Is the decline of Japan and Russia the geographic prerequisite for the rise of modern China?

 Is the decline of Japan and Russia the geographic prerequisite for the rise of modern China?

The decline of the two powers of Japan and Russia, the geographical prerequisite for the rise of modern China? From the perspective of the United States, according to Kissinger's logic, the victory of World War II and the victory of the Cold War strengthened the prestige of the United States, but at the same time made the sleeping giant lose its bondage. Purely from the perspective of national status and influence, today's China has achieved a rise. This is a fact recognized by most people and the result of the continuous efforts of generations of Chinese.

The decline of the two powers of Japan and Russia, the geographical prerequisite for the rise of modern China?

From the perspective of the United States, according to Kissinger's logic, the victory of World War II and the victory of the Cold War strengthened the prestige of the United States, but at the same time made the sleeping giant lose its bondage.

Purely from the perspective of national status and influence, today's China has achieved a rise. This is a fact recognized by most people and the result of the continuous efforts of generations of Chinese.

However, a country is like a person, and any success cannot be separated from the corresponding environment.

China’s rise to where it is today is also inseparable from the tremendous improvement in China’s geopolitical environment over the past century—that is, the decline of the two strong neighbors of Japan and Russia.

Looking back at the humiliation history of modern China, we will find that the two powers of Japan and Russia, as close neighbors of China, are two major obstacles that are almost insurmountable in the process of modern China's national security and national reunification. These are a major characteristic of modern China's geography.

From the perspective of modern China's national security:

Since 1858, the Russian army has repeatedly invaded China's northeast and northwest regions;

When China’s internal turmoil occurs, this kind of invasion becomes more fierce. In 1900, when the Gengzi State changed, the Russian army directly sent troops to occupy the entire northeast. In the 1911 Revolution, the Russian army sent troops to divide the outer Mongolia;

After the Republic of China, the Russian army repeatedly invaded Xinjiang and Outer Mongolia, and took advantage of the victory of the war against Japan to enter the northeast.

All in all, at that time, Russia posed a serious threat to the security of northern China due to its national strength far stronger than China.

Japan also did not let too much. Since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, Japan has become a huge security risk to modern China. The war of aggression against China in 1937 is the most obvious manifestation of this threat.

Moreover, in order to maintain their geographic advantages in the Far East and China's special interests (Northeast and Xinjiang), Japan and Russia also strongly interfered in the process of China's reunification.

In this process, one of the major principles of China's foreign policy in Japan and Russia is:

Do everything possible to prevent the emergence of a strong unified government in China, thereby maintaining China's division and disintegration, and ultimately guaranteeing its huge special interests in China.

For example, since the end of the 19th century, Japan has repeatedly supported the Chinese Revolutionary Party in launching an uprising to destroy the Qing government’s rule over China, but its goal is not to liberate China, but to aggravate China’s division;

After the 1911 Revolution in 1912, Chinese strongman Yuan Shikai tried to rebuild a powerful central government, but was ultimately unsuccessful due to strong interference from Japan;

After Yuan Shikai's failure, Japan supported the founding of Manchuria and Mongolia to split Northeast China;

After the Beiyang government under the rule of the Zhili warlord became stronger, Japan gave Zhang Zuolin again its strong support, but at the same time opposed his expansion in the interior;

When the Chiang Kai-shek government gradually gained power, Japan directly sent troops to the northeast to support the splitting forces in Guangdong and Guangxi to intensify the split in China.

Similarly, Russia’s presence in Xinjiang caused severe damage to the Chinese government’s attempts to control the northwest. The 1929 Middle East Railway incident and the postwar mishandling and backlash of the Soviet forces in the Northeast were actually the National Government’s diplomacy with Russia. The manifestation of a major disaster.

Therefore, the existence of the two powers of Japan and Russia in modern times is to some extent like the two tough jailers guarding China trapped in a declining prison, making any effort by China to break free from decay will be swift, fierce, and irresistible. suppress.

To a certain extent, China at that time was like a German nation that was divided after the Thirty Years War in the 17th century. Any effort to rejuvenate would be ruthlessly hit by its strong neighbor France, which was destroyed and weakened by the Napoleonic Wars. Before, the German nation could not talk about revival.

What is gratifying is that these two powers subsequently went to self-destruction due to blind diplomatic mistakes, thus laying the foundation for China's rise.

After 1929, as Japan's Showa radical nationalism gradually got out of control and became the mainstream of Japanese society, the powerful Japanese empire created by the heroes of Emperor Meiji and Ito Hirobumi began to go on a self-destructive path of no return.

In order to cater to Japan’s nationalist sentiments, the country carried out a series of radical, irritable and risky diplomatic actions. It had antagonisms with Russia, China, Britain, and the United States at the same time, and was then eliminated by the powers.

The demise of the Japanese Empire not only removed a major threat to China's national security, but also removed a major obstacle to China's reunification, leaving a huge geo-vacuum in China.

Correspondingly, after 1945, Russia gradually fell into hostility with other powers, and then fell into the diplomatic fate of Germany and Japan, although there was no hot war.

Under the joint strangulation of multiple powers, it eventually fell apart and fell into a gloom with no end in sight.

The huge problem that has suppressed northern China for a long time no longer exists.

Therefore, from the perspective of geopolitical changes, we can discover the true effect of geopolitical influence on China's rise.

The demise of the Japanese Empire in 1945 made the unification of China possible;

The demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 laid the foundation for China's strength.

Having said this, I can’t help but think of Dr. Kissinger’s words during the Cold War. He said, “The West destroyed Germany and Japan in World War II, and invisibly crushed the two guards guarding Russia. Formed the dilemma that is out of control today."

From the perspective of the United States, according to Kissinger’s logic, the victory of World War II and the victory of the Cold War seem to have formed the same situation. The defeat of Japan and Russia strengthened the prestige of the United States, but made the sleeping giant temporarily Lost the bondage.