Historical Background to Sino-European Rapprochement in the 1970s

Abstract

In this chapter Albers explains the historical context of Europe’s connections with China, thereby setting the stage for discussing Sino-European relations in the 1970s. He points out the significance of China’s encounters with Europe during nineteenth-century imperialism, and how they shaped the Chinese desire to reestablish national sovereignty. Likewise, the experience of the rise and decline of Western influence in Asia shaped European China policies during the Cold War. Albers argues that the early end of German imperialism in China in 1914, the French recognition of the People’s Republic of China in 1964, and Britain’s continued presence in Hong Kong after 1949 all impacted on later relations between the three European states and China.