The Western tradition advocates decisive battles and decisive victories and emphasizes heroic feats, while the Chinese philosophy emphasizes the clever use of tactics and roundabout strategies, and the patient accumulation of relative advantages.
Let’s compare chess. The most popular game in China is Go, which has a history of more than 4,000 years.
The key to Go is to strategically encircle . The two players take turns placing pieces at any point on the board to occupy favorable terrain while trying to surround and capture the opponent's pieces.
chess players are fighting all over the chessboard at the same time. Every time a piece is dropped on the chessboard, the strength of the two sides is slightly waxing and waning. Both sides are implementing their own strategic plans and responding to the opponent's chess at the same time. In the end, the winner usually does not have a big advantage.
The goal of chess is to win completely, which is usually to checkmate the opponent or force the king or queen into a desperate situation. In rare cases, there will be a draw, that is, both sides think that they cannot win the other side.
Now the core of diplomacy between China and the West is the same.
The Chinese side is like Go. It does not seek quick victory, but seeks strategic encirclement. It continuously achieves stage victories and finally succeeds.
The mainstream West is like chess, seeking a decisive battle,
reference: " on China "
author: [US] Henry Kissinger
publisher: CITIC Publishing Group
