Having dominated East and Southeast Asia for all but the last two centuries of the past two millennia, China is chafing at the current US-led regional order of sovereign states, in which even the smallest enjoys the same rights, privileges, and protection as the largest. Modern China has benefited enormously from this arrangement; nonetheless, there is keen resentment that the Chinese civilization-state’s vast achievements over several thousand years offer China no special status.
除过去两个世纪外的两千年间中国在东南亚一直占据主导地位，现在又对美国主导的最小国家享有与最大国家同等权利、特权和保护的主权国地区秩序发起挑战。这种秩序曾经让现代中国受益匪浅，但数千年来中国文明古国的巨大成就没有换来任何特殊地位令中国感到非常不满。