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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 Ta

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.