The Middle Kingdom was once a great superpower. That's true. Then during the Qing Dynasty, the British with their gunboat diplomacy caused the Opium Wars. This singular slimy adulterant spread its enslaving tentacles far and wide leaving in its wake the measured strangulation of millions of souls.  Nothing infuriates the Chinese like the legacy of opium addiction which set in motion a century of national humiliation, shame and disgrace.  Then the British and the French destroyed the Yiheyuan - The Summer Palace.  Treaty Ports were set up with consular representation from European countries and the USA. Unequal treaties and extraterritoriality abounded.  China was at its weakest. Their intention was to carve China up into pieces.  In 1937 Japan invaded China. The terror they unleashed is still remembered.  Whether we like it or not the Communist Party of China saved China.  Deng Xiao Ping opened up China to the outside world. 500,000,000 were released from poverty.  Good for them.