Can I point out that the translation of the way that the Chinese refer to their own country is possibly perpetuating a misconception.
The actual Chinese can be interpreted as Middle or Central. A prevalent, and understandable, Chinese world-view is that theirs is the Central Realm, about which all other countries are peripheral. I'll quote a bit of the relevant Wikipedia article ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_China ):
Some Western writers use the translation "middle kingdom" or "central kingdom" to imply that China has a deeply rooted self-centered psychology as the center of the universe. Endymion Wilkinson denies that the Chinese were unique in thinking of their country as central, although China was the only culture to use the concept for their name.[30] Regarding the accuracy of the translation, Professor Chen Jian writes: "I believe that 'Central Kingdom' is a more accurate translation for 'Zhong Guo' (China) than 'Middle Kingdom'. The term 'Middle Kingdom' does not imply that China is superior to other peoples and nations around it — China just happens to be located in the middle geographically; the term 'Central Kingdom', however, implies that China is superior to any other people and nation 'under the heaven' and that it thus occupies a 'central' position in the known universe." [31]