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Comment by ezconnect | Hacker News Reader

Why is that the common thinking, China has not even invaded a country for centuries. While the West particularly the USA have destroyed a lot of countries. Taiwan is even part of China since it is a rebel province. I really am curious why this idea is widespread in the USA.

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The Chinese government calling an event the "Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" doesn't negate many others in the world calling the same event the "Chinese invasion of Tibet".

Rinse, Repeat.

It was also 1950. And what never gets brought up is that the Chinese invasion ended the practice of slavery in Tibet. Yes, slavery. They called it "serfdom" but these "serfs" could be bought and sold, you know, like property, like slaves.

When exactly has this been "rinse. repeated"ed since?

Maoist China was full of slavery. Even today China uses slave labour to produce goods in prison camps etc. It didn't end slavery in Tibet, it just industrialised it and redefined it.

China attempted to invade Taiwan several times last century, they just didn't have the naval capability to take even Kinmen.

They are two separate countries now, unless you think North/South Korea are the same, Russia/Ukraine, etc.

> They are two separate countries now

No, they are not. The US legally recognized Taiwan (fka Formosa) as Chinese territory in 1943 and 1945 and legally recognized the PRC as the sole legal government of China in 1979, following a similar recognition by the UN in 1971.

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12503

There are only 11 countries in the world that recognize Taiwan as a sovereign entity and the largest are Guatemala, Haiti, and Paraguay.

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

When you visit Taiwan, do you see any Chinese officials at the border control? Do you have apply for a Chinese visa, or follow Chinese laws in the country?

It is de facto a country, not de jure, for obvious reasons. You can pretend otherwise, but what's the point in engaging in a discussion where you get to invent your own reality?

How about HK,Macau?

China has total control over their governments and is slowly forcing Hong Kong toward closer integration. It will take a while but HK is already littered with Chinese influence, for example around Victoria harbor or the "reunification monument" near the convention center.

Macau hasn't caused as much of a ruckus, so they aren't being pushed as hard towards total integration.

Invaded Taiwan? Oh jeez. It was a civil war. And the KMT lost and fled to Taiwan.

Separate countries? All but ~10 countries on Earth including the US and all of Europe have what's come to be called the One China Policy. Taiwan is not recognized as an independent nation. It's really Schrodinger's nation, both independent and not at the same time and God forbid anybody opens the box and forces the issue.

The one China policy, which is the US stance and distinct from China's "one China principle", is accepted by the US with a wink fingers crossed behind their back.

De facto vs. de jure is what you're trying to describe, and I'm sticking with the practical one.

China invaded Vietnam in 1979. In response to Vietnam invading Cambodia, to be fair. But that's still an invasion in my book.

And Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia was well justified, as far as these things go. Pol Pot's cross border raids and ongoing genocide of Vietnamese (and other) civilians required a response (see the Ba Chúc massacre).

> China has not even invaded a country for centuries.

You should open a history book. Or two.

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

I find it hard to believe this comment was made in good faith.

You should understand what you're reading. The only example really is the annexation of Tibet in 1950, which was obviously controversial but it's also complicated because it ended the practice of slavery in Tibet. Yes, slavery.

Korea? China ended up getting involved to support the North Korean government so China (and the USSR) didn't have a US client state on their border.

Laos? This was bad because China supported the Khmer Rouge.

Vietnam? Military assistance to the North Vietnam government to resist a US imperialist invasion. Did China invade? No. Do they occupy it now? No.

The rest are basically just minor border disputes with Vietnam, Burma, India, etc. And China hasn't really been involved in any foreign military action since 1979, 47 years ago. I'll stack that up against the US in particular as well as the European colonial powers (even in modern times).

"The only example really is the annexation of Tibet in 1950, which was obviously controversial but it's also complicated because it ended the practice of slavery in Tibet. Yes, slavery."

That depends on whether you consider Marxist concentration camps to be slavery or not.

It is my understanding that mainland China is the rebel province ;)

this idea is widespread everywhere bar China, not just in the USA...something related with free speech

Did you forget Tibet?

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