Why Did the Three Small Countries Dominate the World for 300 Years?

Li Changjiu

The great geographical discovery around the year 1500 directly induced the commercial revolution and the overseas colonial expansion of the Western European countries. However, since 1500 when humankind stepped into the modern history of the world, during the next 300 years, it was Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands, three small European countries, that were fighting for world hegemony.

Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands were able to compete for world hegemony for 300 years, mainly thanks to the development of shipbuilding, navigation and navigation technology.

Until the 15th century, Europe's progress in many areas depended on technology from Asia and the Arab world. At the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century, the Chinese compass was introduced to Europe by Arab merchants, and at the end of the 13th century, Chinese gunpowder and gunpowder weapons technology were introduced to Europe through Arab merchants. During 1405 and 1433, the Chinese in shipbuilding technology advantage was shown in Zheng He’s "Seven Voyages to the West". The Chinese ships were larger, able to withstand more severe storms and more comfortable than the Portuguese ones, and had good watertight cabins, more cabins, and the ability to travel long distances to Africa. Since then, however, China had been cut off from the world economy and its maritime skills had declined, and by the end of the 17th century, Europe had clearly taken the lead in shipbuilding and weapons.

Portugal took the lead in world domination.

Portugal was the first to open the prelude to the great navigation of mankind, becoming a powerful colonial empire and one of the richest countries in Western Europe, and dividing up the entire world market with Spain.

With strategic positions such as occupied islands and coastal strongholds, Portugal controlled merchant shipping routes and trade halfway around the world.

Portugal was the first country to engage in the slave trade. According to statistics, from 1500 to 1870, 9.4 million slaves were trafficked to Brazil, the Caribbean, the Spanish American colonies, the United States and other countries, of which about 4.5 million were trafficked by Portugal.

The development and prosperity of capitalism in Europe and America was closely related to the plundering and trafficking of African labor force to a great extent. Marx pointed out that "Africa has become a place where black people are commercially hunted". This is one of the signs of "the dawn of the age of capitalist production". This is also an important part of the primitive accumulation of capital.

Spain overtakes Portugal as overlord at sea.

Spain once possessed the most powerful navy and warships in Europe, controlled the waters of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the United States, and became one of the great powers in Western Europe in the 16th century. However, in 1588, when its "invincible fleet" attacked Britain, it was dealt a devastating blow by the British navy, and the Spanish maritime force was never recovered.

Netherlands as "Sea Coachman" .

In 1588, after the weak British navy defeated the strong Spanish "Invincible Fleet", the two countries fought repeatedly for hegemony at sea, and the strength of both sides was greatly damaged. The Netherlands took the opportunity to rise as a maritime hegemon, monopolizing half of global trade.

Since the late 17th century, the Netherlands gradually lost its position as a maritime hegemon.

The first country to compete with the Netherlands for overseas colonies and hegemony was Britain. After the establishment of the English Republic in 1649, the British rulers began to expand overseas after consolidating their political power and winning the conquest of Ireland and Scotland. After the fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1780-1784, Britain completely defeated the Netherlands. From the late 18th century, the western colonial powers replaced the three small countries in Europe to enter a new period of overseas colonial expansion and the struggle for world hegemony.

The Layout and Strategic Significance of "Belt and Road" Studies

Chen Yugang

First of all, "Belt and Road" studies should be the study of the whole subject.

To sum up, the study of "Belt and Road" is an all-disciplinary study on how to achieve common development between countries by taking countries and regions as an important organizational mode, taking the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind as the ultimate goal, and taking interconnection and intercommunication among countries as the main impetus.

Secondly, "Belt and Road" studies should be a long-term study.

(1) We should attach importance to the basic research on "Belt and Road".

(2) Attention should be paid to the systematic study of "Belt and Road".

(3) It is necessary to attach importance to the long-term study of "Belt and Road".

Finally, we should fully understand the strategic significance of "Belt and Road" studies.

(1) "Belt and Road" is a new pattern in which our country has stepped into a higher level of reform and opening up after reaching a new stage in our development.

(2) "Belt and Road" is the reconstruction of our independent knowledge system about world cognition.

(3) "Belt and Road" is an important path for us to build a community with a shared future for humankind.

The successful practice of "Belt and Road" can form exemplary and modal significance in concrete practice, value advocacy and system construction, and the concept of a community with a shared future for humankind has become an achievable, not a distant goal or an abstract concept. In this sense, the strategic significance of "Belt and Road" is that of the whole world, with great value in order, and will promote international relations to become more fair and just.

Promoting "Belt and Road" Construction in the Middle East

Liu Zhongmin

I. Political risks and countermeasures in promoting "Belt and Road" construction in the Middle East.

The political risks of "Belt and Road" construction can be analyzed from the macro and micro dimensions. The macro dimensions mainly refer to the political risks of "Belt and Road" construction at the global, regional and national political levels. For example, the game between big powers, geopolitics, and domestic political risks in countries along the line; and the micro dimension mainly refers to the political risks faced by enterprises as the core subject of the construction of "Belt and Road". Some scholars have defined it as any type of political event that results in the profit potential or loss of assets of an international investment when the discontinuity caused by political factors appears in the business environment (e.g. war, terrorist activities, change of government, third country intervention, transaction control and investment restrictions, etc.). Due to the fact that this paper regards "Belt and Road" as an important arrangement for China to co-ordinate the two overall situations at home and abroad in the new era, it mainly analyzes the political risks from the macro dimension and mainly focuses on the relations between major powers, regional politics and the domestic politics of the countries along the route.

(1) Analysis at the level of relations between major powers.

(2) Analysis of the regional pattern.

(3) Analysis of the domestic political level of the countries along the route.

II. Security risks and countermeasures in promoting "Belt and Road" construction in the Middle East.

The security risks facing the construction of "Belt and Road" in the Middle East include not only traditional security threats such as regional conflicts, but also non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, piracy, transnational crime, and so on. As well as from the Middle East extremism, terrorism in the surrounding areas of our proliferation, infiltration and even to domestic security threats. Due to the limitation of space, this paper mainly discusses the two most prominent risks of regional conflicts and terrorism.

(1) Security threats from regional conflicts and terrorism.

(2) Some countermeasures to deal with the security risk.

Promoting "Belt and Road" Construction in Egypt

Tang Guodong

Egypt, as the intersection of the two ends of "Belt and Road", has obvious geographical advantages and is a window facing Europe, Africa, and Arab countries. At present, Egypt is an important node of "Belt and Road" and a priority pilot country of "international capacity cooperation", and it is the country in the Middle East that has the most positive attitude toward the "Belt and Road" initiative, with the most open policy, and the highest degree of strategic docking. It is also the country in the Middle East with the best landing performance of the "Belt and Road" project. However, the cooperation between China and Egypt has also exposed some problems in policy communication, facilities connection, smooth trade, financing and communication among the people, and we should deal with them properly.

First, Egypt is an important fulcrum country for China to promote the construction of "Belt and Road" in the Middle East.

(1) Egypt's geographical location.

(2) Egypt's economy has enjoyed sustained and stable development in recent years.

(3) There is a high degree of agreement between Egypt's national "revitalization plan" and China's "Belt and Road" initiative.

(4) Frequent high-level exchanges and a high degree of political mutual trust have laid a solid foundation for the docking of the development strategies of the two countries.

(5) The exchanges between the two sides in the fields of education, culture and other humanities are rich in content and broad in scope.

(6) Financial cooperation between the two sides has made relatively rapid progress.

II. Problems faced by the two countries in the construction of "Belt and Road"

(1) Policy communication.

1. China-Egypt relations remain more at the macro strategic level and lack practical cooperation and mutual support on specific issues.

2. The Egyptian government's "Belt and Road" initiative against China is only considered from the angle of "using it for our own use", and the urgency of its demand is not high.

3. The Egyptian government has not yet unified its thinking on the national economic development strategy, which has hindered the landing and promotion of the "Belt and Road" project.

4. The external competitive forces for strategic cooperation with Egypt are constantly increasing.

(2) Facilities connection.

1. Egypt has strict environmental protection policies, which are easy to be ignored by Chinese enterprises.

2. The problems of work visa and residence are prominent.

3. There is local protectionism.

4. The standard of engineering construction is high.

5. The market competition is fierce.

(3) Trade facilitation.

1. China's long-term surplus.

2. The total volume of bilateral trade and economic cooperation is small, and China's investment in Egypt is insufficient and lacks of comparative advantages.

3. The bilateral trade disputes between China and Egypt are on the increase.

4. The administrative efficiency of the Egyptian government is low and the investment environment is poor.

5. The rise of trade protectionism in Egypt.

6. The domestic turmoil in Egypt has made the Chinese government and enterprises cautious.

(4) Financing.

1. The risk of exchange rate fluctuation of Egyptian pound is greater.

2. Egypt relies too much on foreign aid and has doubts about its ability to service debt and follow up on investment.

(5) Communication among the people.

1. The image of inferior quality and low price of Chinese products is hard to change.

2. Frequent fraud of Chinese backpackers promoting small goods door-to-door locally damaged to the reputation of the Chinese people.

III. Relevant recommendations.

(1) We should increase political input and strive to turn Egypt into China's strategic backing for the Middle East.

(2) We should improve the mechanism platform for smooth policy communication.

(3) As whether the livelihood of the people can be improved or not is vital to the "life and death" of the Sisi regime, China should consider economic cooperation with Egypt from a political point of view.

(4) We should create iconic projects for China-Egypt cooperation and continue to promote the construction of the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone.

(5) We should take "key projects and key nodes" as the support and starting point to promote the formation of a new pattern of win-win development in regional economic cooperation.

(6) We should expand the total scale of Sino-Egyptian economic cooperation and build an economic community.

(7) We should improve financial support and form a diversified financial support system.

(8) We should turn Egypt into a window for China's soft power diplomacy in the Middle East.

Promoting "Belt and Road" Construction in Saudi Arabia

Bao Chengzhang

As the core country of the Islamic world and the only Arab country in the G20, Saudi Arabia is an important partner of China in promoting "Belt and Road" construction in the Middle East. It is also an important fulcrum country for China to develop strategic relations with Islamic countries. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has undergone major adjustments in its internal and foreign policies, and it is of great practical significance for China to promote the construction of "Belt and Road" in Saudi Arabia by assessing and evaluating the potential risks faced by Saudi Arabia under the new situation.

I. The current situation of China's promotion of "Belt and Road" construction in Saudi Arabia.

In June 2008, China and Saudi Arabia established strategic friendly relations. In January 2012, China and Saudi Arabia decided to further enhance their bilateral relations within the framework of the Strategy. In January 2016, the two countries upgraded their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. In the context of China's "Belt and Road" construction and Saudi Arabia's accelerated transformation of the country, China and Saudi Arabia complement each other's economic structure, match foreign economic strategies, strengthen political mutual trust, and improve cooperation mechanisms. This laid a solid foundation for the two countries to deepen cooperation in various fields.

(1) Establishment of cooperative mechanism

Currently, China and Saudi Arabia rely on the multilateral cooperation mechanism under the framework of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, the China-GCC strategic dialogue mechanism, the "Belt and Road" cultural exchange and cooperation mechanism under the Chinese Ministry of Culture, and the Sino-Saudi high-level joint committee. Cooperation in various fields, such as the bilateral cooperation mechanism under the framework of the WTO, should be carried out.

(2) Characteristics of cooperation

First, there are frequent high-level interactions between China and Saudi Arabia.

Second, energy trade leads the economy and trade between China and Saudi Arabia.

Third, cooperation in infrastructure construction between China and Saudi Arabia has continued to advance.

Fourth, the areas of cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia should be expanded in depth.

II. Assessment of current main risk in Saudi Arabia.

In recent years, there has been a major turn in Saudi domestic and foreign affairs, triggering a series of chain reactions in the domestic and regional situation. At present, the domestic risks in Saudi Arabia are mainly concentrated in the political, economic, social, and religious fields, and these risks may have an impact on China's promotion of "Belt and Road" construction in Saudi Arabia.

(1) Political risks

(2) Economic risks

(3) Security risks

(4) religious risks

III. China's challenges and countermeasures in promoting "Belt and Road" construction in Saudi Arabia.

IV. Conclusion

China-Saudi Arabia relations play an important leading role in the development of cooperative relations between China and the GCC countries, Arab countries, and Islamic countries. The risks that Saudi Arabia faces in the political, economic, security and religious fields are not only rooted in its history and system, but also a manifestation of the travails of large-scale reforms in Saudi Arabia in recent years. At present, China is comprehensively deepening reform, and Saudi Arabia has also launched a comprehensive reform plan to promote the docking of "Belt and Road" and "Vision 2030", not only for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries, but also for the benefit of the two peoples. It is also an important part of deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Saudi Arabia and forging a new pattern of all-round and three-dimensional cooperation between the two countries. The characteristics and development trends of risks in various fields in Saudi Arabia determine that China needs to pay more attention to ensuring the policy continuity of Sino-Saudi cooperation and balancing China's relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran when promoting the construction of "Belt and Road" in Saudi Arabia. To adapt to the travails brought about by the economic transformation in Saudi Arabia, to seek more points of interest for the docking of the development strategies of China and Saudi Arabia, in order to realize the docking of the development strategies of China and Saudi Arabia to the greatest extent; at the same time to guard against terrorism and Houthis cross-border attacks on Chinese citizens and businesses in Saudi Arabia threat.

An Analysis of the Influence of the United States on the Order of Northeast Asia

Xiao Ding

Recently, with the relaxation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, countries in Northeast Asia have been actively planning and promoting the peace process on the peninsula, and the voice of exploring cooperation in Northeast Asia has re-emerged, and the strategic pattern is quietly showing signs of being reshaped. However, this reconciliation process is taking place against a tight international backdrop. In the Asia-Pacific region, the United States views China as an "equal competitor", grasping the concept of a "free and open India-Pacific strategy" in terms of security, and engaging in a major trade war with China and its major trading partners economically. Supplemented by strengthening the "liberal capitalism" theory, seeking to dominate the Indo-Pacific Ocean-Pacific strategic pattern evolution process. Due to the rising trade frictions between China and the United States, there have been endless discussions of "decoupling" between China and the United States. In view of this, in the process of promoting peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia, we need to seriously consider the strategic trends of the United States, in order to avoid unnecessary contradictions and problems, and build an open, cooperative, inclusive and mutually beneficial economic circle in Northeast Asia.

I. Northeast Asia Regional Cooperation is ushering in new opportunities for development.

At the Oriental Forum held in Russia in September 2018, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech entitled "Sharing New Opportunities for Development in the Far East and Creating a Bright New Future for Northeast Asia", stressing the need for Northeast Asia to actively engage in strategic docking for development. China and Russia are actively engaged in the construction of "Belt and Road" and the Eurasian Economic Union, focusing on improving cross-border infrastructure connectivity, trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and promoting the flow of markets, capital and technology from all countries. We should optimize the allocation of resources and industrial structure, jointly build an open regional economy, and strive to build an economic circle in Northeast Asia.

This is the clearest statement of China's top leaders in recent years, and linked Sino-Russian relations, Belt and Road construction and economic cooperation in Northeast Asia, demanding to promote the process of cooperation in Northeast Asia. It can be said that under the background of the in-depth development of the normalization of Sino-DPRK relations, the easing of the confrontation between the United States and the DPRK on the North Korean nuclear issue, and the realization of the "Trump-Kim Meeting" in Singapore, the summit meeting between the north and south of the peninsula, and the issuance of the "Pyongyang Joint Declaration", the evolution of the Korean Peninsula to the peace mechanism is beginning to dawn, which also brings hope to the Northeast Asian regional cooperation.

II. The United States has a substantial impact on the order changes in Northeast Asia.

(1) The United States has always played a leading role in the development path of the strategic pattern in Northeast Asia.

(2) The United States is an important participant in the economic development of Northeast Asia.

(3) The United States maintains military alliances and cooperative relations in Northeast Asia.

III. Some Reflections.

(1) The easing of tension on the Korean Peninsula has brought hope to the construction of order in Northeast Asia.

(2) Northeast Asia is the greatest concern for the United States to maintain its strategic presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

(3) The construction of Northeast Asia order involves the aspects of politics, economy and security. We should make full use of the opportunities brought by the trade friction between China and the United States, and actively deepen the construction of a community with a shared future for humankind from the height of building a community with a shared future for Asia.

Sino-Japanese Relations: Competitive, But More Cooperative

Jiang Yuechun

I. Cooperation and competition are becoming the norm in Sino-Japanese relations.

With the changes in the domestic and international environment that China and Japan are facing, it is undeniable that the obstacles faced by the two countries are of a structural rigidity, so it can be predicted that for a period in the future, China and Japan will continue to strengthen economic and trade cooperation; at the same time, the confrontation between the two countries in the East China Sea and the friction over the South China Sea will continue.

(1) Judging from the historical stage of Sino-Japanese relations, it is still necessary to make joint efforts to stabilize the relations between the two countries.

(2) From the perspective of cooperation, China's economy is slowly growing, and the market still has a gravitational pull on Japan.

(3) From the perspective of friction, it is difficult to find an "outlet" for key issues such as territorial disputes and historical understanding in the near future.

(4) Judging from the trend of US Asia-Pacific policy, the trend of Trump's "inward" policy may make Abe even more "indulgent."

II. Deepening China-Japan cooperation is in line with the long-term interests of the two countries and the current interests of the multilateral community.

China and Japan have long been important economic and trade partners to each other. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has become increasingly close and deepened. The volume of trade between the two countries increased from US $1 billion in 1972 to US $342.8 billion in 2011, an increase of 340 fold in 40 years. It is an indisputable fact that Sino-Japanese economic and trade cooperation has brought benefits to both sides. With the slow recovery of the world economy, Sino-Japanese trade and investment will also show a trend of recovery.

(1) The economies of China and Japan are still highly complementary.

(2) China's rise is an important external force for Japan's economic development.

(3) Japan still occupies the "commanding heights" of the global industrial chain in certain fields.

(4) Strengthening China-Japan cooperation is beneficial to the process of regional cooperation.

III. Sino-Japanese cooperation under the framework of "Belt and Road".

(1) The "Belt and Road" initiative is a public good that gives impetus to the economies of all countries.

(2) The "Belt and Road" construction can be linked with the economic development strategies of other countries.

(3) The "Belt and Road" cooperation will bring benefits to both China and Japan.

(4) The main directions of Sino-Japanese cooperation under the framework of "Belt and Road".

The "Belt and Road" is characterized by an open and inclusive economic cooperation initiative that is not country-specific, not limited in scope and not an entity, in which all interested countries and economies can work together. The purpose is to seek common ground while reserving differences, coexist peacefully, and co-exist and prosper together. Japan is an important country in Northeast Asia and an important economic cooperation partner of China. Japan and China have a close economic and trade cooperation relationship. China and Japan can fully find more points of agreement according to their own domestic and foreign economic development under the "Belt and Road" framework. We believe that with the continuous advancement of "Belt and Road" and the constant turning of Sino-Japanese relations, there will be more areas of cooperation and room for win-win cooperation between China and Japan in the future.