It's idle to discuss with simpletons. In the interest of an informed debate, what matters is to find the deeper roots of Beijing's strategy – what the Chinese learned from their own rich history and how they are applying these lessons as a re-emerging major power in the young 21st century.

Let's start with how East and West used to position themselves at the center of the world.

The first Chinese historic-geographic encyclopedia, the 2nd century B.C. Classic of the Mountains and the Seas, tells us the world was what was under the sun (tienhia). Composed of "mountains and seas" (shanhai), the world was laid out between "four seas" (shihai). There's only one thing that does not change: the center. And its name is "Middle Kingdom" (Zhongguo), that is, China.