China

Speaker: Peter C. Perdue, Professor of History, Yale University

Moderator: Nicola Di Cosmo, Henry Luce Foundation Professor of East Asian History, Institute for Advanced Study

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The Qing dynasty endured for over two hundred years because, like other empires, in much of its territory it employed forms of indirect rule, and beyond its borders, it cultivated buffer states and quasi-protectorates (known as “tributaries”).

By the end of the 19th century, these techniques no longer held off other encroaching empires. In response, the Qing, just like the others, introduced policies of centralization, greater state penetration, and intervention in buffer states. After 1905, especially, the administrative structures, fiscal composition, and geopolitical vision of the empire had altered radically.

The main force driving new state building efforts was resource development, especially minerals. As foreigners cast greedy eyes on the underground forests of the interior, Qing officials reclaimed mining rights and remapped the empire. If on the ideal level Chinese territorial nationalism embraced the vision of a unified Han race, on the mundane level it rested on subterrestrial resources. The larger project of state penetration and territorial aggrandizement has continued during the ROC and PRC.

In this talk, with reference to case studies from Inner Asia and Korea, I will discuss how an ecological-resource perspective has informed our understanding of the late Qing.

This event is a part of the lecture series “China, Inner Asia, and the World:Mongol and Qing Empires in Comparative Perspectives” sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.

Please join us for a lecture:

China Coup: The Great Leap to Freedom

Roger Garside, Former Diplomat, Development Banker, and Capital Market Development Advisor

Moderated by: Andrew Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

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This short book predicts—contrary to the prevailing consensus—that China’s leader Xi Jinping will very soon be removed from office in a coup d’état mounted by rivals in the top leadership. The leaders of the coup will then end China’s one-party dictatorship and launch a transition to democracy and the rule of law. Long-time diplomat, development banker, and author Roger Garside draws on his deep knowledge of Chinese politics and economics first to develop a detailed scenario of how these events may unfold, and then—in the main body of the book—to explain why. His gripping, persuasive account of how Chinese leaders plot and plan away from the public eye is unique in published literature.

Garside argues that under Xi’s overconfident leadership, China is on a collision course with an America that is newly awakened out of complacency. As Xi’s rivals look abroad, they are alarmed that he is blind to the reactions that China’s actions have provoked from the world’s strongest power and its allies. In domestic affairs, Xi’s rivals recognize that economic and social change without political reform have created problems that require not just new leaders but a new system of government. Security abroad and stability at home demand a revolution to which Xi is implacably opposed. To save China—and themselves—from catastrophe, they must remove him and end the dictatorship he is determined to defend. But their will and capacity to do so depend crucially on how liberal democracies act. Garside’s scenario shows America leading its allies in creating the conditions in which Xi’s rivals move against him.

This event is organized by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.