The thing is, statistically speaking, if we're looking at the history of the games, the USA has had more Olympic medals stripped due to doping than China has. Nowhere near as many as the USSR/Russia, but more than China. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-most-stripped-olympic-medals.html It's easy to point the finger at another while dismissing our own shortcomings. My point has never been that China has done no wrong, but rather that they might not be as uncharacteristically bad as they are portrayed to be. Maybe it is not the best idea to overly fixate on the guy living across the street, when our own house is on fire.
Because the United States doesn't bribe and coerce the people who enforce the rules! Ukraine has more limits on what they can or cannot do in war than Russia. Israel has more limits on what they can or cannot do in war than Hamas. The WTO will hold Western nations to strict adherence to their rules and China can break the rules with impunity. In the United Kingdom some people are arrested for saying harsh things and other people are not arrested for committing heinous crimes. If Batman and the Joker were on the same moral plane, than Joker wouldn't have a chance.
You really believe that? The US has more influence than anybody else. You don't really need to bribe and coerce when you're the one writing the rules! Because they are relatively weak and no match against Russia without western aid. China is not weak. Largely imposed by the US. If Biden had acted differently and given Israel the green light, this war would have long been over. Once again, that is western identity politics. These are the consequences of an extreme leftist ideology. The US has been involved in more wars over the last few decades than China has. Probably more wars than anybody else. You think the US' hands are clean? The biggest threat to the US is no longer an external force like China. Much like the fall of the Roman empire, your true enemy lies within...
Up to a certain point. Atm they are collecting an impressive amout of crimes of war and we all look away
This is true. But I believe most governments are their own worst enemy. This is not limited to the West.
That is only a very recent development, with the founding of things like NATO. Now these smaller countries are less susceptible to foreign threats. For instance, Hungary was under Soviet control until quite recently. Many countries were fearful of attack/invasion. Moreover, prior to the breakup of the USSR, they posed the single greatest threat to the US throughout the duration of the cold war. Historically, most nations faced greater threats from outside their borders than they did from within. It was only the true super powers like Rome and modern day USA that were/are nearly impervious from outside attack (with the aforementioned NATO acting as a collective military superpower). Hence, their greatest threat comes from within. Who poses a military threat to the US in the modern day? Outside of a nuclear stalemate, they could easily solo any country in the world. China is their closest rival, but the US still holds a sizeable advantage over them (at least for now... that gap is closing). If we move further into antiquity, then war and conquest only becomes more prevalent. Luckily for us, on the grand scale, we live in an unprecedented age of peace (since the end of WWII).
@Scalenex Do you think that China will make a military move against Taiwan in the next 5 years? Also, do you feel that the odds of them doing so would be significantly altered based on the results of the Trump vs. Harris presidential election?
I think there is a non-zero but <1% chance. Trump's and Biden's policies were more similar than either man would admit. I don't see Harris as being that different from Biden in actual policy. I believe if Harris wins the odds of the PLA invading Taiwan in the next five years would approximately go from 0.3% to 0.5% or something similar. I do think a Harris administration would increase the chances of Taiwan being invaded in ten years or twenty years but again not by much. I can go into detail on my reasoning if you want, but I believe mainland China has too many internal problems right now for the PLA to invade Taiwan in the next five years. To invade Taiwan in 10 or 20 years, the CCP needs to fix or at least stabilize their internal problems and the United States needs to decline in military and political power. I believe the latter is almost guaranteed but the former is iffy. The old saying "If you want peace, prepare for war" applies to Taiwan. As long as they have rational leaders that are making appropriate preparations and they are getting some help from the West and Japan, I think they will be fine. This assumes that the CCP is not going to try anything unless they are damn sure they can win which means Taiwan need only fear a strong CCP. It is possible that a dying CCP may lash out at Taiwan as a desperation ploy in which case a weak CCP may be a threat. I think Taiwan would win against a dying CCP but at a horrific cost.
It just occurred to me that you wrote "make a military move against" as opposed to "invade outright." With the CCP fondness of "Wolf Warrior Diplomacy" and "Gray Warfare" the CCP makes military moves against Taiwan every day, but most of it is espionage or posturing. My comments above refer to full blown invasions.
Your original interpretation was correct. I meant China trying to invade/take it militarily. I should have been more clear with my words.
@Scalenex doesn't like it when pro-China/CCP stuff is posted , but this might cheer him up... https://www.reuters.com/world/chine...arlier-this-year-us-official-says-2024-09-26/
He also misspelled "how". It is established that the CPP is pretty good at making public spectacles about how awesome they are. It's still fun to watch when they mess up on propaganda. Though admittedly, of the evil authoritarian regimes in power in current year, the CCP is better at propaganda than any other other.
It depends if anyone was on board when it sank. I am against the Chinese Communist Party, not against the Chinese people. EDIT: I guess I wouldn't mind if the CCP top brass dies, but I prefer it be after being sentenced by a Nuremberg style trial, not an accident from shoddy workmanship.
I knew going in that you were really into writing stories narratives, but I must admit that I did not see this twist coming. Well played!