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>As someone neither American nor Chinese I feel China's far less likely to come along and bother me when I'm minding my own business than America is. Well no s

>As someone neither American nor Chinese I feel China's far less likely to come along and bother me when I'm minding my own business than America is. Well no shit, only one of these two countries has had the capability to project power globally for six decades. To say China hasn't intervened in e.g. Ireland's affairs is to say pretty much nothing about its (un)desirability as a global leader. Within each country's sphere of influence though, I don't agree with the above statement in any sense though. China is far more active/aggressive (and amoral) in the affairs of its people domestically and in its regional sphere of influence than the US generally is.

logicchains 7y ago
>China is far more active/aggressive (and amoral) in the affairs of its people domestically and in its regional sphere of influence than the US generally is. That's the point; it's aggressive in the affairs of _its people_. That being said, I'd disagree that the US generally leaves countries in its sphere of influence alone: the war on drugs for instance resulted in a massive amount of violence and suffering in Mexico, America's southern neighbour. America installed Pinochet in Chile, and also created various other banana republics in South America (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic). America is one of the only countries in the world to tax its citizens regardless of whether they live, and imposes so much bureaucracy on dealing with them that there are even European banks that refuse to serve US customers: https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/reaction-to-us-tax-law-european-banks-stop-serving-american-customers-a-803742.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/reaction-to-us.... US intelligence agencies somehow convinced the New Zealand spy agency to illegally wiretap Kim Dotcom (NZ is a close US ally): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/9569986/Kim-Dotcom-NZ-Prime-Minister-apologises-over-unlawful-spy-operation.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/9569986/Kim-.... The US embargoed Cuba for decades; China trades peacefully with Taiwan.

logicchains 7y ago

>China is far more active/aggressive (and amoral) in the affairs of its people domestically and in its regional sphere of influence than the US generally is. That's the point; it's aggressive in the affairs of _its people_. That being said, I'd disagree that the US generally leaves countries in its sphere of influence alone: the war on drugs for instance resulted in a massive amount of violence and suffering in Mexico, America's southern neighbour. America installed Pinochet in Chile, and also created various other banana republics in South America (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic). America is one of the only countries in the world to tax its citizens regardless of whether they live, and imposes so much bureaucracy on dealing with them that there are even European banks that refuse to serve US customers: https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/reaction-to-us-tax-law-european-banks-stop-serving-american-customers-a-803742.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/reaction-to-us.... US intelligence agencies somehow convinced the New Zealand spy agency to illegally wiretap Kim Dotcom (NZ is a close US ally): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/9569986/Kim-Dotcom-NZ-Prime-Minister-apologises-over-unlawful-spy-operation.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/9569986/Kim-.... The US embargoed Cuba for decades; China trades peacefully with Taiwan.