Editing Three Principles of the People (section)

==== National Independence ====
Sun saw the Chinese Nation as under threat of annihilation by the imperialist powers.<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=三民主义|wslanguage=zh|chapter=民族主義第五講}}</ref> To reverse the trajectory of such decline, China needed to become nationally independent both externally and internally.

Internally, national independence meant independence from the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] [[Manchu people|Manchus]] who ruled China for centuries.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=三民主义与五权分立——在东京《民报》创刊周年庆祝大会的演说 – 主要著述 – 孙中山故居纪念馆_伟人孙中山 |url=http://www.sunyat-sen.org/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=46&id=6675 |access-date=9 April 2022 |website=www.sunyat-sen.org |archive-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502230704/http://www.sunyat-sen.org/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=46&id=6675 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sun thought that the Han Chinese people were a people without their own nation and thus strove for national revolution against Qing authorities.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ling |first=Yu-long |date=2012 |title=Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Doctrine and Impact on the Modern World |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288973 |journal=American Journal of Chinese Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |jstor=44288973 |issn=2166-0042 |access-date=9 April 2022 |archive-date=9 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409185400/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288973 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Externally, national independence meant independence from imperialist foreign powers. Sun believed China to be threatened by imperialism in three ways: by economic oppression, by political aggression, and by slow population growth.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Weaver |first=William C. |date=1939 |title=The Social, Economic, and Political Philosophy of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24435880 |journal=The Historian |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=132–141 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1939.tb00469.x |jstor=24435880 |issn=0018-2370 |access-date=9 April 2022 |archive-date=9 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409185402/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24435880 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Economically, Sun held the [[Mercantilism|mercantilist]] position that China was being economically exploited by [[Balance of trade|unbalanced trade]] and [[tariff]]s.<ref name=":2" /> Politically, he looked toward the [[Unequal treaty|unequal treaties]] signed by China as the reason of China's decline. Sun envisioned a future China that was strong and capable of fighting imperialists and standing on the same stage as western powers.<ref name=":1" />