this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2026
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politics

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[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 84 points 1 month ago (1 children)

At least China is still consistent. The US is now bipolar.

[–] CuddlesMcBubblefun@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

Not just bipolar, but rapid cycling too!

[–] ProfThadBach@lemmy.world 52 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] Jaysyn@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago
[–] Sunflier@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Careful now. NSPM-7 means comments like this could get you "deported" because its anti-American.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 6 points 1 month ago

We probably shouldn't encourage people to comply in advance with fascism, even jokingly

[–] AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 46 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

China's not perfect and they do a lot of shit. But at least they are not ruled by a spoiled octogenarian brat that throws hissy fits on its free time during its workdays consisting on market rigging to earn more money and raping kids.

So yeah, of course we see that shithole as a more dangerous threat. At least you can talk with China.

[–] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 26 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm kinda tempted to whip out that community meme with a "human rights violations I can stand, but I draw the line at market destabilization!", but I'm pretty sure we're imprisoning and brutalizing more Latinos and other migrants than China is Uyghurs and other marginalized communities over there at this point

[–] nednobbins@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 month ago

We have more people in prison that China does even though they have 4x our population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate.

[–] panthera_@lemmy.today 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This could be true. Trump is threatening to take Greenland. In contrast, China unlike Russia is not threatening Europe.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

That's obvious, but I wonder where they put US in comparison to Russia

[–] encelado748@feddit.org 11 points 1 month ago

The US has enjoyed a strong alliance with Europe for decades. US and European economies are interconnected and interdependent. Europe expect the US to behave like an ally, the current Trump government does not.

Trump is hostile to Europe, but the entire American apparatus, soft and hard power, economic influence was built on this alliance. This makes the US more dangerous, more unpredictable then Russia. That makes the US a bigger threat, because the US can cause so much more damage to Europe. The US is actively supporting the only undemocratic government in the EU that fully support Russia against Europe.

Russia is killing European, Russia is committing war crimes every days, Russia is conquering Europe, Russia is destabilizing European democracies, Russia is spreading hate and misinformation.

Russia is a more direct and explicit threat to Europe then the US. The US has the capacity to do much more damage because Europe is integrated and dependent on the US then it is with Russia.

Putin's an evil asshole. But he's not a dumb evil asshole. I'd put Russia slightly over the US. I see them as a threat, but at least it's a threat with which you may be able to reason.

[–] Freefall@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

trump has been a priceless gift to the CCP at the exact right time for them.

[–] NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

It’s amazing how much power the US has given to China while China didn’t have to lift a finger or lose reputation.

If you had asked me 5 years ago, I’d have predicted that China would have a bigger and more powerful economy than the US within the century. Now I think it’s within the decade.

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 month ago

Extremely accurate idea too.

[–] stumu415@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Name any country that China has invaded in the this decade compared to the US.

It is just so depressing the continous negative propaganda about China, mostly perpetuated by the US, where if you come visit China, visa free for most countries BTW, you'll be amazed.

I know the obsession with the media and commentators about Taiwan. Almost begging China to invade because than they can point at them as the new evil and say 'I told you so'.

However anyone who really follows the political situation in China, knows Xi is in all kinds of trouble and has no support for any invasion or war. From within the highest level of government. The focus is on economic growth and development.

China is playing its soft power well. After the US abandoned the WHO, China stepped in and pledged 500 million US$. But this doesn't suit the narrative so never gets reported.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/china-give-500-million-who-next-5-years-official-says-2025-05-20/

[–] KiwiTheFlightless@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

If you are in South East Asia, China is pretty belligerent in claiming the islands in South China Sea (Nine dash line)

But not to the level of fucking with trade and our livelihoods... So yea, fuck the US

[–] stumu415@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago

Yes but the South China Sea dispute has been around since 1899. It's just been in focus more now due to more intervention by China.

[–] Napster153@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Saber rattling is pretty common anywhere.

Always check your neighbours and keep them in your loop.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Still, there’s a certain level of authoritarianism that is not propaganda. In Canada the CCP has offices with the purpose of essentially kidnapping citizens that tried to leave. They still can’t talk about a certain event. Their treatment Uyghurs is awful. They can’t just leave Taiwan the fuck alone, nor Hong Kong.

“You’ll be amazed…by what we show foreigners” is not convincing me of fuck-all. I am not trading one authoritarian government for another just because they have some cool toys.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The CPC's policy towards Taiwan has been for peaceful voluntary integration since the '70s. They don't want to go to war and kill their own people. The whole thing has always been western projection. They see the world as territory to conquer, so surely China is the same way

[–] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On some level I agree with the sentiment that China's military power aspirations seem to be primarily regional with soft power as we zoom out I would argue for "Don't listen what leaders say, watch what they do".

You don't build giant landing craft unless you consider a marine landing warfare scenario as credible. You don't build aircraft carriers unless you care about power projection. You don't need ballistic missiles unless your enemies are far away. All of these things cost money you could otherwise spend on keeping your citizens happy.

There are a lot of verifiable and expensive signals about China's power posture transitioning towards a more expeditionary one. Now, they might end up carrying the big stick and speaking softly, which is better for everyone – even if the PRC ends up getting their way – but that just means the hard power lever was used in a different way.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 2 points 1 month ago

I get what you're saying, and don't get me wrong, I'm no tankie - I don't have any interest in defending China. But, to be fair, in this world, especially with the US breathing down their necks, I feel like it would be irresponsible not to ensure that they're prepared for a war with the US Empire, who would most likely use the islands around China as bases to launch attacks. Amphibious landings would also be needed in those cases.

I genuinely believe they don't want to invade Taiwan. They've had many opportunities to do so. They allied with the KMT against the Japanese Empire before. China is quite a nationalist country, it seems quite self-evident to me that they would prefer to not kill Chinese people whenever it is an option.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

That's strange because China threatened to invade Greenland and started a war in the middle east that damage the global economy...

Oh wait.
That's USA.
Maybe there's a reason we see USA as a bigger threat?

[–] mundane@piefed.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's not an either or situation. We should keep a distance to both.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think its more of a. At least china does not seem to want to intentionally fuck itself so there is limits to its danger.

[–] mundane@piefed.world 1 points 1 month ago

China just wants to infiltrate our economy and education without us noticing.

[–] the_armchair_potato@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Shart of the deal 😆. Well done Rump.