Towards the end of chapter two, I painted a picture of British naval power in retreat and the rise of American power in the Pacific on the eve of the Second World War. This did not represent a sunset phase for the Commonwealth's links with China. It may have seemed like that where military involvement was concerned, but it was certainly not so with trade. On the contrary, there was a new beginning for other parts of the Commonwealth like Australia and residual colonies like Hong Kong and Malaya (including Singapore), plus the new economic power of English-speaking North America. British traders and officials had left structures around the Asia-Pacific region that were ready to take over and continue their globalising missions. The question was how China would respond.

Let me begin by juxtaposing two historical notes. First, the continental Chinese could not be more different from the island British. It is not surprising that they should develop their trading methods differently. But there were Chinese who were more like other Europeans from the point of view of geography, of the response to political conditions, and of human resources. For example, in my earlier writings, I drew a comparison between the Hokkiens in southeastern Fujian (and one might include the Cantonese of the Pearl River delta) and the Dutch and Portuguese during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Their respective destinies for some centuries had been to look seaward from the edge of a continent.