Georgie Anne Geyer explains that military and foreign affairs thinkers in China have the radical misperception that the United States is a dangerous, imperialistic nation (“U.S. and China engage in duel of misperceptions,” Commentary, March 3).
In trying to correct Chinese misperceptions, it could be very helpful to explain to them that today no major nation engages in significant imperialism, because the conditions that for many centuries made it attractive no longer hold. Traditionally imperialism has been a route to security through becoming larger and more powerful. Today, however, a nation merely needs nuclear weapons to be secure against ever being attacked.
Imperialism is also no longer a viable path to wealth, because services, factory production and technological development have replaced slave labor and natural resources as the basis of economic prosperity.
China suffered greatly at the hands of Western imperialism, and so it is understandable it would continue to fear it. The United States today, however, has no interest in conquering China, and it would be to China’s benefit to realize this fact.
