The two countries engaged in a boarder conflict that ended up in the signing of the Treaty of Kulja in 1851. The treaty allowed trade to be free between the two countries
China, Japan and India in the 18th and 19th centuries
In 1894, the Meiji Emperor of Japan attacked the Chinese influence in Korea and Manchuria leading to their declaration of independence. This marked the first Sino-Japanese war. This was followed by the Boxer rebellion which weakened the Chinese resistance against the Western countries. It’s through Japan’s attack on China that had stopped the expansionist feelings in early 20th century.
After Mao Tse Dong took power, they re-established their expansion feelings. In 1962, China fought with India on a boarder conflict in the first Sino-Indian war. China is assumed to have won the war as it claimed most of the contested regions. Today, there’s still unstable boarder relationship between the two.
Conclusion
China has been a major player in world politics since time immemorial. China is one of those countries that western powers failed to successfully colonize because of their culture of violence that made it hard to govern. The participation in the Korean War in the 1950s shows how important china is in international politics. China cannot be sidelined by any super power currently due to the rate of it economic and military growth.
Works Cited
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Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. New York: Kodansha International, 1992.
Liu, Xinru. The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interactions in Eurasia. Washington, D.C.: American Historical Association, 1998.
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