From The Standard: China’s growing economic, political and diplomatic clout in the region is seen by some as a healthy counter- balance to US hegemony. But, asks Vaudine England, is it a fair trade?
China’s growing economic, political and diplomatic clout in the region is seen by some as a healthy counter- balance to US hegemony. But, asks Vaudine England, is it a fair trade?
In ancient times, embassies from Southeast Asia’s tropical kingdoms carried gifts of silk, elephants and even daughters to the Middle Kingdom, the name China evoked to claim its place as the center of the world.
After a hiatus caused by more than a century of turmoil, war and revolution, the sending of tributes – both political and economic – and the implied acknowledgment of China’s central position, is back in a big way. But the nature of the gifts has changed.
