The recent opening remarks at the Alaska China-US high-level talks shocked the world, but what shocked the Chinese people were the comparison pictures of the two “Xin Chou Year” negotiations — in 2021 and 1901, two Jiazi apart (Jiazi is 60 years in traditional Chinese culture) — published by the People’s Daily on Weibo that afternoon. It resonated strongly, and some netizens said it well: “Between 1901 and 2021, while the world is still the same, China is not the same China.” 

While the diplomatic negotiations of 1901 and 2021 are similar, this time, China’s attitude was completely different. One hundred twenty years ago, the weak Qing government and the diplomatic representatives from 11 countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, signed the “Xin Chou Treaty”, an unequal treaty that totally humiliated China. Today, 120 years later, the tough rebuttal by China that “the United States is not qualified to speak condescendingly to China, and the Chinese do not accept this” amazed the whole world with China’s toughness. Apart from admiring the toughness of China's diplomacy, it is deeply supportive of the strength and confidence of the country. Sovereignty and dignity are proud, and 100 years of national humiliation will be remembered forever in Chinese history.

History is the best textbook. Comparing the present and the past, historical facts clearly tell us: “Weak countries have no diplomacy.” Looking back two Jiazi ago, the Qing government was corrupt, incompetent and weak for a long time. The two Opium Wars, in 1840 and 1856, opened the modern humiliation history of cession of land and compensation. In 1842, the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking, ceding Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom. In 1860, the British and French allied forces challenged Beijing. They captured Beijing and burned the beautiful royal garden Old Summer Palace. The war ended with the signing of the Convention of Beijing, which ceded the Kowloon Peninsula to the United Kingdom. The Sino-French War between 1883 and 1885 also resulted in an unequal treaty; in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the Beiyang navy suffered a fiasco; and in the subsequent Treaty of Shimonoseki, China paid 200 million taels of silver, ceded Taiwan and Penghu islands, and lost its dignity; then Western powers took advantage of the void, setting off a frenzy to carve up China, and the humiliating “Xin Chou Treaty”, signed in 1901, marked the Chinese nation’s darkest period.

I believe that every Chinese with a sense of justice will never want history to repeat itself, and can let go of hatred but not forget the national humiliation

The country was weak and the people suffered. The author experienced the painful years of Hong Kong’s three years and eight months of Japanese rule after coming to Hong Kong. The period from December 1941 to August 1945 was the most horrible and miserable time in Hong Kong’s history. Under the footsteps of the Japanese army, the factories closed down. The stores were closed, the economy was extremely sluggish, all businesses were in a slump, and all schools were closed. The author was a junior high school student at the King’s College, and was later out of school, which was to become a lifelong regret. At that time, material was scarce and prices soared. The people didn’t have a livelihood; the people were displaced; and they were precarious and miserable. The hardships of life could be survived through gritted teeth. What was even more unbearable was the mental torture and humiliation. Remember that during the Japanese Occupation, every time we passed the Japanese army, the guards were forced to bow and salute the Japanese soldiers. If the waist was not bent enough when bowing, they were scolded for disrespecting the “Imperial Army” or slapped, and they were forced to stand in front of the guards to “behave”. The painful experience is left in the author’s mind. Under the indelible shadow, it will be unforgettable for a lifetime.

Learn from past experience. I believe that every Chinese with a sense of justice will never want history to repeat itself, and can let go of hatred but not forget the national humiliation. Examining the path taken for more than a century, the descendants of Emperors Yan and Huang know the truth of “being beaten if you are behind”. They know the shame and then bravely rise up and move forward. In 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong famously said at the founding ceremony: “The Chinese people have stood up.” It marked the awakening of the Chinese nation which has since embarked on the road of rejuvenation. The reform and opening-up of the past 40 years has greatly improved the overall national strength and made it important on the international stage. China has achieved a standing-up and prosperous world. A leap in getting up and getting stronger. The reincarnation of the years, and the year of Xin Chou, the Chinese nation has long since reached nirvana — self-improving and unyielding. Whoever dares to insult a big country will surely be boring, and it is really pleasing to the hearts of the people!

May we suggest that the 120-year history from Xin Chou be a great education experience for the children and youth of China and even the world.

Fong Yun-wah is the chairman of Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation and the Fong’s Family Foundation.

Dominic Lam Man-kit is the chairman of World Eye Organization and World Culture Organization.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.