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The funny thing is China isn't an imperialist country. They're primarily concerned with their internal affairs and with the rest of the world insofar as they n

The funny thing is China isn't an imperialist country. They're primarily concerned with their internal affairs and with the rest of the world insofar as they need their raw materials and advanced technology. They're not very interested in leading and controlling the world like the west seems to be so obssessed with.

iskander 16y ago
First of all, you seem to be ignoring China's wars with India and Vietnam, the Chinese attempt to overthrow the government of Malaysia, territorial claims to Taiwan (and a dozen smaller chunks of land), their continuing support of North Korea, as well as their explicit program of population dilution going on in Tibet and Xinjiang. Anyhow, imperial ambitions grow with capacity. For now, China asserts itself in its "backyard" (and Africa -- check out the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation). Chinese reach will almost certainly extend if their military competition dwindles.
- davidmathers 16y ago
  As an aside on Mugabe, he makes one of those observations that are so precisely to the point that you wonder why so few other commentators ever get round to coming to it. "Darfur, Zimbabwe, Burma, North Korea, anywhere that the concept of human rights doesn't exist, it's always the Chinese at backstop. And always for reasons that you could write down in three words: blood for oil." -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/14/christopher-hitchens-cancer-interview http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/14/christopher-hitc... It would be tragic if China were to actually become the dominant power in the world. But that's a long long way from where we are now. And I personally can't see any path from here to there.
Helianthus16 16y ago
This is debatable. They are definitely throwing their weight around and playing some Machiavellian games with world opinion, flat-out denying things that anyone can see is probably true--look at how they re-directed network traffic.

iskander 16y ago

First of all, you seem to be ignoring China's wars with India and Vietnam, the Chinese attempt to overthrow the government of Malaysia, territorial claims to Taiwan (and a dozen smaller chunks of land), their continuing support of North Korea, as well as their explicit program of population dilution going on in Tibet and Xinjiang. Anyhow, imperial ambitions grow with capacity. For now, China asserts itself in its "backyard" (and Africa -- check out the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation). Chinese reach will almost certainly extend if their military competition dwindles.

davidmathers 16y ago
As an aside on Mugabe, he makes one of those observations that are so precisely to the point that you wonder why so few other commentators ever get round to coming to it. "Darfur, Zimbabwe, Burma, North Korea, anywhere that the concept of human rights doesn't exist, it's always the Chinese at backstop. And always for reasons that you could write down in three words: blood for oil." -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/14/christopher-hitchens-cancer-interview http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/14/christopher-hitc... It would be tragic if China were to actually become the dominant power in the world. But that's a long long way from where we are now. And I personally can't see any path from here to there.

Helianthus16 16y ago

This is debatable. They are definitely throwing their weight around and playing some Machiavellian games with world opinion, flat-out denying things that anyone can see is probably true--look at how they re-directed network traffic.