Opinion | Why Joe Biden’s China policy team should look to the Tang dynasty, not European history

US President Joe Biden’s opening moves in China diplomacy risk repeating his predecessor Donald Trump’s errors because the misunderstanding of China’s situation remains similar.

China shares 14 land borders with other countries, and none can be characterised as China’s allies. To the east is the unstable regime of North Korea, which presents a management problem for the rest of the world, not just China. Although often characterised as a friend of China, North Korea is treated with concern and caution.

To the west is the border with India. Once the playground of the Great Game between Russia and Britain, this area remains a low-level problem. Borders to the northwest and northeast at times remain problematical and present their own problems with militant Islam.

The southwest borders with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia remain porous because of heavy jungle and mountainous terrain. Although they pose no military threat, there is a real sense of lurking lawlessness and smuggling. The 2016 film Operation Mekong has its basis in this on-the-ground reality.

Looking seaward, the border issue is made more complicated with overlapping territorial claims and the active involvement of the United States.