In this second talk, he examines the tributary system, the historical China-centric network of international relations which involved other parts of East Asia accepting the principle of Chinese superiority in return for protection and access to the Chinese market, an arrangement distinct to European forms of colonialism. He asks whether a system of this kind is now re-emerging.

Martin Jacques is the author of When China Rules the World.

(Image: Members of a Chinese military honour guard. Credit: ANDY WONG/AFP/Getty Images) Show less