What does China want? History shows the answer

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“China,” Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly said, is a “sleeping giant.” And “when she wakes, she will stir the world.” Two centuries later, China’s rapid rise is remaking the world.

China’s economy and its military might are familiar topics. Ditto for Xi Jinping, the longest ruling and most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

But amid the focus on specific Chinese leaders, economic figures, and hard power is a more basic, but no less important question: what does China actually want?

Sleeping giant

For centuries, China stood at the center of world affairs, its various dynasties expecting tribute from the foreigners they often labeled “barbarians.” But by retreating