‘There is no path to victory here,’ warned Professor Chakravarti. ‘This will only make them hate you.’ Robin scoffed. ‘They can’t hate us any more than they do.’ But no, that was not true; they both knew it. The British did not hate them, because hate was bound up with fear and resentment, and both required seeing your opponent as a morally autonomous being, worthy of respect and rivalry. The attitude the British held towards the Chinese was patronizing, was dismissive; but it was not hatred. Not yet. That might change after the bridge fell.
