This is a remarkable history lesson with a sting in the tail. In 1879 Ulysses S. Grant, the former American President (1868-76) and hero of the victory over the South, wound up a two-and-a-half-year world tour by visiting Asia, with China and Japan his last two stopovers.
In China Grant was greeted with due deference by the Regent, Prince Kung, and the E…