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China is building military infrastructure on contested islands in the south china sea with the goal of controlling the whole area firmly including the first island chain and Taiwan.
There's also no historical baggage with Chinese colonialism in Africa. Fewer strings also means China doesn't care about democracy, human rights, and such.
Neither do Western powers. Their support for the genocide in Gaza proves as much. From sending weapons and ignoring the ICC and ICJ rulings, to crushing protests and arresting journalists. You really can't come and talk about democracy, human rights, and such as if the West is the good guys after we all witnessed the genocide in Gaza, you can't. It is hypocritical and racist. You are basically saying "only we are people", or at a minimum "the Palestinians aren't people".
As for China building some artificial islands, who cares? As far as "crimes" go it is really down at the bottom of the crimelist. You could probably learn about the expulsion of the Chagossians to put things into perspective.
Literally all other countries in the region.
It really is illustrative of the absolute depths of westerners complete thoughtless hypocrisy that they think building a few shacks on uninhabited islands is remotely comparable to what the USA does.
Countries in East and Southeast Asia are Westerners now? The Koreans, Taiwanese, Japanese, Pinoy, Vietnamese, Malays will be surprised to hear that. All of these countries are afraid of Chinese ambitions.
Maybe ask the Tibetans if they think the Chinese annexation of their homeland is just Western hypocrisy.
You are aware that China invaded Vietnam after the USA left?
You are ignorant of the regional policies. Not everything is as Western centric as your limited understanding of geopolitics.
Oh my mistake, I didn't realize I was talking to the collective lemmy account of the people of Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Pinoy, Vietnam, and Malay.
Oh wait, I'm not. I'm talking to an arrogant westerner who feels entitled to tell non-westerners what their opinions are, and to tell them that actually they would be no worse off if America was bombing them and taking over.
Notice how you have to go back half a century, to an example that is not nearly as bad as what America did.
No, you're just a denialist about how brutal western colonialism actually is. You're not ignorant of it though, you're an apologist for it, desperately trying to redefine the word so that extermination, violence, conquest, and exploitation in the tens of millions seems no worse than China building some shacks on an island
What are you even talking about? I never said anything like that.
It's an example that's relevant to the region and China.
Yes, you did. You're whole point has been that actually bombing and invading people is no different than not doing that; it's all "colonialism."
Yeah, and you had to go back half a century to find one, and it still wasn't close to what the US did to Vietnam. It also wasn't colonialism, for that matter.
You're confusing me with someone else.
You're right, my apologies.
I stand by the rest of what I said though, you're still trying to make a pretty major false equivalence
Pleas explain how conquest of Tibet and settlement with Chinese, invasion of Vietnam, and the treatment of Uyghurs is not imperialism.
HIstorically, China is the oldest empire that's still around on the planet.
Because the definition of colonialism is not "something I disagree with that an enemy of America did". Are you going to try to argue that the invasion of the confederacy was colonialism? Are you going to argue that D-Day was colonialism? Are you going to argue that the treatment of Japanese American's in WW2 was colonialist? How about you do it? Why is you being a colonialism apologist not colonialism? Why is me stubbing my toe not colonialism? Why is any adversary to West doing anything ever not colonialism?
Lol. "China was an empire five thousand years ago, so anything it does now is colonialism." Oh well I guess anything Egypt does is colonialism, anything Turkey does is colonialism, anything Peru does is colonialism.
You're literally incoherent now.
Otherwise, I haven't even used the word colonialism, but imperialism. China was called Chinese Empire until 1912. They were weak at the time because of technological, societal, administrative and scientific deficiencies. The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China laid claim to the same imperial possessions. It's a continuation of the same imperial civilization under a different name.
I mentioned specific things, not everything.
Calling it "imperialism" is just as bullshit as calling it "colonialism" and for the same reason.
Where did I make an equivalence?
Here
Let me spell it out, so you can understand it. Africans are suspicious of Europeans, because of the history with colonialism. They aren't suspicious of China, because there's no history of Chinese colonialism in Africa.
Ok. That wasn't the only text there.
You probably meant this is an answer to me, so I'll reply.
What I mean is that for example France supporting undemocratic regimes in Africa in order to get cheaper minerals and cheaper cocoa and cheaper bananas is colonialism. It does not mean that it is as bad as what France used to do in the past. And it's not even as bad as France still retaining several actual colonies. But it is still bad. And it is colonialism. It would be colonialism even if France did not have any formal colonies around the world.
And when China does in 2025 what France is now, in 2025, doing with now-independent countries that used to be its formal colonies, then both of those are colonialism in the same manner. If what China is doing is okay, then that part of what France is doing is also okay. And I do not like the idea of accepting European countries' colonialism, not even a little bit.
Being bombed is worse than being economically abused, absolutely. But it does not mean that abusing a country economically is okay. I do not like it at all that cocoa and bananas are as cheap here in Europe as they are. That luxury of low prices is coming from other people's lack of well-being. And someone doing something even worse does not make this bad thing any better. At least in my opinion.
For what I understand, in reality we two think much more alike than you think we do.
Looooool. As if the west does.
American's continue to be the most propagandized people on Earth.