What do we need China for? Part 1: the incidentality of Sino-Polish relations before 1949

Abstract

This paper is the first part of a bigger whole titled “What do we need China for.” It is focused on the incidentality of historical Sino-Polish relations before 1949. Although the state of Poland has existed since time of Song dynasty in China, earlier mutual Polish-Chinese relations were incidental and limited to very loosely connected or completely unrelated historical events, e.g. legacies to Great Khan, missionary activities, military and civil service to foreign powers, occasional contacts between revolutionary politicians, the refuge for Poles in Harbin. The second part titled “The superpower of East Asia and new perspectives of Polish raison d’État” will be published soon.