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> China in many ways has exhibited a path to a more benign and progressive foreign policy This guy is joking, right?

stephen_g 8y ago
Foreign policy-wise, he’s probably accurate. That’s more of a comment on how destructive the US has been internationally. He’s not necessarily saying China’s is objectively good.
- zakum1 8y ago
  was not claiming China does not have faults. Imagine if China instigated a coup in a Middle Eastern country. The outrage would be massive. My real point is the hypocrisy of the west, that we cannot objectively see the problems with instigating coupe against governments that challenges our selfish economic interests.
mikeash 8y ago
How many countries has China invaded for no good reason? How many wars are they fighting right now?
- gok 8y ago
  Tibet, Vietnam, Korea, Burma? And at least two right now [1] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_P...
  - A2017U1 8y ago
    Which two? Mali is a few hundred troops assisting the government. Not sure if that qualifies as an invasion. Vietnam the most recent in 1979 and lasted for two weeks in response to the Vietnamese government attempting to annex Cambodia and Laos, both of which were Chinese allies.
    - gok 8y ago
      Ok so you consider keeping the Khmer Rouge in power a "good reason?"
      - mikeash 8y ago
        Invading a country as part of a strategy to support an ally is a lot better than just going in to fuck shit up and make things worse.
        gok 8y ago
        I assume you're talking about the Iraq war? You don't think that was about supporting allies? (Saudi Arabia and Israel) (To be clear, I don't think any of these are good reasons)
        mikeash 8y ago
        No, I don't. Iraq didn't pose any sort of threat to those allies. We made things way worse for them and it was entirely foreseeable. We invaded for some combination of stupid political reasons and revenge.
Synaesthesia 8y ago
China’s foreign policy is essentially a defensive stance. It wants to protect what it considers it’s rightful sphere of influence. Compare with the US with it’s bases around the world.
- Analemma_ 8y ago
  You don’t get to pick an arbitrary “sphere of influence” that includes the sovereign territory of other nations and then claim you’re being purely defensive when you demand total control inside it. China’s actions re: Tibet, Taiwan and the South China Sea are as bad as anything the United States is doing, just more geographically localized.
otaviokz 8y ago
Can you substantiate your claim that the guy is joking?
Tsubasachan 8y ago
If you objectively look at history the US has direct involvement in almost every war and terrorist organisation since WW2.
dang 8y ago
Please don't post unsubstantive comments here. Especially not in the flamewar style. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Foreign policy-wise, he’s probably accurate. That’s more of a comment on how destructive the US has been internationally. He’s not necessarily saying China’s is objectively good.

zakum1 8y ago
was not claiming China does not have faults. Imagine if China instigated a coup in a Middle Eastern country. The outrage would be massive. My real point is the hypocrisy of the west, that we cannot objectively see the problems with instigating coupe against governments that challenges our selfish economic interests.

mikeash 8y ago

How many countries has China invaded for no good reason? How many wars are they fighting right now?

gok 8y ago
Tibet, Vietnam, Korea, Burma? And at least two right now [1] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_P...
- A2017U1 8y ago
  Which two? Mali is a few hundred troops assisting the government. Not sure if that qualifies as an invasion. Vietnam the most recent in 1979 and lasted for two weeks in response to the Vietnamese government attempting to annex Cambodia and Laos, both of which were Chinese allies.
  - gok 8y ago
    Ok so you consider keeping the Khmer Rouge in power a "good reason?"
    - mikeash 8y ago
      Invading a country as part of a strategy to support an ally is a lot better than just going in to fuck shit up and make things worse.
      - gok 8y ago
        I assume you're talking about the Iraq war? You don't think that was about supporting allies? (Saudi Arabia and Israel) (To be clear, I don't think any of these are good reasons)
        mikeash 8y ago
        No, I don't. Iraq didn't pose any sort of threat to those allies. We made things way worse for them and it was entirely foreseeable. We invaded for some combination of stupid political reasons and revenge.

Synaesthesia 8y ago

China’s foreign policy is essentially a defensive stance. It wants to protect what it considers it’s rightful sphere of influence. Compare with the US with it’s bases around the world.

Analemma_ 8y ago
You don’t get to pick an arbitrary “sphere of influence” that includes the sovereign territory of other nations and then claim you’re being purely defensive when you demand total control inside it. China’s actions re: Tibet, Taiwan and the South China Sea are as bad as anything the United States is doing, just more geographically localized.

otaviokz 8y ago

Can you substantiate your claim that the guy is joking?

Tsubasachan 8y ago

If you objectively look at history the US has direct involvement in almost every war and terrorist organisation since WW2.

dang 8y ago

Please don't post unsubstantive comments here. Especially not in the flamewar style. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html