Rethinking the Silk Road

SHIN KYUNG-JIN
The author is the Beijing bureau chief of the JoongAng Ilbo.

“My hometown of Shaanxi is located at the starting point of the old Silk Road. Looking back at the history here, it seems as if I am listening to the bells of camels echoing through the mountains and seeing smoke rising from the desert.”

This is a quote from Chinese President Xi Jinping about the Silk Road at the China Archaeological Museum in Beijing on Oct. 7. President Xi is skilled at using history for politics. On June 2, he visited the Chinese Institute of History, where the museum is located, and hosted a conference on cultural transmission development. He said, “Marxism should be integrated with the concrete reality of China and with the superior traditional culture of China.”

Xi is referring to the “two integrations.” The first integration of the Sinification of Marxism was attained by Mao Zedong, and Xi will attain the second integration. The party propaganda apparatus promoted it as its “new cultural mission.”

The 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation began on Tuesday at the national conference center next to the Chinese Institute of History. It is an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of China’s extensive economic zone named “One Belt, One Road,” combining the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road.”

The white paper on the Belt and Road Initiative, published on Oct. 11, states that the journey of constructing roads from the East to the West, which started from Changan of the Han Dynasty in 140 B.C., has been completed. The paper also says that the Silk Road originates from China but belongs to the world.

China made good use of the Silk Road historically, but it was not the protagonist. The main players were the international merchants who travelled the path — and the nomadic empires who sponsored them.

China entered the Silk Road not for business or culture but for political and military purposes. Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhang Qian to suppress the Hun enemies. Emperor Taizong and Gaozong of Tang expanded to the West to conquer the Gokturks.

The Qing Dynasty’s conquest of Xinjiang was a product of conquering a nomadic state of the Dzungar Khanate. Chinese emperors were not interested in the Silk Road trade or cultural exchanges. Chinese merchants were not allowed to go abroad.

It is not much different now. The Taliban, which took over Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal two years ago, is reportedly participating in the forum. Leaders from Africa and South America are also visiting Beijing. The Silk Road is used for China’s strategy to create a modernized socialist power by the mid-21st century.

Emperor Wu of Han did not fight against Rome. Instead, he attacked the Huns. The Huns were pushed back and pressured Rome. Europe and the Middle East on the west side of the Silk Road are under war clouds now. It is time to pay attention to how the dominos of history will fall.