Well, India and SE Asia were also pretty high up on the trade route wishlist. Europe basically just wanted certain trade goods they didn’t have, and for the first time anywhere had the technology to scalably cross the high seas to get them.
They have imposed a tributary system in the past, and in the present they are emulating it.
In a lot of ways, China is what would have happened if Rome had successfully been put back together.
In the sense they extend rules across Europe, sure. In being a colonial empire that pretty single-directionally funnels wealth to itself and it’s Emperor, no.
The historical comparison I’m making here would be Justinian I vs. Emperor Wu. One put the recently dead empire back together, setting the stage for it to unify over and over again, the other tried but failed.
Well, India and SE Asia were also pretty high up on the trade route wishlist. Europe basically just wanted certain trade goods they didn’t have, and for the first time anywhere had the technology to scalably cross the high seas to get them.
In a lot of ways, China is what would have happened if Rome had successfully been put back together.
The EU is arguably kinda like the Rome. The Brussels effect means following EU rules to keep trading with them or lose access to the market.
In the sense they extend rules across Europe, sure. In being a colonial empire that pretty single-directionally funnels wealth to itself and it’s Emperor, no.
The historical comparison I’m making here would be Justinian I vs. Emperor Wu. One put the recently dead empire back together, setting the stage for it to unify over and over again, the other tried but failed.