|
tweakabelle -> RE: Why should the USA be involved in ANY war, unless attacked or threatened? (3/29/2011 10:18:22 PM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Marini
I have always felt it was wise to keep an eye on China .
It would be most imprudent not to keep an eye on China.
It would also, IMHO, be just as imprudent to remain unaware of recent Chinese history and how this impacts on the Chinese world view.
As I understand it, the central fact that drives current Chinese thinking generally in this area is the intense sense of humiliation felt by the Chinese over their treatment by Imperial powers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
China, an ancient civilisation with a 6,000+ year old history was conquered by, and treated contemptuously by Imperial powers such as the UK and the Japanese. Millions of Chinese were butchered. Remember the Opium Wars.
In the light of this, Chinese determination that this humiliation will never re-occur is understandable. Who would react differently to such a history? Outside of Tibet, China has shown little inclination to engage in territorial expansion to date. Consider how the Chinese played out the Hong Kong takeover and their Taiwan policy.
All this may change in the future. As stated previously I am very dubious about how China may behave in the future. But I feel we ought to temper our assessments of Chinese re-militarisation with some facts of their history in order to gain a balanced, realistic perspective.
Whilst we ought to remain prudently cautious, there's no need to push the panic button on the evidence to date
|
|
|
|
