Pointing to this very geopolitical hubris, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday invoked a second Chinese adage from over 2,000 years ago in his speech to warn the danger behind Washington"s obsession with force. The phrase was quoted from Jia Yi"s Guo Qin Lun, or "Faults of Qin," which analyzed why the Qin Dynasty fell so rapidly despite its power.

　　"When benevolence and justice are not practiced, the position of strength shifts."