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Comment by myrandomcomment | Hacker News Reader

I love this very naive view. China is 100% trying to beat and surpass the US as a superpower. They are not benevolent at all. Have a look at the ridiculous claims on the South China Sea for a start. I have spent lots of time in China. They still want payback for the humiliation they believe they endured in the 1800s. That is a one of the single most important driving factors in everything they do.

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I don't know much about Chinese history. What humiliation did they endure in the 1800s?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

Adding onto this, consider that China was, for a relatively long period in its development, the dominant power in its interactions. Interactions with the colonial West in the 1800s were a dramatic departure from long term history in a number of ways. At the end of the 1800s, the Sino Japanese War was also a major defeat for the Chinese. From a certain perspective, the current state of affairs could be viewed as something of a long-term return to normal.

"the current state of affairs could be viewed as something of a long-term return to normal"

CCP has its own "Make China Great Again" thing, officially known as "The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation".

https://www.amazon.com/CHINESE-DREAM-GREAT-REJUVENATION-NATI...

I thought you would have linked to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_humiliation

You need to chill out and look at the future, not the past. If you dwell on the past, many countries have invaded many other countries. The British colonized and ruled the US for a long time. The US invaded Mexico and seized large portion of California and Texas. Even recently, the US invaded Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, among others. China was the leading power for hundreds of years, way longer than the US or Britain. China rarely colonized other countries. The Chinese people look at the future, not the past.

The Chinese people are not the Chinese government. When someone is speaking about what "China" wants, it is the ruling party.

"I have spent lots of time in China. They still want payback for the humiliation they believe they endured in the 1800s."

"What I was trying to say is that my opinion is not informed based on what I have read in the press but based on the fact that I have spent time in the country and have read the local press, and spoken with the local people. The humiliation faced by the Chinese at the hand of the western powers is a common theme of books and movies and TV shows in China."

Not this someone.

When one is talking about Chinese territorial aggression and their desire to surpass the US as the geopolitical superpower, it is definitely not about the individual people.

Nothing the GGP said about the national Chinese interests was remotely controversial (perhaps subsequent comments are unrepresentative of individuals' thinking). Heck, Obama wanted to pass TPP mostly as a bulwark against Chinese ambitions.

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