The Communist Party capitalises on foreign interest in Chinese culture

LUO YUQUAN can barely hide his glee. The Chinese new year jamboree thrown by the China Cultural Centre (CCC) in Tokyo, which he heads, has gone swimmingly. Ethnic-Tibetan singers flown in from China enchanted the audience, many of whom danced along to the catchy tunes. Copious Tsingtao beer helped sustain the high spirits. An exhibition in an adjoining room featured paintings with Buddhist themes, also shipped in from China. “We are proud to show off 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation!” beams Mr Luo, “As more Japanese come to appreciate Chinese culture, they will naturally grow to love China.”

Chinese officials often declare that China has a 5,000-year history. In truth, that is overstating things by about 1,000 years. Yet the myth serves a useful purpose for the Communist Party. At home, it is a source of national pride. Abroad, it justifies a sort of Chinese exceptionalism. Xi Jinping, the president, told the visiting Donald Trump, his American counterpart, that China’s is the world’s oldest continuous civilisation. China routinely invokes its awesome history as grounds to continue charting its own development path. Don’t expect China to embrace Western ideas about democracy, the logic goes, for China has always been on its own unique course.