Gekko Guru

Sadly the unrestrained-greed era personified by Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie "Wall Street" is still in existence.

Below is a post from www.jianqiuhuang.blogspot.com.au.
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My eyes slowly adjusted to the soft morning light on the glazed windows in my bedroom. It was Saturday and I looked forward to filling my tummy with tea and perhaps a cinnamon and raisin toast. 

Tired of the ridiculous on-going global debate about what was considered acceptable means of killing fellow human beings – using bullets or chemical weapons, I did the unthinkable and fired up FB. Bad habit I know, but for some strange reasons I felt compelled to do so, even before my tea and toast.

I stared at a title “Rich Vs Poor People Principles” listing the differences between the rich and the poor. It was compiled by a self-confessed personal development guru who became a millionaire in 2.5 years and founded the fastest growing personal development company in North America. He has written a number of books and claimed to have developed highly effective courses to make people rich by drawing from his personal made-it and lost-it-all then made-it-back again story. He wants to teach people how to make-it and remain rich using his 17-point principles.

Ploughing through the 17-point principles, I detected a slight unease growing in my gut, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of my disgust at the current global debate on use of chemical weapons or the 17-point principles mollycoddling the “Rich” at the expense of the “Poor”. Nevertheless, when I finished reading the 17^th principle, I lost my appetite.

“Why are you annoyed?” the Universe started.

“Hi, good morning – I am not sure” looking up to the voice.

“I just don’t like the words and the inference in this "Gekko Guru's" 17-point principle ” I conceded.

“An……d?” One of those long “and” a consultant would use when they want to extract more information.

“It creates a ‘them’ and ‘us’ situation inferring that it is OK to be “rich folks” and by inference NOT OK to be “poor folks”. And this guru is coming from a presumptive position that to have “made-it” you ought to be a millionaire and be rich like him. I find that a little arrogant and frankly sad……….”

“Follow the 17-point principles and one will always be “poor” by their definition” the Universe interrupted.

 I did not answer - I was caught off guard. “Huh? You want to explain yourself?” finally found my balance.

 “Notice the whole premise of the personal development guru's principles are about “made it” and getting “there” and by changing ones’ actions and thoughts one would get to this future utopia for the “rich”. He has missed the true essence of the two words “made it” and “there”. These two words are about some place or event in the future. So according to the principles, once you get “there” you would have “made it” and until you do, you have not “made it” and therefore deemed “poor”.

Unfortunately there is no “there” as “there” is but an illusion of the mind. Some place in the future tucked away in some corner of your mind.

And even if you thought you got to “there”, there will be another “there”; immediately putting you back into the "not made it” condition until the next “there”. With this you will continuously not “made it”.

In short you will continuously be in a situation of being “poor” – according to the 17-point principles."

“I never thought of it this way. So how do we get there then?” I thought I would test the Universe

“You Are already there. There is not need to get anywhere”

“What do you mean? Surely you are not saying I do not have to work hard and plan ahead for my family and my career?” scratching my head.

“Work as hard as you want, make as much money as you want, plan as much as you can and care for your family in a way that is appropriate. You do what is right for you. But do it in the Know that all you ever have is “here” and “now”. Do whatever you do now and do it well and give it your best shot. Simply instill a sense of quality in everything you do, even the simplest things and infuse it with your highest sense of Being. Do it with humility and then you cannot help but Be successful.

When you do this you are already “there” - now. There is no need to try and be anywhere else but here enjoying the fruits of your success NOW. Can you see, by not recognising that you are already “there” now keeps you in a state of “lack” and “poor”.

“Whoah….wait a minute. You are confusing me.”

“What you are simply saying is, if you have not learned to be happy with what you are and have now, you will never be happy with what you are going to get” typing furiously.

”Correct and that is because……..?” challenging me.

“….because Now is all you ever going to get and as such the future “there” can only happen in the space of now.”  I saw the words typed out of my laptop but I am not sure if it came from me.

“Correct, and if you do not see it, what happens?”

“…. If I do not see it then I will continue to search because I deem myself to be “poor” continuously”

“I now see what you mean about the 17-point principles keeping you poor”

“Well done and enjoy your cinnamon toast”

I looked up to see my wonderful wife walking into the room with tea and toast.

"Kwai Lo" and Alfonso de Albuquerque

A 12-year-old village boy in Malaysia, transfixed by his history teacher's lesson, sat motionless on his rickety wooden chair. Elbows on the desk, chin on both upturned palms, he was transported back to the European Age of Expansion where control of the world was divided between Spain and Portugal. Spain took the Americas and Portugal had Asia.

The lesson was about Alfonso de Albuquerque, the great Portuguese conqueror in the sixteenth century who singlehandedly annexed India and Malaya into the Portuguese Empire. With a formidable squadron of ships he brought India under control in 1507, devastated and conquered Sultan Mahmud Shah's Malacca Sultanate in 1511 and opened the sea route to Southern China allowing the Jesuits to establish a Christian outpost in Macau. In short this swashbuckling naval commander controlled the entire sea trade route from India to China many years before the Dutch more than hundred years before the English and Americans. Commerce, Colonisation and Christianity were the three 'Cs" of King Manuel I of Portugal.

By the end of his adventures, Albuquerque amassed a treasure trove of 60 tonnes of gold; two hundred chests of precious gems stones, pearl jewellery; an assortment of antiques; trunks filled with exotic spices, sandalwood, silk and enough silver dollars to feed the entire nation of Portugal for hundreds of years.

"In today's value the treasures would be close to 3 billion US dollars!......" with this last statement the school bell rang.

History was the last lesson for the day and as his teacher packed to leave, Patrick de Cruz stared out into the bright afternoon sun, making a mental note to ask his parents to bring him to the town of Malacca in his next school holidays. He wanted to see the fort built by Albuquerque and the remnants of the colonial town situated south west of Malaysia.

This was the type of history lesson that would capture the imagination of any inquisitive 12-year-old boy.

Unfortunately the history teacher had left out one small fact, Albuquerque The Great had another name. Albuquerque was also known as Albuquerque The Terrible or the Tyrant.

In the sixteenth century Malacca was a rich bustling, cosmopolitan port, attracting hundreds of ships each year. The city was the region's center for trade in silk and porcelain from China; textiles from Gujarat and Coromandel in India; nutmeg, mace, and cloves from the Moluccas, gold and pepper from Sumatra; camphor from Borneo; sandalwood from Timor; and tin from western Malaya. Conquering the port gave the Portuguese absolute control of trade in the region, access to its great wealth and the Straits of Malacca, the only sea trade route linking the east and the west.

Immediately following the fall of Malacca, Albuquerque ordered a fort to be built - the current A Formosa, in anticipation of revolt by the deposed Sultan. He encouraged miscegenation especially with local women with or without their consent.

The current Cristang people in Malaysia are a direct result of inter-marriages between local Malays and Portuguese. Patrick is a Cristang.

To further consolidate control Albuquerque introduced a new currency and as far as gaining a foothold on all trade; Albuquerque used the fastest method - military takeover. Resenting traders were simply executed.

Social order was maintained through fear and total intimidation with harsh punishments exacted on locals, sometimes unfairly. Alfonso De Albuquerque was the devil himself re-incarnated. Local Chinese called him 'Kwai Lo" the devil fellow.

By 1511 Alfonso de Albuquerque's looted treasure trove filled an entire carrack. The Flor de La Mar, a 400-ton carrack was the largest treasure ship ever assembled in the history of Portugal. Together with 4 accompanying war ships, the Flor de La Mar sailed for Portugal leaving the Malaccan economy and its treasury destitute.

As fate would have it, the armada was caught in a violent storm North East of Sumatra, in the Malacca Straits. The 9-year old Flor de La Mar broke in half and together with its treasures sank into the depths of the ocean, never to be discovered ever again. Albuquerque himself narrowly escaped with his life and made his way back to Malacca in a small one-man tub.

If victims wrote the annals of history, the story about Albuquerque might have been different. He would have been called Alfonso de Albuquerque the Kwai Lo.

"I wish my teacher had known all these" Patrick, now a teacher himself thought, as he finishes his potato & chicken curry rice typical of the Cristang cuisine.

The Flor de La Mar, now lies at the bottom of the Malacca Strait and remains a keen subject for treasure hunters from all over the world.

Columbus did not discover America

Christopher
Columbus

History – the science of perpetuating a myopic euro-centric opinion of past events.

At the lower end of the renown, La Rambla Mall in Barcelona, Spain is an imposing bronze statue of an Italian explorer. The 197 feet statue depicts a man with an outstretched arm pointing at the ocean towards the Americas. The Monumento a Colón was constructed in 1888 in honor of Christopher Columbus who is remembered annually in the US as the person who discovered America in 1492.

But Columbus never once set foot on North America.

He himself never claim that he landed on the continent. He simply stumbled upon the Bahamas, later Hispaniola, the modern day Haiti and colonized the islands. His mission was not to explore but to exploit the new world in search for gold, expand Spanish imperialism, proof that the world was not flat and spread Christianity.

Why then would Spain honor an Italian who turned out to be a criminal in Hispaniola arrested and brought back in chains to Spain? Perhaps the colonisation of Hispaniola by Columbus, did provide the launchpad for Spain to expand its Empire into the Americas and the Spaniards were eternally grateful. Or perhaps it was a case of close-enough-was-good-enough during 15th Century Europe when the Fraternity of Christians were looking for a hero to represent their success in the Americas.

Even disregarding the first landing in America thousands of years ago by true explorers – the ancestors of Native America from Asia via the Bering Strait – there was a motley collection of first arrivals many centuries before Columbus. Joining this list was Japanese fishermen landing in Peru, Jews escaping from Roman persecution in 1st Century and Saint Brendan the Irish Monk in 6th Century. But none of these have generated greater debate and controversy than the notion that the Chinese arrived in North America in the 5th Century.

Hui Shen -
could he have
discovered America

Joseph De Guignes, a French historian, published 'Recherches sur les Navigations des Chinois du Cote de l' Amerique' in 1761, providing evidence that an unknown Buddhist Monk named Hui Shen sailed east from the East coast of China travelling 20,000 li to reach a place called Fusang. 20,000 Li is equivalent to today’s distance between Shanghai and California across the Pacific ocean. In an 18th Century map provided by Guigneas, this place Fusang was located North Coast of California. Further supporting evidence of this journey was found in the records of a 7th Century 'Book of Liang' by Yao Silian describing an existing Bronze Age civilization in Fusang.

By 1885, a good 3 years before the statue erected at Barcelona, Edward P. Vining published his book 'An inglorious Columbus: Evidence that Hui Shan and a Party of Buddhist Monks from Afghanistan Discovered America in the fifth Century'. In his eight-hundred page book he went further and provided detail evidence of Hui Shen's journey, further re-igniting the debate started in 1761.

There are certainly no shortage of evidence refuting Columbus' purported discovery, yet despite these overwhelming evidence the annals of history still bestow the first-discovery honor on this man.

We can see why history as we now know it is both myopic and euro-centric. Perhaps it is only written for Western consumption. 

I wish my history teacher knew about this, then at least I would be spared from this lifetime myth that is still being told in schools.

We live in a small world

If we went back to basics and see each other without modern filters - we are  all the same. 

The new generation of Chinese world citizens

My Aussie friend has his signal on waiting to turn right into the only parking spot. Its Saturday morning and empty spots are precious in this busy shopping centre. Without warning, from the opposite direction a Mercedes deliberately spins left into the spot stealing it from under my friend's nose.

A Chinese lady, in her 50s, steps out, locks her car and nonchalantly walks away from the crime scene. Her bling blouse that color-clashes with her skirt and handbag, is a dead giveaway of her origins - mainland China.

This lady looks like she is on a definite winner-take-all mission. Her botoxed face suggests a no-nonsense person who has no time for niceties nor pleasantries and if she could take advantage of a situation she would, regardless of ethics or social norms.

Unfortunately, this is the image embedded in the minds of many Aussies when it comes to mainland Chinese.

"Bloody rude Chinese drivers. They are always like that" muttered my friend ignoring that I am also a Chinese seated next to him.

We can understand that each country has its own social norms, which may be practiced only within that culture but there are acceptable universal standards which seem to be missing in this lady with the Mercedes. Perhaps in her own way she felt that driving a luxury car gives her divine rights to export her rudeness or the mistaken idea that wealth commands respect.

My friend's comment this morning starts me thinking about my Chinese-ness, yet again.

Well for a start I would not deploy such a cruel guerrilla tactic when it comes to finding a parking spot. Nor would I partake in a common practice of public self-massage and shouting into the mobile. When it comes to expectorating publicly that would be a definite no. I value my personal space as much as basic social politeness and certainly does not subscribe to a common mainland attitude towards traffic lights: green means go and red means go even faster.

Given the above I must be different to this general image of a mainland Chinese. Having spent the last 40 years in Australia might be the reason. Or perhaps my non-China birthplace might have something to do with it.

But the question remains, why are so many mainland Chinese today seem to be devoid of basic social politeness?

More importantly what has happened to this cultural behemoth that prides itself with 5000-years of culture? What happened to the people who gave the world the fork; gunpowder; compass; paper; printing press; money; silk; tea; porcelain; Daoism; Confucianism and even soccer? What happened to the practice of humility that has been embedded into the national psyche of Chinese people for thousands of years? I also wonder what Confucius would say about this morning's disorderly incident?

Perhaps the answer might be found in 19th century China when the Qing dynasty quivered between adopting western ideas and maintaining the traditional closed-door policy when dealing with the world.

China's last imperial dynasty the Qing dynasty, entered the 19th century rocked by internal rebellion and the incursion of foreign powers. The first hundred and ten years of the century would turn out to be the darkest years for the Middle Kingdom. The country imploded under the exploitive forces of foreign powers as well as internal political upheaval, civil war and natural disasters. By the end of the century between 20 to 50 million, mainly civilians died of starvation, opium addiction and injuries from warfare. The international status of the Middle Kingdom deteriorated from the 'Exotic, Cultured and Wealthy nation' into the 'Sick man of Asia'.

The 20th century was no different. It started with the plague in north China as well as floods wiping out more than 10-12 million people. By the time the Qing dynasty fell in the early 20th century, emerging Chinese nationalism threw the country into yet another 70 years of political, economic and social turmoil which exacted further suffering and death to millions more of its people. Internal civil war followed by the second Sino-Japanese War subjected the nation to further inhumane suffering. By mid-century a new form of government replaced China's 2000 years of continuous dynastic rule.

By the 1960s the people of China had endured almost 200 years of incessant change, turmoil, death, starvation and humiliation especially by foreign powers.  Then to add further misery and pain the entire nation was plunged into further ten years of forced cultural reform. By the time this reform ran its full course in 1976 the last remnants of ancient China together with its traditional culture, philosophy, art and values were eradicated. In this void, a cultural and social ground zero existed inhabited by rebellious youth devoid of compassion, religious beliefs, traditional philosophy and basic trust among humans.

The suffering endured by the people of China between 1800 and 1976 was unmatched by any disasters, man-made or natural, in the modern world. A nation cannot withstand such a catastrophic assault and for such a long time without having an impact on the psyche of its people.

Testimony to the resilience of the Chinese people, after 230 years of turmoil and practically closed to the world, by 1978 the Middle Kingdom finally emerged with a re-branded identity. With a more pragmatic leader the country was now ready to kick start its economy and deal with the world. This first generation of global business men and women leading the country's industrialization would now be aged between 40s and 50s. Being new global citizens these first wave of Chinese entrepreneurs had to re-learn unfamiliar international ways and universal acceptable behaviours from scratch - one mistake at a time.

This lady in her Mercedes might just be one of these off springs from the new generation.

Fortunately, with the resilience of this cultural behemoth backed by the strength of 5000 years of culture there may still be hope. From this perspective, the impact of the last two centuries would merely be a rain drop in the ocean.

"Why are the Chinese so rude?" my friend's question brings me back to reality. He has a perplexed look.

"Lets talk over coffee" as we walk into the shopping centre.

If I saw the lady in her Mercedes again I would value the opportunity to somehow let her know that there are so much to learn about this brave new world. I would ask her to go forth and be successful but do it by embracing new universal standards and be an acceptable part of this generation of world citizens.

This is what I would say to her and her children.

"Good luck - my friend. 200 years out of 5000 years is not enough to fundamentally change you. Showcase the product of 4800 years and treat the experience of the last two centuries as a software update for the new and cultured Chinese. You now represent the new generation of Chinese global citizen"

The Opium Wars - the poppy that created a new nation.

The events that led to the two Opium Wars in China had its genesis in Bengal, India. Who would have known that the poppy flower would cause an end to the 2000-year dynastic rule in China and created a new nation with a new identity.

In the 18th century, Europe’s fascination for tea, silk and porcelain from China created a one-way trade between the two regions in favor of China. Insatiable demand for tea alone by England had severely depleted the British Empire's stockpile of silver dollars. To avoid a financial meltdown the responsibility was given to the British East India Company (EIC), a joint-venture trading company backed by the Monarchy, to find a solution.

The EIC’s answer was to use opium from Bengal in lieu of paying silver dollars.

After engineering the breakup of the Indian Moghul Empire, the EIC had its first major success in India by conquering Bengal in 1757 giving them monopoly over the lucrative crop – opium.

Unlike England, the importation and use of opium was not legal in China, but this was not going to stop the EIC. The company was determined to find a way to sell the banned substance to China. With a population of 300 million, more than 20 times the size of England, the sale of opium to China represented a great opportunity to address the rapidly depleting silver dollars in the British treasury.

The only way to get around the ban was resort to smuggling. To remain respectable the company outsourced this despicable activity to a network of EIC-sponsored distributors and traders; one of the largest in-country trader was Jardine.

EIC’s opium-filled cargo ships (equipped with long range cannons) would land on Lintin, a small uninhibited island south of China (just off Guangzhou or Canton). It was from this island that local in-country distributors moved the illegal substance ashore under the watchful eye of EIC's cargo warships anchored within striking distance of the mainland.

By 1831, the value of opium smuggled into China was two-and-a-half times that of tea – quickly reversing the trade imbalance between the countries. EIC became the largest government sponsored drug trafficker and smuggler in the world.

Quite apart from the financial drain, the devastating effects of opium addiction on the Chinese

population forced the Qing Emperor to send his proven General, Lin Zexu to stop opium smuggling in southern China. Following a ruthless anti-opium campaign General Lin not only stopped smuggling activities, he drove the traffickers from Lintin island (Neilingding Island), confiscated and destroyed their stockpile of illegal drugs. EIC and Jardine Co moved further south east to another uninhibited island Hong Kong. It was here they planned their next move.

The confiscated opium and cessation of smuggling activities severely affected the fortunes of the shareholders of EIC and Jardine. As a result they sent a representative to lobby the British parliament asking for British military aid to help them recoup their losses from China.

With the support of the Monarchy and her parliament, the British sent an armada of warships, 4,000 Scottish, Irish and Indian troops and bombarded a number of seaports leading up to Canton (Guangzhou) in retribution for the "wrongs" inflicted on British smugglers by the Chinese general. The first Opium War had started without a declaration of war or warning from the British armada.

The cannons that the Chinese had were only aimed at one fixed position and were no match for the flexible and long-range cannons mounted on fast moving British warships. With superior and flexible fire power, the British successfully carried out a series of attacks on a number of Chinese cities laying to ruins each one of them. British soldiers pillaged and burned towns as they moved up the eastern seaboard and demanded “protection money” in return for immunity from further bombardment. By the time the armada reached Nanking (Nanjing) – the Emperor admitted defeat.

By 1842 the Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) was signed. Amongst the list of demands by the British were retribution for the cost of waging the war; compensation for the destroyed opium and ceding Hong Kong sovereignty to the British. In addition the Chinese were to legalise opium.

Having seen the destructive force of opium on its population, the Chinese agreed to all other demands except the legalization of opium. The result was the second Opium War.

But this time the British were joined by the French and together they unleashed their joint naval and military might on the royal imperial capital itself – Beijing. When the capital fell, French and British troops looted the Summer Palace and desecrated many sacred sites within the city generally creating fear and havoc among the defenseless citizens.

As a result of the relentless bombardment, looting and senseless destruction of imperial palaces, the Emperor had no choice but agree to legalize opium. With the last bastion of resistance gone large scale opium production built by the British mushroomed in the country. Parallel to this the occupying British forces gained a stronghold on the economy by controlling Chinese customs and trade. By the end of the 19th century, China’s trade with Britain had increased to more than 60% of the country’s total trade – China sold silk, tea and porcelain to the British in exchange for opium.

It was conservatively estimated that by the end of the century, 30-40 million people were addicted to opium. Starvation, poverty and social decay followed starting a 60-year period of slow and painful death for the entire nation. To add to the suffering, seven other foreign powers joined in to carve a niche for themselves. Knowing that the country was now emasculated by mass opium addiction the USA, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Japan, Russia and France used their superior military machinery to gain territorial rights within the country.

Besieged by a decaying nation the Qing dynasty finally fell and for the first time in the 2000-year dynastic history, China stood at the precipice of being broken up into pieces and distributed among the foreign powers stationed in the country.

This was the darkest moment for the country.

But the resilience of this cultural behemoth stood the test of time. The humiliation and suffering inflicted on the Chinese for almost 100 years by foreign powers gave China the all important wake up call. The call shaped an emerging nationalism that would soon set the foundation for the birth of a new country with a new political identity.

Although the drug traffickers won the war they lost a nation by providing the needed impetus for the country to finally stand up. The poppy flower indeed has woken up this 5000-year old tiger and now it is about to pounce.

Chinese Labour Corps - the forgotten contributors to WWI

"It is 1917, Chinese New Year eve, in a remote part of France. Kong squats nervously in front of his tent, cupping his tea, desperately missing his village in China. By now his children and wife would be gathered around at the table for the all-important New Year Eve dinner, which he will miss for the first time in 25 years. Unbeknown to him, Kong will never return to his village again. He is part of the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC), a 145,000-strong group of Chinese labourers sent to Europe to provide non-military support to the French and British in the Western front."

History has somehow forgotten the significant role played by these Chinese civilians sent to Europe during WWI to provide labour support to the Allies freeing their military personnel for front line duties.

Despite China being half a world away from the European conflict, she agreed to send 145,000 civilians to help the French and British in the Western front. They formed the Chinese Labour Corps sent to do menial tasks. They worked at ammunition depots, unloaded ships, dug trenches, repaired roads/railroads and cleared land mines.

The journey to France from China would take 2-3 months with workers crammed in the cargo holds of freighters bound for Europe. They were rarely, if at all, allowed to leave the bowels of these transport ships until they land in France. Many of them have never left their villages let alone the country, Then thrown into a foreign land ravished by a full-scale global war and controlled by military personnel who did not speak their language, life must have been hell on earth for many.

The dynamics of War had meant that role definition for the workers were hard to define. Despite the promise of not to be placed in front lines, many Chinese laborers ended up shoulder-to-shoulder with front line troops digging trenches, clearing bodies and carting essential supplies for military personnel. Differences in language and culture created a linguistic and social nightmare driving a further wedge into an already unequal status between military personnel and these 'coolies'.

Workers were referred to by numbers - not names. Kong was number 1653. Any misdemeanors were subject to harsh military laws even though the workers were civilians and to make matters worst they were seen and often treated as cheap 'coolies' hauled from the European colonies of Asia sent to serve their colonial masters.

Those who did not perish in the line of fire were devastated by the Spanish flu epidemic, which swept Europe. By the time WW1 ended, 10,000 Chinese workers never saw their villages again, buried in remote cemeteries scattered around France.

Compliments of WWIcemeteries

One such cemetery today is in Ruminghem, a remote village situated 32kms southeast of Calais in France. On the west side of the village is a Chinese cemetery probably with more tombstones than the population of the village.

Another is in Noyellessur-Mer, an archway guarding the entrance of this cemetery with 800 graves - all Chinese.

Kong like many others was buried in Noyellessur-Mer after sustaining horrific bomb injuries. Number 1653 never made it back to see his family from Shandong.

Kong together with the rest of the fallen workers are testimony to the sacrifices of the forgotten contributors to WWI - the Chinese Labour Corps.

May they rest in peace.

WWII - the end of the colonisation era.

History has always portrayed WWII to be a Eurocentric conflict with minor skirmishes in the Asia Pacific region. But the skirmishes in Asia were far from being minor. When the War ended it exacted a global death toll of 30 million people, mostly civilians, with 14 million in China, 12 million in USSR and 4 million in Europe. The death toll alone in China ought to draw inference that something major did happen and at a level much larger than Europe.

Additionally, contrary to popular historical opinion, World War II did not start in Europe either. It started two years earlier on July 7, 1937 when imperialist Japanese troops launched a full-scale invasion of a member of the Allies, China. This was followed by Germany marching on Poland on September 1, 1939 creating the global War we know of today.

Fast forward almost 69 years, this Eurocentric slant is still the theme taught in history lessons despite the Asian front being the only conflict area in the War where all the four major western powers; USA, France, Russia and UK, backed one Ally in her efforts to defend her country. Even when the other three nations withdrew support, USA singularly continued to support China until well after the end of WWII.

Why then would historical western perspective of WWII, continue to push this Eurocentric slant knowing that the major event during this period was really in Asia not Europe?.

What was it about the impact of the Asia front during and after WWII that European nations choose not to remember?

The answer might rest within history itself. More specifically, the century old European efforts in getting a slice of the enormous benefits from trading with China.

From as early as 200 BC the only trade route to the exotic and lucrative ‘Far East’ was via the Silk Road. This was monopolized by the Arabs and Italians giving them a head start into the richness of the Middle Kingdom. But by 1500 the monopoly was shattered by the Portuguese’ discovery of a sea route to India going around the Cape of Good Hope, providing a faster alternative route for trade.

The Jesuits lead by its founder Sir Francis Xavier forged the first European maritime contact with China in 1513 to spread Christianity. They established a missionary on an uninhabited island outpost south of China (Macau). This outpost was quickly claimed by the King of Portugal as their colony heralding the harbinger for maritime colonisation of Asia by the Europeans.

Not to be outdone by the Portuguese’ commercial success trading in highly demanded items; tea, silk, porcelain, chinaware and spices other European nations soon headed for Asia to carve out their niche. With a superior naval and military machinery, the Dutch (Indonesian Archipelago), French (IndoChina), Spanish/Americans (Philippines) and English (India, Malaya, Brunei protectorate) colonized entire nations.

Encouraged by their early success these colonial masters then set their eyes on China, the ultimate price, without realising what a grave mistake that would have been. China was simply too large a nation to be colonized. Even her ancient overland conquers were absorbed by this cultural behemoth. The Mongols (13th Century) and later the Manchurians (17th Century) who ruled collectively for 368 years ended up adopting the host country's culture and names - Yuan (Mongol) and Qing (Manchu) dynasty.

Since the Portuguese’ sea faring route to Asia; Austria/Hungary, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, UK and USA all had a go at China but only managed minor successes – small outposts and special territorial rights – but none colonized the entire nation. Despite suffering humiliating defeat in 1800s and early 1900s exacted on its people by these foreign powers, the resilience of the Middle Kingdom stood her in good stead against far superior military powers.

The European's involvement in WWII momentarily took their attention away from China and gave the Middle Kingdom breathing space for the underlying nationalism to take hold and time to find its own political identity. In the immediate aftermath of WWII a 4-year bloody civil war engulfed China giving birth to a new nation, the People's Republic of China. This revived nationalism provided a united front  and European colonisation finally buckled under the weight of its own erroneous ways. The last gasp of de-colonisation was seen when sovereignty for Hong Kong and Macau were handed back to China by the British and Portuguese respectively, ending a 400-year quest by the Europeans.

For a few hundred years prior to this, western imperialist zeal used religion, trade and military to expand their empires into Asia. As a result, many European nations through colonisation and forced cessation of territorial rights created a haven for commercial exploitation in Asia.

The events which followed after WWII evaporated the colonial masters’ rights to plunder and exploit. By 1949, China finally earned the right to self-rule yet again after more than a century of intimidation and browbeating by a lineup of foreign powers.

Although European Allies won the War they lost their prized possession - China. In essence Europe lost their self anointed right to be masters of this country.

Given this we can understand why WWII will continue to maintain its Eurocentric slant in the annals of western history. Otherwise it would open Pandora’s Box highlighting Europe's erroneous policy of dominion over the Middle Kingdom - China.