MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. The ideas of fighting colonial domination are very popular in modern Chinese society, so Russia and China should cooperate more actively in opposing the colonial mentality of Western countries, the director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Moscow State University, Alexey Maslov, said during a round-table discussion on Monday. The chairman of the Russian Historical Society, director of the foreign intelligence service SVR Sergey Naryshkin, supported this viewpoint.
The round table discussion, held at the House of the Russian Historical Society in Moscow, was devoted to the history of struggle against colonial policies and its impact on the modern world.
"It will make sense to discuss more actively our joint actions with our Chinese colleagues and take joint positions on the anti-colonial issue. Also, we should coordinate our actions, including those in Africa, and the political narrative that we are promoting in Africa. In this regard we will find ourselves firm allies and we will get connected with China more strongly. And not only with China, but also with Vietnam and many Asian countries, too," Maslov said.
He stressed that the issue of colonialism was very a very sensitive one for the Chinese. It is associated with what Maslov described as a "very painful trauma." The prevailing opinion in that country is that China spent 150 years under colonial rule.
"Books, films and art in general are devoted to this subject. It is being discussed very widely. The anti-colonial idea is one of the driving forces that keeps the Chinese economy developing," Maslov said.
Naryshkin stressed that the Russian Historical Society already had experience of useful creative interaction with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on several historical topics.
"The way I see it, we must definitely invite our Chinese comrades to work together, transparently, on the topic of colonialism and the history of colonialism," Naryshkin said.
From the 1840s, China became a target of colonial expansion by Great Britain, Japan, Germany and other states. The country was downgraded to the status of a semi-colonial state. In 1842, Hong Kong (Xianggang) was torn away from China in favor of Great Britain. Macao (Aomen) followed to be ruled by Portugal for decades.