Even if the US was perfectly saintly, that wouldn't change the nature of the totalitarianism of the CCP, and the ambitions that are inherent in it by necessity

Even if the US was perfectly saintly, that wouldn't change the nature of the totalitarianism of the CCP, and the ambitions that are inherent in it by necessity (since you cannot control and rewrite history without controlling the globe in some way or another). It's also not a binary choice. The same values that require resisting oppression and violence perpetrated by US administrations, would also lead a person resist the CCP, and doing either helps with doing the other. If you have two types of cancer, you don't treat the bigger one and completely ignore the other... if there is good reason to do A, having "even more reason" to do B doesn't mean you shouldn't still do A. > cold warrior type's fantasies of war with china That's a straw man. My fantasy would be the Chinese people successfully fighting for change, like they tried once before they got brutally slaughtered for it. Like the people in Hong Kong are fighting. If you're going to get personal in this manner, also consider the cowardice and spinelessness of those who would rather prolong their life a little (or even just increase their bank account) by not speaking out and standing up.