Why Beijing needs Bush to kowtow
By James Kynge in Beijing
Published: April 6 2001 18:54GMT | Last Updated: April 6 2001 19:04GMT

The school history textbooks of some countries mirror the nation's soul, crystallising how adults wish to be viewed by their children.

Nowhere is this more true than in China, where a central part of the school curriculum is devoted to "national shame".

So deep are the scars left by innumerable humiliations, "unequal" treaties and slights at the hands of foreign powers, that a sense of hurt runs right through the centre of Chinese foreign policy.

As a US-China standoff over repatriating the 24 crew of a downed American spy-plane drags on, a cursory inspection of school textbooks provides an insight into why Beijing appears so insistent on a full US apology.

"Of course, they will have to apologise in full," says Fang Xiaoding, a Beijing resident, voicing an almost ubiquitous sentiment.

"If we let them push us around once, it will happen the whole time just like when China was weak," she says.

The textbooks say that from the second half of the 19th century until the Communist revolution in 1949, China was the victim of repeated foreign attempts to "carve the country up like a melon" while subjugating its people and plundering its wealth.

In one, an excerpt from the Times of London is provided as evidence of British greed during the sacking of the Yuan Ming Yuan, or summer palace, in 1860 - the story of which is learnt by heart by every Chinese pupil.

"When they first ran into the palace, they had no idea what to take. In order to take gold, they threw away the silver. In order to take the gems, they threw away the gold.

"A lot of priceless china and porcelain was just destroyed because it was too big to move," the Times was quoted as saying.

Christian missionaries of that time are portrayed as the agents of capitalism and colonialism, in cahoots with the invading armies while twisting the minds of the masses and raping Chinese women.

When the Chinese declined to trade, the British burst in with gunboats and peddled opium. They stole Chinese tea bushes and transplanted them to India.

The Japanese made a lunge for territory, and the rest of the world vied to became usurious lenders to the Manchu court.

Then they took control over the customs, commandeering the revenue as repayment for debts and, at the same time, forcing down tariffs to the world's lowest levels so as to promote their exports into the huge China market, children are taught.

When China was thus brought to its knees, the last dynasty toppled and the country ravaged by war lords and disease, the same foreigners who had already plundered it now began calling it "the sick man of Asia".

No matter how balanced these accounts are, the fact that they are part of the national psyche means Beijing is virtually pre-programmed to react to perceptions of foreign bullying by seeking the moral high ground.

This is not just a matter of face. It is also shrewd politics. As the spyplane standoff has unfolded, national feelings of outrage have grown, and criticism of national leaders for being "too soft" on the US has become a common refrain.

China's Communist government - its power sapped by a discredited Marxist ideology and dilapidated systems of control - can also ill afford to pass up a rare opportunity to unite the nation behind the siren of nationalism.

But for foreign businessmen in China, and especially for those who have grown comfortable with the notion that Asia's rising giant is remaking itself in America's image, the experience of this week has given pause for thought.

Most Chinese are friendly toward foreigners and fascinated by the icons of the west: Bill Gates of Microsoft, the English footballer David Beckham, McDonald's and Nike. But there are deeper feelings.

"The nation is gradually awakening from a slumber of 100 years," said one internet chat room entry criticising the US reconnaissance aircraft for supposedly flying into Chinese airspace and Washington for failing to apologise for the death of a Chinese pilot in the collision.

"The Great Wall will never be toppled," he added, referring to the structure that helped keep unruly foreigners out of the middle kingdom for centuries.

"We want dignity, we don't want US dollars," said another chat room entry. "We want sovereignty, we don't want hegemonism."

But although these sentiments provide a much-needed boost to social cohesion, a protracted spell in thrall to resentment could only set back the policies of openness and market reform that have propelled China's stunning development over the past two decades.

Unfortunately, the history of the last 20 years is too recent for the school textbooks to cover.