...continuing a discussion from the China Military thread.
Sidhant wrote:
Tony sir, did I said that the saying is wrong or what David quoted it wrong. What I said is what a piece of wisdom and how enlightened I became with it. In tune with the same super natural wisdom the bosses of CPC the great think that India will be boxed if all her neighbors become her foes, but magically somehow the same rule does not applies to the super power in waiting and she will grow even if she picks up fights with most of her neighbors. This very contradiction in the infinite wisdom of CPC amuses me, that somehow the rules of Geopolitics are different for China and other countries
.
When did anyone say the same doesn't apply to India? Does India have a China-Pak type of relationship with any of its neighbors? Bangladesh? Pakistan? Myanmar? Bhutan? Nepal(perhaps)? Sri Lanka? The key of this strategy is not to make "friends" with your neighbors, but make subjects out of them. Right now, by and large, the "friendly" neighbors of China are subordinate to China's will. They are, in a sense, conquered. The goal is to make the same happen with the likes of Japan, India, etc.
Sidhant wrote:
Befriend a distant state
s while attacking a neighbour
s, will this saying still hold if an "s" is added to it and the neighbors are formidable(all may not be powerful than China currently) foes like India, Japan, Vietnam and the grand alliances are with Powerful(??) nations like Pakistan, Noko, Turkey, Greece et
c. What kind of wisdom do you see in this scenario Tony sir? I dont doubt ancient Chinese wisdom and no disrespect meant to it but any wisdom is as good as the people/person applying it, its like science which can give you facts, how you apply it is all upto you. I was amused how the old saying is being used to justify the evidently bad decisions taken by China in last few months. Calling me ignorant will not change the fact that the Chinese actions in last few months have been a blatant demonstration of either Chinese overconfidence or impatience whatever you like to call it, both are not good.
Yes, the saying still holds. It makes no difference how strong your neighbors are, they're all enemies that need to be subjugated. If they were weak, they would've already been "conquered". China is not intentionally picking on the strongest neighbors, it's mere incidental that only the strongest neighbors are left to resist China's push to increase its influence.
Sidhant wrote:
Thank god that world politics is not a popularity contest else China would lose without even contesting
. Well I can speak for myself and I dont laugh at China having stooges and croonies, I laugh when CPC projects them as
grand alliances as I dont see anything grand on those alliances. If I hire a street goon to harass my foe that does not makes the goon my ally, does it Tony. Alliance is a much greater term, why there is so much heartburn if someone doesnt find those alliances
grand, why does it hurts the Chinese pride if I call spade a spade. When did I said influence is bad, what I am trying to point out is that since China need such great
allies it means that China's super powerful hard and softer than silk soft powers have failed to achieve the objective and now they need to get dirty. Nothing wrong in doing that, but why is so much shame to acknowledge the same. Why do you need to wrap it in the name of grand alliance and get agitated or find it funny when some posters dont buy it?
You're missing the point. The point is not to build an actual alliance. The goal is to build an "alliance" like the U.S.-Canada "alliance", where it's more of a protector-protectee relationship and all important decisions are made by the protector. The strength of the countries you're allied with matters little. In fact, most strong nations would resist this type of "alliance" and therefore it's actually useful to keep them weak. Do you think the U.S. would ever let Canada or Mexico become a military power? The farther away a nation is, the more useful an actual alliance would be, but still, you would preferably want to make sure that you're still the "protector" of the relationship.
Sidhant wrote:
I like the determination with which you and David defend every action of CPC but please remember CPC exists coz of China but vice versa is not true. A government who afraid of its own people is generally not a good government.
That's EXACTLY wrong. The best government is one that is afraid of its own people. Remember, absolute power corrupts absolutely. When a government is no longer afraid of its own people, it will feel free to wantonly wield its power and cause suffering with no regard of consequences. I'm surprised that a citizen of a democratic nation would make this foolish statement, as fear of the people is the cornerstone of democracy. The whole objective of democracy is to keep the government always fearful of the people it governs and therefore wary of their needs, because the people may oust them from office with a vote at any time. IMO, that makes democratic governments TOO fearful of the people and prone to simply follow the directives of the largely sensationalist and short-sighted masses, but that's topic for another discussion.