María Dolores Elizalde

Wang Jianlang

For a long time, the idea of China as a culture and society which was voluntarily secluding itself from the rest of the world was dominant. But, in reality, China has always been part of the world, just as the world has always sought to penetrate China. The relationship between China and the world was, in the past, sometimes smooth, and at other times it was difficult, but nevertheless the bond remained alive. This collection presents an analysis of China from a global perspective within a broad temporal and spatial spectrum. It reveals the early relations established between the Roman Empire and China, the dynamics developed with the countries of the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and Japan, and the gradual path of Europeans and Americans towards China. The book reviews the development of diplomatic relations, the signing of agreements and alliances, and the rise and resolution of conflicts. It also analyses the forging of economic relations, the establishment of commercial exchanges and the creation of companies, professional bodies and institutions of collaboration.

China's Development from a Global Perspective

Understanding a country’s history is a vital way of understanding its people. In Unequal Treaties and China, author Wang Jianlang looks at how history has affected the nation and how those unequal treaties from foreign powers have shaped China’s policies even up until the modern day. ? From the first Opium War (1839-1842) and until the birth of New China in 1949, China was forced to sign multiple unequal treaties by foreign imperialist and invading powers. In these treaties, China conceded many of its sovereign rights in terms of territory and commerce. Ever since the time of the first unequal treaty (the Treaty of Nanjing), the people of China have struggled to invalidate these unequal treaties. Unequal Treaties and China provides a comprehensive overview of China’s history of fighting against these unequal treaties.

Wang Jianlang

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