What Chinese history in 18th Century told me about protectionism

It’s sad to see that Trump recently shut the door to immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries and wanted to build a Mexican wall. This reminds me of what China had suffered three hundred years ago, and most importantly, what consequences it had caused.

Back in 1700s, Qing Dynasty closed our border and stopped trading with other countries. The dynasty was trying to isolate us from outside ideas and connections to maintain social and political stability. At the time, China’s economy was going very well, so we also got arrogant and thought we wouldn’t need anything from the rest of the world. But then?

Industry revolution was happening and we missed it. We were crushed by wars and forced to trade and open. It took us more than one hundred years to recover from that dark era and we didn’t become stronger until we started welcoming foreign investments and influences in 1978.

So, it sounded so counter-intuitive when I first heard that the President issued a travel ban targeting certain countries and aimed to withdraw from multiple global trade deals. America becomes a dream country for so many people around the world only because it is the country who values freedom and diversity the most. We come here to benefit from the free flow of people and ideas.

I still remembered two years ago, I just arrived in New York and joined a group traveling to California to serve homeless people. The twelve of us were all from different backgrounds and I cherished every moment we shared together. The beauty of our world really lies in its diversity.

Living in the planet this big and this small, it is such a wonderful thing that we can make progress together, not alone.