Funny that you see the raw power of GDP, technological lead, industrial capacity as superficial matters that need a performative signaling. Guess you are from a different universe.
Miscellaneous News
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
China isn't America, it doesn't do virtue signaling. It simply informed America of the consequences of its actions because it's unclear whether American decisionmakers are able to follow an elementary train of logic and understand those consequences for themselves.
Come to think of it, I would believe that in terms of security goals, China has different views, for obvious reasons.
To the east, it is hostile because the Americans are there.
To the west, because of the terrorism that pops up in the region, the Shanghai club is to enhance collective security.
To the south, China wants ASEAN to remain strictly neutral.
As far as China is concern, if any country in ASEAN courts the Americans, they are inviting trouble. Trouble will arrive at your doorstep and China can guarantee that.
The Americans are trouble.
The only allies the US has in the region are the ones it has had historically: 1. The Philippines, a former colony. 2. Japan, an imperial conquest. 3. Korea, a second-degree imperial conquest (conquering its conqueror). Every other state is sovereign and independent and will hedge to maximize their position. The countries allied to the US are so because they do not have their independence.
Americans are trouble, yes.
However no country wants a powerful country next to them.
It doesn't matter if it is China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Nigeria, European Powers (centuries ago) etc.
As a part of normal geopolitics, when a country starts getting too powerful militarily, its neighbors will try to handicap/contain it either in open or in underhand ways.
I will repeat again, this is a normal process. The advantage for China is due to its "peaceful rise" rhetoric, not engaging in wars, having a non-imperialist economy, the culture of not bothering other countries as longs as they dont bother it, and the "non-inteference" policy which it has followed steadily for decades.
And lastly, being "generous" enough to give gifts by opening its economy and integrating with ASEAN thus making it more connected with it and also calming ASEAN fears that China might take hostile actions toward it
As such, it is not strange that countries in SEA will try to court the US, EU countries, Russia (yes), India (...) etc but importantly without breaching China's redlines. IMO China has made enough concessions to keep ASEAN neutral and not mindlessly fearing its rise (too much)
Quickie
Colonel
What about "the problem" intentionally timed with the "other problems", like the Trade War, the Hong Kong Protest, the "Genocide" in China's West, and The Virus Pandemic?
When there are too many coincidences, things usually turn out to have been planned after all.
Maynmar, Afghanistan. Lets see which country who is a neighbor of China, faces disaster and it becomes another failed state
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Exactly, the boarder issue was always an issue of choice. The Indians chose to turn up the heat on it thinking they could use it as a pretext to kick China while it was down.
By the time they realised just how wrong they were about China being down, it was still possible to back down with a modicum of face, but the Darwin Award winning dead Indian colonel shat on that option and China was in no mood to give them any more get-out-of-jail-free cards.
Since then India has only dug its grave deeper with their sponsored terrorist attack which killed those Chinese engineers. They really should just stop throwing more good money after bad and pull the plug on this confrontational approach before China decide they are willing to sweeten any deal they cut with the Taliban if the Taliban can arrange for daily ‘fireworks displays’ in India.
escobar
Brigadier
What is funny is with all of that, they still do it and calling it "sincerity"
escobar
Brigadier
One famous CN virtue signaling is called NFU...