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As the United States beats a haphazard retreat from the world — nixing trade agreements, eschewing diplomacy, antagonizing allies — China marches on with its un
by themgt 9y ago
As the United States beats a haphazard retreat from the world — nixing trade agreements, eschewing diplomacy, antagonizing allies — China marches on with its unabashedly ambitious global-expansion program known as One Belt, One Road.
This constant MSM need to connect everything on earth back to Trump is getting so fucking tedious. Construction of the airport this article concerns was finished (edit: begun) in 2009. It's almost as if China has been executing a long-term plan to build a web of neocolonial economic interests around the world for a pittance of the money the USA spent wrecking the Middle East & Afghanistan and killing hundreds of thousands of random people over the last 16 years; except framing the story that way wouldn't reaffirm NYT readers existing biases.
- hyperbovine 9y agoNothing in your post contradicts the thesis of that sentence.
- tradersam 9y agoYeah, it sounds like someone's just touchy about Trump.
- lovich 9y agoThe description of America's retreat from the world has been happening for the last few administration's so I don't know if they are referencing Trump directly. The US liked to throw it's weight around and act like an asshole at times and China is now trying to provide another option to get nation's on their side
- maxxxxx 9y agoEschewing diplomacy and antagonizing allies started with Bush after 9/11 and the build up for the Iraq war.
- api 9y agoBush II is still easily the worst president of the last 100 years, at least. Trump has yet to come close to the Iraq disaster, though he has at least 3 more years so who knows. Obama wasn't bad but his problem was that he governed as if the country were not in decline. He was a prosperous times president when we needed a turnaround artist.
- forapurpose 9y agoWe're veering off topic, but you forgot the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, torture, and mass surveillance.
- maxxxxx 9y agoI don't think Obama was that great but the economic crisis was already under way when Obama came in.
- forapurpose 9y agoYes, I was referring to his predecessor.
- mikestew 9y agoAsk yourself why the NYT didn’t mention Trump by name. Give up? Maybe they weren’t talking about him specifically.
- nl 9y agoConstruction of the airport this article concerns was finished in 2009 2009 was when the civil war finished. The airport was completed in 2013[1] (although I don't think that is material to your point). The issue isn't specifically the construction of the airport, it was more the leasing of the Hambantota port to China. That occurred in July this year and didn't seem to have any comment form the US State Department (as far as I can see) despite the US "Pivot to Asia" and the aggressive Chinese building in the South China Sea. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattala_Rajapaksa_International_Airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattala_Rajapaksa_Internationa... [2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/07/27/china-buys-up-strategic-sri-lankan-seaport-as-the-maritime-silk-road-sails-on/#2d5748606f4c https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/07/27/china-bu...
- hyperdunc 9y agoYes, China's hegemonic strategy of soft power through economic and infrastructure building is far superior to the US's military-based strategy.