On the one hand, hooray for supporting the development of infrastructure in Africa and stuff. On the other hand, booooo for being a top trading partner with the Zionist Entity, and selling drones to Indonesia, and all that.
So what the Hell do you make of it all! Like I get that there’s this term called “realpolitik” which is somehow relevant, but I’d like a longer explanation than just one word. Like how does the good and the bad fit together at its core?
You could certainly write tomes about this topic — many people have done exactly that — and maybe I’m being a bit incurious to expect someone to serve me a quick answer on a silver platter instead of diving into as many articles and PDF books as I can get my hands on… But I’m also just kind of tired of having such extremely underdeveloped views on the most populous AES state and country in general, after I came to unlearn or mistrust whichever views I’d had on China previously.
Dunno, most people I’ve spoken to do not really think about the rest of the world. Though in fairness, you could say the same about US citizens.
Wow imagine not thinking about the rest of the world, couldn’t be me (lives in a country with a population smaller than like 19 Chinese cities)
On a personal level I actually think it’s sad. For both China as well as the US. They’re both so large and vast that just exploring these nation’s various geological and cultural differences would take a lifetime. Extensive journals and books have been written about their unique cities and states (zhou) that literally fill libraries.
However, I feel this amount of insularism creates ignorance and prevents people from a better understanding of the global community around them. I would argue that’s why they’re both the most hated tourists in the world. So it’s not a good thing in my opinion.