Sun Tzu

• The Global Champions Grand Prix — set to Rise of the Kingdoms’ “Ark of Osiris” gameplay mode — is a unique esports event that differentiates itself from all other strategy game tournaments worldwide.
• “The 2023 Global Champions Grand Prix was the first truly “global” event in the history of Rise of Kingdoms,” said Rise of Kingdoms Esports Team Leader Sanqian Wang.
• The 2023 Global Champions Grand Prix tournament began on November 23, 2023, and concluded in January 2024.
• Watch the 2023 Global Champions Grand Prix finals livestream reupload here:
  For more information about Rise of Kingdoms’ Global Champions Grand Prix, please visit https://esports-rok.lilith.com .

• But often western reactions to a Chinese decision can come from a lack of understanding of Beijing’s motivations.
• With this in mind, here are five things that the west often gets wrong about Chinese foreign policy.

1. It’s not a grand scheme

• In the western media, Chinese foreign policy has often been seen as a grand scheme to secure world leadership.
• However, Chinese policy is not quite the labyrinthine plot that it has often been presented as.
• Chinese foreign policy has largely been devised in response to recent developments rather than being a long-term scheme for domination.

2. China deals with democracies

• The Chinese model of economic development has racheted up fears of China attempting to spread its political system beyond its national borders.
• But, some of the biggest advocates of the China model have been the political elites in developing nations, many of whom have a colonial history, and who appreciate that China offers an alternative to the west in attracting investment.

3. China’s role in the world order

• One of the most common depictions of China in recent years has been of it as a revisionist power that seeks to overthrow the liberal rules-based world order and international bodies.
• Such an image was popularised by Graham Allison’s 2017 book Destined for War, which warned of a China seeking to overthrow US domination.

4. China’s historical experience

• But China draws on a different history, one that includes its own dominant position internationally, but also its defeat and occupation.
• Beijing references this past when talking of the “Century of Humiliation” (1839-1949), a period when China was dominated and occupied by colonial powers.
• The Silk Road refers to an historical network of highly lucrative trade routes linking a powerful China to the rest of the world, and used to sell its products for centuries.

5. The appeal of Chinese aid

• China’s financial aid and investment projects in developing countries are sometimes portrayed as simply bribing corrupt states or ensnaring them with “debt trap diplomacy”.
• While these images have been popular in western media coverage of Chinese foreign policy, they overlook the role of the country receiving aid to choose to accept Chinese finance and how this also appeals as an alternative to western aid packages which traditionally come with many conditions relating to governance.

• I was not the only one looking for insights from the sage Sunzi, also known as Sun Tzu, who died over 2,500 years ago.
• “Art of War” has long been mined for an understanding of China’s strategic tradition and universal military truths.
• To comprehend “Art of War,” it helps readers to approach the text from the worldview of its author.
• That means reading Sunzi’s advice through the prism of classical Chinese metaphysics, which is deeply shaped by the philosophy of Daoism.

Daoist roots

• Though a time of conflict, it was also a time of cultural and intellectual development that led to the rise of Daoism and Confucianism.
• Confucian philosophy focuses on maintaining proper social relationships as the key to moral behavior and and social harmony.
• Meanwhile, the “Dào,” or “the way,” directs all things in nature toward fulfilling their inherent potential, like water flowing downhill.

Helping nature take its course

• For example, Chapter Five explains how those who are “expert at war” are not overly concerned with individual soldiers.
• Instead, effective leaders are able to determine the potential in the situation and put themselves in position to take advantage of it.
• This is why later chapters spend so much time discussing geography and deployment of forces, rather than fighting techniques.
• One does more to damage an opponent’s potential by undermining their scheme than by merely killing their soldiers.

From the battlefield to the UN

• Therefore, in foreign policy, a decision-maker should attempt to make small policy adjustments as early as possible to slowly manage the development of the international environment.
• This approach is evident in Beijing’s use of “guānxì.” Meaning “relationships,” the Chinese term carries a strong sense of mutual obligation.

Trend-watching today

• Sunzi might say that discerning the current trend in the Taiwan Strait is more essential than conventional questions about comparative military strength.
• Several factors could push Taiwan closer to Beijing, including the island’s loss of diplomatic allies and the pull of the PRC’s massive economy – not to mention Beijing’s growing global clout vis-à-vis the U.S.
• If so, shì is in Beijing’s favor, and a nudge to persuade the U.S. to stay out is all that is needed to keep the situation developing to the PRC’s advantage.
• However, an understanding of “shì” highlights Sunzi’s emphasis on evaluating and nurturing situational potential.

• The update, called Egypt Must Rise, is now available on PC via the official site and on iOS and Android devices.
• Watch the Rise of Kingdoms: Egypt Must Rise trailer: https://youtu.be/LL3QDSzgzSw
  With its rich history of prosperity and affluence, the addition of ancient Egypt allows players to experience a whole new civilization to lead, grow, and flourish.
• Additionally, the update adds new Commanders, including Imhotep, expert pyramid architect and high priest, and The Warrior King himself, Thutmose III.
• Powerful, intelligent, strategic, and undoubtedly stylish, ancient Egypt was ruled for almost 30 centuries before its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.