51. On Transnational Trade：A Key Tool for Advanced Nations to Exploit Less Developed Countries

During the Qianlong era, Britain's Lord Macartney led a diplomatic mission to China, primarily aiming to establish trade relations with the Qing government—an offer rejected by the emperor. By the Daoguang period, recognizing their inability to persuade the Qing government through negotiation, the British resorted to military force to compel trade, thus igniting the Opium War.

Before Britain, northern ethnic groups waging war against China primarily sought to seize territory and plunder wealth. The British, however, were the first nation to subordinate territorial conquest and looting to a secondary goal, making forced trade their core objective. Why did Britain pursue trade with the Qing government with such relentless determination? Has this question ever puzzled you?

In our discussion of "On Exploitation," we explored how exploitation arises through increased productivity. When two nations operate at equal levels of productivity, trade facilitates mutual exchange without exploitation. However, when productivity levels differ, trade not only enables mutual exchange but also enables exploitation by the more advanced nation over the less developed one. This fundamental disparity explains Britain's relentless pursuit of trade with the Qing government.

Of course, such exploitation is not entirely detrimental. As long as the backward nation can learn advanced technologies through trade and enhance its own productivity, this trade—while exploiting the backward nation—still propels it toward greater prosperity than before. This explains why, after China's reform and opening-up, despite continuous exploitation by the West through multinational trade, the nation's wealth has steadily increased.

As long as advanced nations maintain technological supremacy, they can perpetually exploit developing nations. This is the fundamental reason Western countries relentlessly strive to lead global science and technology. It is also the core rationale behind their persistent emphasis on intellectual property protection. The ultimate goal of technological leadership and intellectual property protection is to maintain an exploitative position in international trade. Precisely because Western nations can exploit all underdeveloped countries globally through advanced technology, their citizens can work less while earning more—a key reason for widespread Western affluence.

If underdeveloped nations fail to achieve breakthroughs in science and technology, remaining perpetually technologically backward, they will inevitably remain exploited by advanced nations. For underdeveloped nations seeking to escape this fate, there is only one path: vigorously advancing their own technological capabilities. When their technological level matches that of advanced nations, they can avoid continued exploitation. When their technological level surpasses that of advanced nations, they can turn the tables and exploit them instead. Precisely for this reason, advanced nations not only strive to enhance their own technological capabilities but also actively seek to suppress the technological progress of developing countries. They understand that once surpassed, they themselves will become the exploited. Within this dynamic competition of exploitation and counter-exploitation, human scientific and technological advancement continues to progress.

From the perspective of universal equality, it is clearly unjust if certain nations perpetually exploit others in international trade. The fairest approach would be to level the technological playing field for all nations, thereby eliminating exploitation—though this is clearly unattainable. What is achievable is for advanced nations to proactively share certain technologies with developing countries during exploitation, narrowing the technological gap and reducing the extent of exploitation. Conversely, it is entirely reasonable for developing nations to demand technological openness from advanced nations when facing exploitation.