>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. T

>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.