Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 30

However, modern day China’s foreign policies are also similar to those of Ming China in the aspect that the
sovereignty and freedom of many smaller countries may be at stake. Coining Secretary of State of the US
Rex Tillerson, China’s “debt-trap diplomacy”, in other words attracting smaller countries into borrowing
money for building infrastructure while they are unable to repay the debt, results in countries losing their
sovereignty and political freedom to make their own decisions as they have to repay the debt. Examples of
this include Sri Lanka and Djibouti, which were both forced to cede ports to China in order to repay their
debts. This results in a vicious cycle where China’s influence grows continuously as that of countries in debt
decline, resulting in more and more countries falling into debt with China. This is highly similar to Ming
China’s foreign policy of providing gifts and treasures to smaller countries in return for their sovereignty and
for them to become vassal states of China.
Ming China’s attitude towards establishing an international order is highly similar to that of modern-day
China. Both Ming China and modern China aim at promoting international trade and local development of
smaller countries, while at the same time expanding China’s political influence and achieving international
hegemony. Whether this is beneficial to other countries is still a topic of debate today; however, it remains
certain that if China wishes to establish a new world order similar to that of the Ming Dynasty, she must
take on her share of the responsibility of being a new global power in order to truly achieve a win-win
situation for both China and the rest of the world.