This diverse collection of papers ranges from full historical accounts to sharp battle-field reports, from Mao Zedung’s musings on war to the machinations of wily British politicians bent on breaking their word. The study of China’s dealings with border problems through the centuries shows imperial aggressions, bluff and deceit, cartographic trickery, diplomatic forgeries, wilful follies and stubborn refusal to correct mistaken policies. There is, however, a brighter side too, with an occasional statesman-like reversal of stance, and examples of patient, persistent negotiation undoing intractable knots of contention. Within the clash of states, there appears the human element of accident, the errant botanist whose hunger for new plants ultimately sparks war, the lords of the imperial marches whose land-grabs and deceits stand revealed in the long run; low political ambitions undoing carefully negotiated treaties. All of this throws light on one of the most important questions of the day: the character of the People’s Republic of China as an actor in international affairs.
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