How to understand the change of China's international status in the Asia-Pacific region (essay title, no less than 1000 words, major)

China is located in the east of Eurasia, the center stage of world geopolitics, and naturally the center of Asia. Its unique geostrategic position has always been valued by strategists in various countries. Studying the change of China's geostrategic position is not only of academic value, but also of indispensable reference value for exploring the international environment for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and for formulating China's foreign strategy and security strategy.

The center of ancient East Asian civilization

China, one of the four ancient civilizations in the world, has ruled East Asia for a long time, forming an East Asian civilization system centered on China. China has the comprehensive conditions of "favorable weather, favorable geographical location and harmonious people" and has become the center of ancient East Asian civilization.

Specific geographical and climatic conditions gave birth to splendid agricultural civilization. China is located in the "Civilization Corridor" in the north temperate zone. The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the whole East, the birthplace and center of Chinese civilization, are all in the Asian monsoon belt, with abundant rainfall and distinct seasons. It is one of the few large areas in the world that are most suitable for human habitation. The people of China have created brilliant agricultural civilization under the specific geographical and climatic conditions endowed by nature.

The self-contained geographical structure is conducive to the establishment of a unified central dynasty. In the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, China Edition became a big triangle, with the sea as the bottom and mountains as the signs on both sides. There are three east-west routes: the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River. The Grand Canal runs through the north and south, making China an independent geographical unit with a complete geographical structure.

The relative isolation of geographical environment is conducive to the continuation of political culture. Among the four ancient civilizations in the world, only China has maintained amazing continuity, while the three ancient civilizations of ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon and ancient India have all disappeared in the long river of history. The rise and fall of civilization depends on many factors, but the different geographical environment is an important reason for the different fates of the four ancient civilizations. All the above three civilizations are located in the main roads and are vulnerable to foreign invasion. In the long history of thousands of years before the Opium War, the geographical environment of China was obviously isolated, centripetal and radioactive. The northern part of China is desolate grassland and desert, the western part is mountainous and arid plateau, the eastern part is vast sea, and the southern part is inaccessible forest. Except for the invasion and harassment of the northern nomads to the Central Plains, the feudal dynasty in China hardly felt the threat of the outside world to the security of the central dynasty; The advanced Chinese civilization has an irresistible centripetal force to the surrounding areas and a powerful radiation function, forming an East Asian civilization system with China as the center.

The battlefield of modern imperialist powers' competition

The Chinese nation once created brilliant agricultural civilization, but Western Europe, located in a corner of Eurasia, seized the opportunity of industrial civilization, and modern China fell into a backward and beaten situation. What on earth is holding back the giant of the East? China's stagnation and retrogression, in the final analysis, stems from the rigidity of thought. China is the country that has experienced the feudal society for the longest time in the world, and the superstructure of the feudal society has reached its acme, so the resistance to the transition to a new social form greatly exceeds that of European countries.

The capitalist mode of production is to find raw materials and products from overseas to promote the market. /kloc-in the 0/9th century, the industrialized imperialist powers expanded to the whole world. Before and after the Opium War, South Asia and Southeast Asia almost became imperialist colonies. Coupled with Russian aggression and expansion in northern China and the rise of Japan after Meiji Restoration, China has been surrounded by imperialist powers. 1840 After the defeat of the Opium War, China began the historical process from a unified feudal dynasty to a colony and a semi-colony, which also opened the prelude to the overall crisis of China's geo-strategic environment. China's land and sea borders are frequently in emergency, and the vast territory laid in the early Qing Dynasty is constantly being eroded and occupied, and China is under siege. /kloc-At the end of 0/9, the imperialist powers set off a frenzy to carve up China, and even the core of China became the battlefield of the imperialist powers. Once a big country, it even fell into the situation of national subjugation and extinction. This fully shows that China's geostrategic position has fallen to the bottom. At that time, China was no longer a "chess player" who could compete with other big countries on an equal footing on the international stage, but a "chessboard" of imperialist powers.

The "middle ground" between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War

1949 the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) ended the history of old China being trampled on by others, and the people of China stood in the world's national forest again, and China's geostrategic position also changed fundamentally.

Through the Second World War, the geo-strategic pattern of the world has undergone fundamental changes: the era of the world pattern centered on Europe has been completely ended, and the center of world power has shifted to North America and the Soviet Union flanking Europe. The cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union and the confrontation between the East and the West became the basic characteristics of the post-war world pattern. When People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, it was the climax of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. According to the characteristics of the international strategic environment and the needs of domestic construction at that time, China's leaders put forward the geostrategic theory of "two camps" and "middle zone", pursued a "one-sided" foreign policy, laid a solid foundation for safeguarding the independence and security of the new country, and constantly adjusted their foreign strategy according to the changes in the international situation. Generally speaking, China's geostrategic position during the Cold War did not break away from the category of "middle zone" contested by the United States and the Soviet Union, which was caused by the internal logic of the evolution of the world geostrategic pattern.

However, the new China is not passively controlled by the United States and the Soviet Union, but takes advantage of China's unique geostrategic position to play the role of "four or two" between the two major forces of the United States and the Soviet Union. China's huge existence, special geographical position and independent foreign policy made China not only the object of reliance of the two superpowers, but also the rival of checks and balances. According to the changes in the international situation and the world pattern, China has constantly adjusted its foreign policy, skillfully used various international forces to balance the stage of international relations, effectively safeguarded China's sovereignty and security, and constantly created favorable conditions for China's development and growth. Especially when Nixon visited China in 1972, the rigid hostile relationship between China and the United States ended, and the famous "big triangle" relationship was formed between China, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the whole world situation changed. The Sino-US reconciliation actually paved the way for China's reform and opening up after the Cultural Revolution, and a brand-new world pattern will soon be presented to the world.

Asia-Pacific Center in a Multipolar World

The last 20 years of the 20th century were a period of rapid changes in the international situation, which had a far-reaching impact on the world pattern of 2 1 century. Taking advantage of the strategic contraction of the Soviet Union, the United States successfully won the Gulf War, and took the lead in carrying out the information revolution, which made America's comprehensive national strength and international influence reach another peak since the war. The vicissitudes of the world pattern have made some American politicians and academic celebrities think that "the only superpower" will become eternal in history, and the "unipolar" world is the natural world pattern after the Cold War.

However, history has proved that the unipolar world pattern can only be a short moment in the long river of world history. After the "Ten Years of Unrest", China embarked on the broad road of reform and opening up and made great achievements that shocked the world. More than 20 years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, driven by the tide of economic globalization, the BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India and China rose rapidly, the European Union accelerated integration, the Japanese economy stagnated for a long time, and the relative national strength of the United States inevitably declined. The power distribution and contrast in the world pattern are gradually balanced, and various strategic forces are regrouped, and a brand-new multipolar balance pattern is expected to basically take shape.

2 1 century is the "Asia-Pacific century", or rather, the century in which countries in the Asia-Pacific region dominate international relations. "Asia-Pacific" is an expanding concept, but it is an indisputable fact that East Asia is the core of the Asia-Pacific region. From the perspective of development, the concept of "Asia-Pacific" is bound to be extended to South Asia, and China happens to be in the geographical center of the expanding Asia-Pacific region, which may become the most important power center in the Asia-Pacific region. This dual central position will make China a geographical center country in the Asia-Pacific region.

Looking back at history, we can see that China's geostrategic position has gone through a process of "negation of negation". Since the founding of New China, China's geostrategic position has steadily increased. Especially in the past 30 years of reform and opening up, China's comprehensive national strength has been rapidly improved, and its strategic position has once again become prominent. China's unique geostrategic position in the center of the Asia-Pacific region is the main source of its international political power and resources, and it is also the basic condition for its continuous influence on the world geostrategic pattern. As long as we persist in reform and opening up and unswervingly implement Scientific Outlook on Development, China will have broad development prospects in the 2 1 century.

(The author is the head of the national social science fund project "Changes in China's geostrategic position" and a professor at the PLA Institute of International Relations.)