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The title of the third chapter of On China by Henry Kissinger **From Preeminence to Decline**. The subsection is **Wei Yuan's Blueprint: "Using Barbarians Against Barbarians," Learning Their Techniques**.

The chapter explains how China struggled to navigate growing pressure from Western powers, Russia, and Japan, relying heavily on cultural cohesion and skilled diplomats despite the court’s lack of understanding of global power politics.

Wei Yuan, a reform-minded official and associate of Lin Zexu, recognized earlier than most that China no longer dominated its international environment. He argued that China needed to understand foreign geography, foreign systems, and the emerging balance-of-power framework shaping global politics.

In his 1842 Plans for a Maritime Defense, written after the Opium War, Wei Yuan analyzed China’s military and diplomatic failures and proposed new strategies. Accepting China’s relative weakness, he outlined a dual approach:

“Use barbarians against barbarians”—encourage rival nations to pressure or attack Britain, based on ancient Chinese precedent.

Learn Western techniques—adopt foreign skills and technologies to strengthen China.

For diplomacy, he argued that maintaining even humiliating treaties could limit further Western demands. Wei Yuan identified several countries that could counterbalance Britain—Russia, France, America, and others in Asia—although China lacked the knowledge and diplomatic presence needed to influence them. He emphasized that China needed capable personnel familiar with global politics and foreign relations.

Wei Yuan also proposed drawing other foreign powers into China to dilute Britain’s advantage, essentially making China the balancer among competing outsiders. He supported extending concessions widely, using the Most Favored Nation principle to ensure no single nation—especially Britain—gained overwhelming influence.

Ultimately, he argued that China must buy time and modernize by importing Western shipbuilders and weapons experts. His formula was:

Before peace: use barbarians against barbarians.

After peace: learn their advanced techniques to control them.

The Qing court, though skeptical of modernization, did apply part of his strategy by strictly adhering to treaty terms to prevent foreigners from pushing beyond them, remaining polite but firm in keeping foreign powers contained.