Recently, tensions in the South China Sea region have escalated, prompting China to initiate comprehensive "diplomatic dialogues" with Southeast Asian countries.
Except for the Philippines, China has engaged in dialogue with almost all other countries.
However, in most cases, we need to confirm the intentions and attitudes of both sides through forms such as economic and defense cooperation.
This often leaves netizens feeling dissatisfied.
China has not coerced other countries to cooperate in a domineering manner.
However, China's goodwill and pursuit of peace are often misunderstood by Asia-Pacific countries as being wary of China.
Why does this situation arise?
Essentially, historical memories of smaller countries have shaped a distorted geopolitical environment in the Asia-Pacific region for thousands of years.
For Chinese people, historical memories often record instances of persecution during the late period of the Central Plains dynasties but often overlook the content of external wars.
This emphasis has accumulated over thousands of years, resulting in a perceived image of being quite oppressed, like "you have a wolf's fang cudgel, I have a heavenly crown."
Both Westerners and Chinese themselves believe that China loves peace, a conclusion drawn from Chinese historical memories.
However, the historical memories of neighboring countries differ from China's.
These countries may selectively hide histories of being bullied and only emphasize experiences of being bullied.
Take Vietnam as an example; their historical museums clearly state that for most of Vietnam's nearly 2000-year history, they were colonized by the West, with the remaining 1800 years being bullied by China.
South Korea is similar; they claim that China has been bullying them since the Han Dynasty, explicitly documenting being beaten by China more than a dozen times.
Other countries have similar claims, such as Myanmar, Mongolia, Thailand, and so on.
There is sharp opposition between China's historical memories and those of these countries, with only a few areas of overlap.
This has led to China's slogan of "realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" sounding good in China but chilling to these small countries.
These countries continue to propagate their historical memories, keeping a high guard against China in geopolitics, and are even willing to cozy up to the United States at great cost to contain China.
Why do these small countries work so hard to shape such distorted historical memories?
This also stems from the immense advantage and inclusiveness of Chinese culture.
The West refers to the Asia-Pacific region as the "Confucian cultural circle," where residents of neighboring countries and regions easily accept and learn from Chinese culture.
If these countries do not actively create "hostility" towards China, then their nations would hardly exist, and this region would no longer be a "Confucian cultural circle," but rather, local residents might actively seek to join China or even directly consider themselves Chinese.
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