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Every country that's ever been the most powerful country in the world ceases to be the most powerful country in the world at some point.

No country can act wisely simultaneously in every part of the globe at every moment of time.

Great powers can't get tired, because the international order is not self-governing.

There are no two countries with the same style of economic mechanism, with the same capitalism.

I believe it is still true that conflicts among major powers usually stem from geopolitical rivalries but rarely from economic competition.

Countries are different. They make different choices. We cannot harmonise everything.

Administering another country is always a very tricky proposition.

We cannot be both the world's leading champion of peace and the world's leading supplier of the weapons of war.

China is a vast, disparate country; there is no alternative to strong central power.

It is hard to cement any relations with any country based on promises that may not be deliverable.