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> there is nobody willing to step in to compete for their place China has been stepping on a number fronts. They are working on trade deals that exclude the US

> there is nobody willing to step in to compete for their place China has been stepping on a number fronts. They are working on trade deals that exclude the US, and I'm sure are excited about the soft power vacuum left when USAID shutdown.

WinstonSmith84 1y ago
Maybe?.. If China had some sort of open minded Taiwanese government instead of the CCP, the US would be already buried by now. The problem of China, besides its concerning demography, is the authoritarian regime and its expansion views, which are both not very appealing for many Asian neighbors and Europeans.
- akudha 1y ago
  When it comes to trade and geopolitics, I don't think countries would care about morality or authoritarian rule etc. As long as they are able to protect themselves against China's expansion views, countries will happily do business with the Chinese. They just wouldn't care what China does at home or elsewhere, as long as they aren't affected. I can't think of any country that has such high moral standards that they would give up cheap goods and a 1.4 Billion people market, because of Taiwan or uyghur situation In other words there is only profit/loss and strength/weakness, not right/wrong when it comes to global politics. There might be some exception cases like material support for Ukraine, but that is limited. Even in that case, there is a bit of selfishness - countries like Poland know Ukraine is acting as a buffer, if they don't help the Ukrainians, they themselves will be next on Russia's list
- matwood 1y ago
  China as a huge manufacturing hub shows that while people may talk about China's internal policies, the economics are what really matter in geopolitics. Then there's Africa which China has been actively engaging and the USA has all but left at this point. The global south will be interesting to see who engages there.
seydor 1y ago
China's cultural influence is somewhere between a dwarf and zero

WinstonSmith84 1y ago

Maybe?.. If China had some sort of open minded Taiwanese government instead of the CCP, the US would be already buried by now. The problem of China, besides its concerning demography, is the authoritarian regime and its expansion views, which are both not very appealing for many Asian neighbors and Europeans.

akudha 1y ago
When it comes to trade and geopolitics, I don't think countries would care about morality or authoritarian rule etc. As long as they are able to protect themselves against China's expansion views, countries will happily do business with the Chinese. They just wouldn't care what China does at home or elsewhere, as long as they aren't affected. I can't think of any country that has such high moral standards that they would give up cheap goods and a 1.4 Billion people market, because of Taiwan or uyghur situation In other words there is only profit/loss and strength/weakness, not right/wrong when it comes to global politics. There might be some exception cases like material support for Ukraine, but that is limited. Even in that case, there is a bit of selfishness - countries like Poland know Ukraine is acting as a buffer, if they don't help the Ukrainians, they themselves will be next on Russia's list
matwood 1y ago
China as a huge manufacturing hub shows that while people may talk about China's internal policies, the economics are what really matter in geopolitics. Then there's Africa which China has been actively engaging and the USA has all but left at this point. The global south will be interesting to see who engages there.

seydor 1y ago

China's cultural influence is somewhere between a dwarf and zero