<<I disagree. Mentioning other countries is only relevant as a comparison, but the statement itself is standalone as far as determining whether it's true or not

<<I disagree. Mentioning other countries is only relevant as a comparison, but the statement itself is standalone as far as determining whether it's true or not. Sure, we can argue about the degrees of corruption, and some of the subjective claims in my statement such as "deeply" and "any", but I think anyone would be hard pressed to argue that these issues are _not_ true. Hah. Good counter. Even with Xi, who effectively rose to power on very public anti-corruption measures, it is virtually impossible to point to any country that has no corruption. I am certain corruption exists. Some habits die hard. And I base it more on my understanding of human nature than anything else. << Like I said, the combination of these factors is unique to China. I accept the ascendancy to 1st world power status as the differentiating factor, which would make it unique enough. With regards to xenophobia and 'regard for human life', I am pretty sure I could point to counters ( including Ukraine, Chechnya, Russian famine, or xenophobia embedded in nationalism[1].. ). << This is a common tactic used by Chinese apologists I agree that whataboutism is a thing and it is being used by troll farms across the globe. I still think that it is difficult to discuss anything without understanding how that something compares to other comparable things. If anything, I posit that not discussing the entirety of the issue including context is a disservice to the reader. *** Thank you for this conversation. This is basically why I come to HN. [1]https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Religion/Submissions/WJC-Annex3.pdf https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/R...