A group of intellectually-minded diplomats and journalists had an opportunity to sharpen their understanding of modern Chinese history and identity at a forum in Seoul last Thursday.

John Delury, an associate professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies, spoke about his book, “Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century,” which he cowrote with American academic Orville Schell in 2013.

“If I read John right, wealth and power are China’s keys to earning respect and strength on the world’s stage rather than through territorial expansionist projects,” Australian Ambassador William Paterson said while hosting the event, which was organized by Asia Society at Lotte Hotel in Seoul.

“China’s rise, its weight and massive interaction with the world require us to understand its history and how it plays into the country’s contemporary ambitions and actions. What precisely does China want after its national rejuvenation?” 

Through 15 chapters examining the lives of influential Chinese writers, politicians and activists, “Wealth and Power” traces China’s resurgence as a regional and global power, inflamed by its unaccomplished historic mission.

Beginning with the First Opium War (1839-42), with scholar Wei Yuan who advocated Western-style administrative reforms, and ending with the incarceration of human-rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, the book highlights key figures in Chinese history: Empress Dowager Cixi, intellectuals Feng Guifen, Liang Qichao and Chen Duxiu, nationalists Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek and communists Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Zhu Rongji.

“This book is structured around readings of China’s key intellectuals and politicians that have defined their solutions for China’s various ills in terms of acquiring wealth and power,” Delury said. “It ends where Xi Jinping assumes power, which leaves open the possibility of China’s future trajectory of development.”

What has motivated China in its relentless quest for glory, according to Delury, is its perceived sense of humiliation after being defeated by Western and Japanese imperial powers since the First Opium War.

Humiliation has spurred China to regain its past hegemonic status and shaped much of its modern identity. In this light, Xi’s “Chinese Dream” marks the pinnacle of avenging national shame, displaying in front of its past aggressors that history is now on China’s side.

“This humiliation drove both Mao and Deng to embark on transforming the Chinese society, first by means of Marxism-Leninism, then by authoritarian capitalism,” Delury said. “This determined quest remains the key to understanding many of China’s actions today.”

The professor, who has taught Chinese political history at Brown University, Columbia University and Peking University, said that a fundamental paradigm shift in Chinese history was made under former leader Deng Xiaoping, who put wealth before power.

“Deng was crystal clear about making economic development a state priority, leading to 30 years of unprecedented growth,” Delury explained. “But since 2008, a new historical era has commenced under Xi Jinping, as he wants to dissociate himself from his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, and embark on a new paradigmatic statecraft and governance.”

Unlike Deng who put a clear emphasis on wealth, Delury said, Xi has attached greater emphasis on power, elevating it to importance on par with wealth.

“China’s acquired economic wealth has been translated into military might and muscle. Every year China adds to its military, diplomatic and financial influences, now structuring international institutions over trade, investment, development assistance, security and other multilateral cooperation.”

The professor said this creation of an “alternate set of institutions” has unnerved many governments, particularly the U.S.

“It almost seems like China is bluffing America and saying, ‘OK! You wanted a responsible stakeholder and here it is,’” he stressed. “We are creating our own regional order, which will displace yours and dislodge you from your hegemonic position.”

Regarding the prospect of democratic development in Chinese society and political leadership, Delury noted, “As a historian, I am skeptical of certain inviolable laws of social progress. Anything can happen in the course of history.”

“I don’t preclude the possibility of social transformation in China, but at least at this stage, China’s sizeable middle class and bourgeoisie don’t seem to be clamoring for freedom and democracy,” he added.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)