do chinese today agree with emperor quinlong's statement about trade?

Answer 1

I assume you mean Emperor Qian Long (Ch'ien Lung) who rebuffed Lord MacArtney?

He spoke from a certainty of the superiority of the Middle Kingdom, and there are traces of that today in China as it emerges as a leader in economy, military strength and diplomatic influence.

But the statement about trade was that the Chinese wanted none of it, since they were already superior.

Chinese attitudes today - all in all places and at all times - run the gamut from pride to humility. But I do not think that any serious Chinese officials think that China is or can be isolated from the world.

Perhaps more dangerously, China seeks growing influence, and even control, and as the era of American dominance passes, we will see a shift in power toward the People's Republic of China.

China is about as large as Europe or the United States, and its population is twice that of Europe AND the United States. Its economy has been growing at over 10% per year lately (about 8% in '06, I recall), far higher than Europe or the US on average.

And China has bought much of the debt of the United States. If it so chooses, it may begin to exercise more control over American policy - assuming we have not already seen that happening.