This part makes my stomach turn: The West has been in this position before. Optimism about the prospects of transforming an ancient civilization through engage

This part makes my stomach turn: The West has been in this position before. Optimism about the prospects of transforming an ancient civilization through engagement, followed by deep disillusion, has been the pattern ever since early Jesuit missionaries sought to convert the Chinese to Christianity. Those envoys adopted the gowns of the Mandarin class, grew long beards and even couched their gospel message in Confucian terms to make it more palatable. The 17th-century German priest Adam Schall got as far as becoming the chief astronomer of the Qing dynasty. But he fell from favor, and the Jesuits were later expelled. More like disillusioned with "the West." The lesson learned on the other side (which took a really long time with wars, revolutions, and capitalist reforms to un-learn) is to not trust 'the West' because they'll try to hook your citizens on opium while trying to convert you to their religion. And if you ban opium and deport opium dealers, they'll kidnap your emperor, start a war, and burn/loot your ancient civilization. What the author of the article seems to forget is that there are elderly people alive today who lived through that. My grandfather was sold into indentured servitude because of his parents' opium habit. Moreover, for a nation with China's current levels of import/export and the rate at which cargo ships get attacked by pirates (as they go around Somalia to reach the Mediterranean), what's wrong with building up a navy? That's reducing dependence on local infrastructure and has got nothing to do with the U.S.