Actions by the People's Republic -- intentional or not -- have created the worst regional environment for China since Tiananmen.
One of the elementary rules of foreign policy is when you are in a hole, stop digging. But judging by their recent behavior, Beijing’s foreign policy mandarins and national security establishment are clearly in violation of this rule. Despite the diplomat heat China has received for its tough stance on territorial disputes in recent months, the Chinese Foreign Ministry apparently seemed to believe that it could strengthen Chinese claims symbolically by issuing a new passport containing a map that claims the disputed maritime areas in the South China Sea and the contested territories along the Sino-Indian border. The reaction was predictable. Southeast Asian countries, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, protested loudly. India retaliated by promising to stamp visas containing its own map on Chinese passports.
At around the same time as the diplomatic uproar over the new Chinese passport design, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) conducted its first successful landing and take-off operations from its retrofitted aircraft carrier. The televised test might have boosted the Chinese military’s image and self-confidence, but the message this event sent around the region, given China’s hardline position on territorial disputes and its neighbors’ fears of the PLA’s growing military capabilities, cannot be very reassuring.
But that is not the end of the actions taken by China recently that are likely to cost Beijing’s new government dearly. A few days before Japan’s Diet elections on December 16, which are expected to produce a right-wing government with deep antipathy toward Beijing, the Chinese government escalated its challenge to Japan’s territorial claims to the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands by flying an official, albeit unarmed, maritime surveillance plane over the airspace of the disputed islands. As expected, the move incensed Tokyo and can only be expected to bolster the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) chances and lend more credence to their call for a tougher policy toward China.
Photo Credit: Flickr (Francisco Diez)
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Anon
Before all these "Butchers of Beijing" start flying around, could someone kindly post the trajectory of population growth, life expectancy, mortality rates, education access, language and cultural preservation, % of Native vs. Settler population, etc., for the past century, for Tibetans, Native Americans and Native Ainus in order that this subject can be addressed in a more concrete and fruitful manner?
China should learn a thing or two from the Americans and Japanese how to treat the Native populations, no? So instead of building schools, infrastructure, sending teachers, engineers and doctors, etc., much better to send booze and build the Tibetans a casino.
Jean-Paul
The only one trying to distract from the main subject here is you actually. The main subject here is that China has effectively backed itself into a diplomatic corner and has built an INTERNATIONAL reputation of being aggressive, coercive, two-faced and belligerent. What you are now saying about military bases, native americans etc…. is you simply trying to point the finger elsewhere to distract from the main subject of the article.
You have already been given many historical facts on a variety of issues from the senkaku's dispute, to China's recent military build-up, to the suppression of the internet and free speech, to the failure of China's soft power around the world. Yet you simply ignore all of it and continue to go on about meth dealers, bases, genocide etc…… it is a very dishonest way of debating what the articles here are saying.
The world, besides a small minority of countries are on NATO's side, most of asia does not trust China and they live near or right beside them. This is a very good reflection of the nature of the CCP, for example Canada, mexico, all of the european nations, south american nations (besides venezuela) and most asian nations all trust the NATO led world order and are fully invested into it. On the other hand China has territorial disputes with nearly every one of its neighbours. When was the last time you heard of any european nation having a border dispute?
Anon
FACTS PLEASE. You and your ilk repeat the same things ad nauseum …now here's the challenge. Show me the figures, let's make it easy for you, just take ONE "good" country vs "evil" China, Tibetans vs Ainus, % change in population over the past century, preservation of language and culture, ratio of Natives vs. Settlers in Tibet and Hokkaido today. Come on, why not shame China by comparing how it fares against the US, Japan even Australia in the treatment of their Natives?? All the talk about the horrors visited upon Tibet is meaningless without comparison to how well the "good" countries treat their own Native or Indigenous populations!
@Observer No wonder you write such insolence. When you start posting proper contents then it's worth having a discourse. Otherwise, you are best ignored, pure waste fo time.
Same with everyone else, ok? I am uninterested in your hatred for China. I just want to hear some facts from you.
ACT
@anon
"facts please". Oh get over yourself, go look at any of the innumerable books on the subject that you can find on the subject off of amazon and in your local library. you claim world conspiracy on the part of the U.S and nato to enslave us all? post links, facts, or books we can look at please. And don't post Noam Chomsky, he's just one opinion.
Anon
@ACT What "Conspiracy"? I am talking about readily available STATISTICS from census conducted by every government in the world – % of NATIVE population increase/decrease, life expectancy, infant mortality, income relative to the Settlers, % of total population in their ancestral lands vs Settlers, etc. You want to make accusations about genocide, then let's look at FACTUAL EVIDENCE and compare "Evil China" with "Good USA, Japan and Australia".
ACT
@anon
looks like i got you good. In that sense, what does the welfare of the original populations have anything to do with the "good" or "evil" of a nation. On that line of thought, when did i ever call China "evil?" Answer: never. What i merely said, as i have been saying all along, is that the PRC appears to becoming more agressive, that it appears to be attempting to take the land of others, and that it's ultimate objective appears to be the overturning of the world-order that has existed since the opium wars of the 1840's. That doesn't make China evil, just very, very, very wrong and proves that it has no interest in supporting the current system, much less existing in it, despite all the benefits it gains from it. That you have called China "evil", however, suggests that you know more than i about what's really going on, eh? oh, and again, please point me to any books other than those by noam chomsky which suggest that the U.S plus NATO–which, un-coincidentally, completes the list of "aggressor nations" taught of in Chinese revisionist histories–are out to conquer/enslave the world?
Anon
@ACT Actually, by the facts that you posted, you support in effect the points I'm making, the conclusions of which anyone with an iota of honesty.
First of all, China isn't "expanding" today – the so-called "expansion" into Tibet happened before the US existed, before New Mexico, before Hawaii, Guantanomo, and before Japan annexed Ezo/Hokkaido, the Ryukyus/Okinawa, Dioayus/Senkakus, etc from their respective neighbors.
So if you and your ilk insist that a historic event that happened centuries ago in China be condemned as "expansion", then the US and Japan are far, far worse because they expanded into many more territories during more recent periods than China.
If you want to raise the Tibetan issue every time China is mentioned then every discourse about the US *TODAY* should be inextricably tied to its acquisition of the colonized territories, its genocide of Native Americans, its history of slavery, lynching, racial segregation, up to and including GWOT, torture, police brutality, etc.
Extreme double standards are at work here, so one wonders why there is such a lack of factual and historic honesty.
It's like the Cops, with their empire of meth and crack factories, attempting to make the few pots of weed in the Chinese guy's yard *the* major issue in the drugs war.
So the US has 900 military bases all over the world but it is China that is "enslaving" the world and threatening global security? The same as Saddam Hussein and his "WMDs" ready to launch in a minute in a US city near you as beamed across the world right before US-UK-NATO attacked and invaded Iraq, I guess.
Look, we can all turn the other eye and pretend the world is as you insisted, that up is down and black is white, but some of us prefer to deal honestly with facts rather than go into pointless whitewashing and lies. Debate with those who try to dissemble, spin and ignore the truth and facts is useless as reality is simply ignored.
Of course Iraq still had to face the bombs, the depleted uranium, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis shredded by NATO bombs, the annihilation of whole cities and the giving away of their oil rights, even as they are painted as the "villain armed with WMDs" with their "image problems".
Makes one wonder how some of you can live with such a version of "reality" though.
ACT
@anon
ARGUMENT DECONSTRUCTION, COMMENCE!
"@ACT Actually, by the facts that you posted, you support in effect the points I'm making, the conclusions of which anyone with an iota of honesty.
–not really, just because the U.S has 900 bases around the world does not mean it's out to enslave anyone; if you knew anything about U.S history beyond the genocides, etc, you would know that the reason for this forward-deployment was for collective defense and to make sure that no one would ever attack the U.S again.
First of all, China isn't "expanding" today – the so-called "expansion" into Tibet happened before the US existed, before New Mexico, before Hawaii, Guantanomo, and before Japan annexed Ezo/Hokkaido, the Ryukyus/Okinawa, Dioayus/Senkakus, etc from their respective neighbors.
So if you and your ilk insist that a historic event that happened centuries ago in China be condemned as "expansion", then the US and Japan are far, far worse because they expanded into many more territories during more recent periods than China.
–have you been reading the news lately, that in the U.S, Japan as well as the Philippines? China is expanding, and one need only look at the Palmas Islands case of 1928 to know that claims of sovereignty due to ancestral occupation or discovery are now completely invalid under international law. Mind you, those are the only claims that China has to those territories. Furthermore, you post as if you think we are all so naively unaware of what our nations have done in the past; we are very much aware, we teach about it in colleges, and we condemn our ancestors for it. There is a crucial difference between the U.S, Japan and China, however; most of U.S possessions were acquired by idiots who went out looking for gold and disobeyed the law, or via legitimate treaties: conquest by direct application of force or via government policy, while also a factor, was not a significant as you think; Chinese expansion continued well into the 18th century; Xinjiang and Mongolia were only acquired by the Qing in 1653 or later, Taiwan wasn't acquired until the late 18th century, and Tibet was not formally annexed until 1910, before which it was a tributary or military protectorate at best.
If you want to raise the Tibetan issue every time China is mentioned then every discourse about the US *TODAY* should be inextricably tied to its acquisition of the colonized territories, its genocide of Native Americans, its history of slavery, lynching, racial segregation, up to and including GWOT, torture, police brutality, etc.
–What matters is that the PRC's policy of cultural genocide and colonization is still going on TODAY, in stark contrast to all other nations; information about this is suppressed within the PRC, while information about U.S activities is available to the public via investigative reporting, which is why there is such an outcry about it, including yours. You seem to think that we are all naive about this, when we are well aware of it; the native peoples of the lands our ancestors conquered have made continuous efforts to improve their situation, and many have succeeded. Meanwhile, Tibetans and Uighurs are suppressed to a large degree; we celebrate our diversity, while the nation you are defending makes every attempt to snuff it out so that it might further its grip on power.
Extreme double standards are at work here, so one wonders why there is such a lack of factual and historic honesty.
–it's not double standards because we are well aware of what goes on, but that's not the subject of this article; were the article on U.S crimes at abu graib, or questions on the nature of American colonization of, say, Hawaii during the 19th century, or the ongoing matters at Guantanamo, you could expect that all of us would be protesting that, too.
It's like the Cops, with their empire of meth and crack factories, attempting to make the few pots of weed in the Chinese guy's yard *the* major issue in the drugs war.
–No, because China is manufacturing Crack and Meth, too; because its on a smaller scale in terms of history does not make it any less wrong
So the US has 900 military bases all over the world but it is China that is "enslaving" the world and threatening global security? The same as Saddam Hussein and his "WMDs" ready to launch in a minute in a US city near you as beamed across the world right before US-UK-NATO attacked and invaded Iraq, I guess.
–and guess what, Bush is universally vilified for starting that bullsh*t war. Furthermore, where did i mention that China was out to enslave the world? nowhere, thank-you very much. China does not threaten global security, it threatens regional security because it is the only major nation that is using warped history to lay claim to islands that it never owned in the first place, and for clearly imperialistic reasons; it has no legitimate claim because the use of history and ancestry, as well as governmental succession as a means for being able to lay claim to terra nullius were tossed out the window in the 1928 Palmas Islands case.
Look, we can all turn the other eye and pretend the world is as you insisted, that up is down and black is white, but some of us prefer to deal honestly with facts rather than go into pointless whitewashing and lies. Debate with those who try to dissemble, spin and ignore the truth and facts is useless as reality is simply ignored.
–distorting the truth? hardly. Thank-you for informing me about the Tibet insurgency by the way; it was most valuable, and i'm sure i can find out more about it in a readily available book about CIA operations off of amazon. Anon, EVERY nation, EVERY. SINGLE. ONE has distorted its own history for political gain. The U.S is not unique in this, but as with my rebuke in response to war in 2013's argument, you use the example of the U.S because it allows you to justify the same inexcusable behavior by whichever nation you happen to defend (in this case, the PRC). I have not once spun, merely stated my own opinion based upon what i know, and i'm so very sure that the People's Daily, the grand-masters of historical manipulation and distortion, have not been relaxing either. It is very telling that during the Tiananmen Square incident, journalists from the people's daily were photographed holding up a banner that read "WE DON'T WANT TO LIE ANYMORE!". Unlike the PRC, we do not whitewash the vast majority of our history, and the truth of events is taught in college classrooms, to students who are mature enough to handle it. Would you like to know, for example, that the U.S invaded the USSR in 1920 to "secure assets of interest?", or how about the fact that the USS Maine Explosion was most likely a coal fire, but was spun by the media to justify war against spain, and that there was massive protest against this at the time?
Of course Iraq still had to face the bombs, the depleted uranium, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis shredded by NATO bombs, the annihilation of whole cities and the giving away of their oil rights, even as they are painted as the "villain armed with WMDs" with their "image problems".
Makes one wonder how some of you can live with such a version of "reality" though.
–old news, dude; we're well aware of the body count, that Iraq was under a no fly zone for many years after 1991, and that the majority of the fighters streaming into Iraq in 2003-2012 were not locals but foreign fighters who wished to turn Iraq into a Sharia state; how would you like to get your arm cut off for stealing an apple, or not being able to send your daughters to school because the minority of Islamic practitioners who decide to go off to war feel that this is how god intended us to be?
Anon
@ACT " PRC's policy of cultural genocide and colonization is still going on TODAY,"What matters is that the PRC's
False on ALL accounts. This is why I raised the issue of HONESTY, not CIA disseminated disinformation and the versions of TRUTH in your heads. First, show us the evidence of Tibetan genocide, i.e. a drastic reduction of Tibetan population. Let's compare the trajectory of Tibetan population vs Ainus, Native Americans or even Australian Aborigines. Would you decry Japan, US and Australia for genocide? Much higher % of the Native population decreased under these immeasurably richer and wealthier countries. Their language, religion and culture are almost non-existent, whereas in Tibet, these are still practised. Settlers FAR OUTNUMBER Natives in the US, Japan and Australia, whereas in Tibet, Tibetans still dominate after hundreds of years!
This hypocrisy is astounding.
TODAY, anyone can travel to Tibet, including tourists and foreigners. Do you seriously believe a genocide can go on with daily, normal activities happening? you are quite a nutcase if you do.
Like I say, I can allege that a genocide is happening right now in say, Hokkaido, but it's simply what I said. I can scream all I want, but it doesn't make it TRUE. Rational, normal, non-sociopathic people will demand evidence before they make accusations.
The reason you China haters are AFRAID of FACTS is because they contradict the IMAGE you are trying to create of China.
And no, not ALL nations engage in hostile propaganda of others, only SOME, eg. the US, Japan and UK.
"China does not threaten global security, it threatens regional security because it is the only major nation that is using warped history to lay claim to islands that it never owned in the first place"
That is funny considering that Japan's claim against Russia uses the SAME "Historic ownership" claim, and Korea's using the same for Dokdo, so doesn't Japan threaten regional security by having huge territorial fights with ALL of its neighbors? You will say "No" ONLY because it is your opinion that Japan is somehow "Good", you can't offer any evidence that its claims are more valid. Btw, Palmos DOES NOT INVALIDATE HISTORIC CLAIMS, it simply sets a PRECEDENT, it doesn't mean Historic Claims are now all invalid, it is still a LEGALLY acceptable claim, and judgment is on a case by case basis, and most countries still won based on Historic Claims, some of you Japan supporters are not rational as you can't even understand BASIC legal parameters.
You talk about Iraq being "old story", blah, blah, blah, you ERRONEOUSLY said Sharia Law was going to be imposed there, are you crazy???
Saddam Hussein was a SECULAR Head of State, Iraq was the MOST SECULAR of all nations in the Middle East!!
Even if a country wants to implement Sharia Laws, it's NONE of your business.
Tibet had a Feudal Theocracy based on Slavery and Torture by the Aristocrats and Monks, so China took over and abolished that system, making most of the exiled Tibetan high aristocracy and monks very angry. Obviously you had no idea what "Shangrila" was like.
There's plenty of literature out there but what matters is of course how you FEEL about China, not the TRUTHs and FACTs. Hatred triumphs over Reality.
ACT
@anon,
cultural genocide, not physcial genocide. There is a difference.
ACT
@anon
you cherry-picked my response, which lead to your blatant misunderstanding of it:
1.yes, Saddam hussein's rule was secular; the foreign fighters who were coming into Iraq AFTER the invasion were looking to establish a sharia state.
2. As i mentioned above, there is a difference between actual genocide and cultural genocide–that is, the deliberate destruction of another's culture. There is no physical genocide going on in Tibet and Xinjiang. However, there is a deliberate movement, via colonization and cultural promotion, to stamp out native culture as well as an attempt to disenfranchise them; han tourists who visit those locations only visit restaurants run by Han chinese; foreign tourists–whose visits are carefully monitored and limited–are assigned special tour-guides, so that they might not witness what is actually going on.
3.I do not hate the PRC, nor its citizenry; i dislike the CPC and its actions abroad, however, and i recognize that what it is doing with regards to the ECS and SCS is utter hypocrisy.
ACT
@anon, you said:
"China is resisting the New World Order imposed by the US Oligarchy and that EQUALS China wants to impose China's World Order? Via what means can China do this? Its 760 military bases all over the planet?"
.
Pfft. Wow, you're really something special, aren't you? The sad part is, you're wrong on even the basic facts: the U.S has approximately 900 bases in various countries around the world, and roughly 80% of its military budget goes to just maintaining them. We're well aware of everything you just said, and–sadly–there is no "New World Order" by which the U.S is–as you seem to think–going to enslave us all; if you're going to mention the inequality and media manipulation in the U.S, then wouldn't it also be fair to mention that much the same, if not worse, happens within China's own borders?
Anon
The main point I am making stands – FACT: CIA DID FUND DISINFORMATION ABOUT CHINA, despite all the "protests" of Mr MacFarquhar, that he did not know, that he tried to be "balanced", etc…to save his own tattered reputation.
The original "London Review of Books" letters by MacFarquhar where he sent his letters, is a respectable site.
Moreover, any Google of "China Quarterly CIA" would show other connections that led to widespread belief in the "75 million killed by Mao" assertions.
So China Quarterly is a source for these allegations and "image-building".
That no mainstream media would pick up the story only demonstrates how the MSM is in cahoots and completely dedicated to further CIA or NATO propaganda goals.
This "China's Image " problem thus isn't of China's own making.
China looks like in the MSM is fully controlled by the US-NATO governments.
As for the clowns who chorus "Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang", etc. when ANY SUBJECT about China is brought up, these are deeply conditioned responses in order to DEFLECT and DERAIL the debate on the MAIN SUBJECT.
Imagine everytime a subject about the US is brought up, eg., the US image in the media, the US economy, etc. some clown saying "But what about centuries of slavery?" "What about New Mexico?" "What about Native Americans?" "What about the North invading the South during the Civil War?" etc..Totally absurd!
@angelus512 What is the point of these strawmen you guys try to throw around? China is resisting the New World Order imposed by the US Oligarchy and that EQUALS China wants to impose China's World Order? Via what means can China do this? Its 760 military bases all over the planet?
ACT
@anon
what do you consider to be the main subject, then? What i gather is that you're effectively arguing along the same lines as John Chan; that Chinese expansion into territories that were originally held by its tributaries is just and proper, despite the fact that it is totally contrary to modern international law. The only thing that makes your argument even marginally less invalid is that you have a mastery of the english language and the intellectual depth to both construct a logical argument as well as to believe the hordes of cospiracy freaks out there. Cases such as those you argue on (senkakus, etc) have been ruled on before, take the most famous case–that of the Palmas Islands in 1928. In that case, three main points were made:
1. sovereignty based on inheritance from another government is not an acceptable grounds for a case in international law.
2. claims of sovereignty based upon discovery are at best inchoate
3. quote: "if another sovereign begins to exercise continuous and actual sovereignty (Japan), and the discoverer (Imperial China) does not contest this claim, the claim by the sovereign that exercises authority is greater than a title based upon mere discovery (that of Imperial China and the modern PRC)"
this previous case completely sinks the argument of the PRC for jurisdiction over the Senkaku/Daioyu islands, and this is why the PRC will not take the case to the ICJ.
.
Furthermore, you have completely ignored the points i made in response to your rant about the CIA influencing the image of China, that this kind of manipulation is hardly unique, that all major nations do this, and that the you seem to believe that the PRC is completely innocent of such behavior with its own media and populace. Your arguing is merely more well structured version of John Chan's "but white truth is not the only truth!" indignation whenever he finds something he cannot argue against, at best. Granted, there was manipulation surrounding the Tiananmen Square incident on June 4, 1989; there is no solid evidence that a "massacre" ever happened. However, what Jean-Paul, myself and other pro-western posters base our opinions on is not that event. Rather, we look at China's behavior across its history, as well as the indisputable aggression that it has displayed with regards to the recent acquiring of territories to which it has–at best–completely irredentist and anachronistic claims. Now that i have made my counter-argument (assuming you bother to read it), i ask you again:
.
what could you possibly think makes China's blatant attempts at imperialism–following an almost identical course as Imperial Japan with regards to rising nationalism in parallel to the nation's increasing modernization– any more legitimate than any other empire throughout history that has sought revenge for the slighting of its claims to racial and cultural exceptionalism and supremacy?
ting_m_1999
@Ben,Observer,Jean-Paul, Act: It is inexcusable for you all not to know that Tibet, Inner Mongolia and XinJiang are recognized by UN as part of China. Do I have to remind, teach and educate you all over again? If you all are so righteous and not prejudicial about bullying, you all should come to defend China against the bullying acts of russia and japan. It is pathetic to see that you all use low level name calling instead of reasonable rationale for discussion
ACT
@ting
we are well aware that the U.N has at least acknowledged Chinese ownership of Tibet, etc. This does not, however, make it right and it does certainly not justify nor excuse the abominable practices of popular and cultural suppression, as well as the active encouragement of colonization within those areas; there was a time when all european nations saw skin color as a reasonable excuse for slavery and maltreatment, with "scientific" evidence deliberately produced to justify those ends (one of which was the intelligence quotient). We now know those notions to be completely false. Japan is hardly bullying China, nor is Russia; i do not see Japanese vessels sailing within Chinese territorial waters, claiming that rocks that could not possibly have been reached with the technology of the periods claimed as evidence are somehow theirs; i do not see Japanese vessels violating international treaty agreements, especially those freshly made (scarborough shoal) and i certainly do not see Japan turning internationally disputed islands into military fortresses. Furthermore, i do not see plainclothes Japanese police actively inciting their citizens to hunt down Chinese tourists and torch chinese businesses over the formalization of a century-old claim verified by modern international law.
Observer
@ Jean-Paul,
Yes indeed. Look at his replies above. Still not dare to answer my questions and so scare of the question about Russia took china land and slaughtered chinese like sheep.
@ Ben,
Exactly. Bully china is only act tough with smaller neighbors but so scared of stronger ones. A few months ago, Russian Navy shot to death not one, not two, but several chinese poachers. Bully china and chinese posters would not dare to say a word. Look how chinese posters such as Anon, ting, John Chan, Liang01, etc. would not dare to mention it, even I did ask them several times. How sad and pathetic. I would rather die than being humiliated and shamed in public like that.
Errol
The resentment is there, since they lose face, but they have to hide it. Russia does have one of the biggest stockpile of nukes after all. Enough to turn the whole of China into a slag heap ten times over. This combination of anger and restraint is dangerous, I think. The moment they perceive a weakness in a strong enemy, they go all out. Witness Beijing's recent actions ever since the recession hit the West.
Observer
@ Anon,
Still here and have no answer to my questions about Italy, Iran, Vietnam, Mongolia, Manchuria, Britain, Japan take back all or parts of china by using your logic? What is the matter?
Still have no answer about Russia took all that land from china and slaughtered chinese? Why keep losing face so much? What is wrong?
You and your ilk = perfect example of dishonesty in debate. Better luck next time, comrade. You are going to need it. Now go and kowtow to Russia, ok? Lower…lower…lower…. LOL.
Jean-Paul
Exactly Ben, this Anon guy is simply repeating himself over and over going on about US military bases, native americans etc… same story of pointing fingers elsewhere to gloss over Chinese expansionism.
China is indeed very jealous of the western achievements, that is why they are always smearing, fabricating events and bad mouthing western nations. They always criticize the west for its past, yet their nation is just as bad if not worse than any other nation out there. Such smearing only shows they are very resentful and jealous of how the Great Western nations have taken it upon themselves the uplift humanity by introducing electricity, the internet etc…..
Even after the west has given the Chinese all these gifts they are still resorting to smearing and bad mouthing. It shows they are not only jealous, but also ungrateful.
Ben
John Chan, you never agree on basic facts. Your arguments rest on flimsy Han chauvinism. So let us settle this once and for all by answering the following question: Which civilisation's chauvinism and therefore viewpoint has more merit?
Given you are speaking in English, writing on a computer which is running on electricity, (all products far beyond China's traditional abilities) the answer is obvious. China resents the West simply for exisiting because by definition the West is the civilisation China fancied itself as. The West has forever shattered Chinese deluded self narrative of superiority, as well as the need for other Asian countrys to observe it.
The truth may hurt but since you can't avoid it, you have no choice but to get over it as Western awareness of true Chinese intentions grows.
angelus512
Loved the post. You've reminded us all of the obvious but what it seems many forgot. China was so self-obsessed in-love with itself that for a very long time they fancied themselves as the center of the universe and everybody is inferior to China etc etc.
Even in the colonialism era when it was plain as daylight that China was a backwards society of barbarians and thuggish customs compared to the rest of the world, people who would come to China had to pretend to be deferential which sometimes was laughable in the formalities expected.
Then China gets its ass absolutely handed to it by the West and later a Japan that decided to correctly adopt Western tech and learning rather than out-date, small minded "ancient" asian customs.
Later still China gets brought into the international order 100% due to the actions of America and now the ungreatful swine turn around and whinge that they still aren't the center of the universe?
What an ungreatful group of people. So yes sorry to burst the bubble but its been burst a long time ago. China never was or has been the center of the international order. Only in the tiny minds of whatever Emperor thought otherwise and the uneducated masses who just do what they are told.
Nobody of sane mind and intelligence would ever think China calling the shots on the international stage is
A) A good idea
B) Even within the moral/diplomatic and military capabilities of that nation.
Dream on like its still the 1400's please feel free.
angelus512
Its my belief and I think history backs me up on this quite strongly that most/all Asian countries suffer from one crippling issue common to all/most that will ensure that China is never the dominant nation.
I call that reason curiosity. The need to see whats over the next hill or to wonder what your neighbour is doing or to be curious about things you don't understand.
The West became dominate because by nature it was a naturally curious culture that spawned explorers and scientists and astronauts. All who came about to fill the basic desire of finding out what was next and taking an active interest in the lives and opinions of others.
Asian counties especially CHina have always been content to just tend to their own affairs and never wanted to know what anybody else was up to. A very self absorbed approach thats highly isolationist based in the belief that it doesn't matter whats over the next hill because what China has "here" is worth more than whatever might be "there".
Lack of curiosity means they will never be leaders. Happy to imitate but never comfortable to lead.
Backseat drivers forever.
ACT
@Angelus,
actually, China was–in its heyday–one of the largest, if not the largest, centers of commerce, trade and learning. This was the case for much of its hegemony over its neighbors; compared to the rest of the world, China could boast a highly literate population and a meritocracy due to the imperial examinations that were required to serve in local administration, as well as the large number of informative pamphlets distributed during the period. In fact, had the warring states period not ended, some historians suggest that China could have achieved the industrial revolution nearly a millennium-and-a-half early. However, the weakness of the Chinese system was that rather than encouraging curiosity and innovation, the imperial examination system which persisted until the dawn of the 20th century encouraged memorization and insular thinking. This was what failed China when the western nations came to call, and–now, as then–the modern iteration of the Chinese Empire is still completely self-absorbed.
Anon
You two are hilarious….I am merely pointing out your HYPOCRISY – there is no "logic" except the logic of your DOUBLE STANDARDS here.
You apply one set of standards to China and another to the US, Japan and NATO.
Let me hear how you condemn US, Japan, UK, NATO, etc. for their atrocities, for occupying Ryukyus, Ezochi, Hawaii, etc., then I will believe that you guys are sincere. However, all I can see is you DEMAND that NATO rules the world and that China bows down before it, while condemning China with made up half-truths.
Like I said, you bust the Chinese guy for a few pots of marijuana while you keep absolute silence about the meth labs, acres of poppies and crack factories of the Cops you work for.
This is the underlying logic of your posts.
Anyone with elementary school understanding of US History would know that Native Americans were driven to near extinction, territories like Hawaii, New Mexico, Guantanomo, Guam, etc. are all conquered and colonized territories far beyond US borders and boundaries, slavery was the norm for centuries, racial segregation was not abolished until recent decades, Japan, Europe, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, were bombed and invaded, and for the past decade, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya were all invaded and currently occupied, and 760 US military bases and who knows how many torture sites span the planet.
Yet you demand that the world should follow US diktats.
You then keep harping on and on about Tibet, Inner Mongolia, etc…territories that were merged into China even before the US as it is called existed.
That makes you two the biggest laughing stock on this site.
ACT
@anon
before the U.S even existed, you say? xinjiang and mongolia were conquered circa 1653, hardly assimilated….and tibet was not formally annexed until 1910! historic territory? hardly.