No country has more neighbours than China, with 14 land borders. And its neighbourhood is not just crowded, but also tumultuous. There is a rogue state, North Korea; war-torn ones, such as Myanmar; ones with which it has festering territorial disputes, such as India; others with which it has overlapping maritime claims, such as Japan; and one—Taiwan—which it is constantly threatening to invade. It is a difficult group to get along with under any circumstances, but China’s flawed diplomacy is making the task even harder.
For centuries Chinese leaders thought of the world as a series of concentric circles emanating from the Dragon Throne. The inner ones formed territory under the emperor’s direct rule. Then came neighbouring kingdoms such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam, which acknowledged the emperor’s ultimate authority by paying tribute. Outermost were foreigners whose trade with China was often seen as tribute, too.
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