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Comment by elmomle | Hacker News Reader

This isn't meant as a judgment against China, but China openly wishes to lead an anti-US/anti-West economic and political coalition, has spun up its tech industry largely through espionage conducted against the West, and is increasingly militaristic and aggressive towards US allies (Phillipines, Taiwan) in the region. We can debate about the US approach to maintaining hegemony (the very idea may be fundamentally misguided), but it would be downright foolish for the United States to view China as anything like a friend.

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To play devil’s advocate, the US seems to have given up leadership in key areas, so it seems natural for China to play a bigger role in the world.

(1) Industry. Why did the US government aggressively pursue a “post-industrial” economy? China was essentially given the keys to the world’s industries by US leaders in politics and businesses. It’s natural for China, as an industrial leader, to have a bigger role in the world.

(2) Key technologies. Why did the US pursue a laissez-faire approach to high-value technologies, such as solar and battery-powered vehicles? “Let things happen” is an unrealistic economic policy for areas of the market that are winner-takes-all. It’s natural for China, as a leader in key technologies, to have a bigger world stage.

(3) Public education. Why has the US allowed high-quality, regional newspapers to implode? The public is being whipped up to ever greater frenzies by increasingly poor media, which has led to increasingly low-quality leaders, for example, in the Republican Party. It’s natural for countries with more well-informed governments, such as China, to have a larger role in the world.

The US regarded China as a friend since the mid-70s, and it led to prosperity for both countries. The problem is direct US military aggression, and in "maintaining hegemony" which is the neocon idea that regards Chinese prosperity as a threat in and of itself.

It would be wonderful for the US to stop threatening China. China is not threatening the US.

But it's already well-known, in fact an official part of CCP doctrine, that the intention of economic cooperation was always to build strength while downplaying any notion of China as a threat until the conditions were propitious for China to act more aggressively.

And what of aggressive Chinese actions around the Spratly Islands, which are carried out in violation of a very clear 2016 UNCLOS ruling? What has the US done recently to violate Chinese territorial waters in any similar sort of way?

I actually think that actions by the West over the past ~200 years really set the stage for things that are happening today, but I don't think it's fair to paint China as an innocent actor with pure intentions; they're not.

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