• HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Because China has never had expansionist ambitions. I know that goes against hundreds of years of Yellow Peril tropes in Western media, but it’s true.

    China’s history has been a cycle of ethnic Han states uniting into a larger ethnic Han state, and then splitting, and then re-uniting. As Han populations spread, those areas would eventually be integrated into China, but China had very little interest in annexing non-Han areas.

    Before anyone asks, Tibet was unified with China when both areas were conquered by the Mongols. It wasn’t an act of Chinese expansion.

    And Vietnam was considered to be a Han area. The literate classes of Vietnam spoke Chinese and were culturally Chinese before being incorporated into the Han dynasty.

    • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Because China has never had expansionist ambitions. I know that goes against hundreds of years of Yellow Peril tropes in Western media, but it’s true.

      That’s the most ignorant thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

      No, of course they don’t have expansionist ambitions, because they consider a large part of Siberia theirs, including Primosky Krai which was ceded by the Qing after the opium wars, they lost Korea and Taiwan in the Sino-Japenese War.

      They want what every country that once owned 1 speck of sand beyond their borders 1000 years ago wants: “Repayment of past injustices!”, just like Israelis want Israel and Jerusalem, Russia wants Ukraine and the other republics, Andalusia wants independence.

      Sometime, long ago, their country was great, and they deserve it back, because the moment it had the largest borders was the right moment, and everything since then is an insult to their greatness.

      Moscow to this day still considers itself heir to Rome, as stupid as that sounds, the greatest empire in history devolving into a bunch of drunk gangsters and pimps.

      • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        That’s the most ignorant thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

        But it’s true.

        No, of course they don’t have expansionist ambitions, because they consider a large part of Siberia theirs, including Primosky Krai which was ceded by the Qing

        This article was literally about China not wanting Primosky Krai, and the president of Taiwan asking why.

        You didn’t read the article, did you?

        • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          No, they want it back, they’ve had discussions during the cold war and since.

          He’s saying they’re not doing anything about it now:

          Complete restoration of China’s losses in that time is a driving narrative of the CCP, and today is largely focused on Taiwan.

          However, Lai, who was elected president in January, noted that China also lost land to Russia during that period but was not making any effort to take it back

          He’s saying Taiwan is just a noisy point to distract the domestic hardliners, which it is.

          Russia is literally vulnerable now and 100% dependent on China, they could ask for it back if they wanted, but what China wants is the political issue.

      • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        They want what every country that once owned 1 speck of sand beyond their borders 1000 years ago wants: “Repayment of past injustices!”

        No, they want the unification of ethnic Han states, which is why they want Taiwan and not Vladivostok.

        • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          Yeah well some of those “Han states” don’t consider themselves “Han states” anymore.

          So I guess they need to do something censored to themselves.

          Or maybe India needs to unify all lands descended from Hinduism, including Buddhism in the east?

          Everybody has an argument to do some moronic thing they want to do, because things will be the way they’re supposed to be.

          They should let Tibet and Xinjiang go, those aren’t Han people, they shouldn’t be a part of the great Han motherland.

          • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Yeah well some of those “Han states” don’t consider themselves “Han states” anymore.

            I assume you must mean some place other than Taiwan, because Taiwan is still very much Han.

            • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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              2 months ago

              Maybe, but they don’t want any part of that “Han Motherland” you speak of.

              At least not while the CCP is anywhere but up against the same wall they put so many other Chinese.

              • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                Maybe, but they don’t want any part of that “Han Motherland” you speak of.

                I didn’t say anything about a Han Motherland, so I don’t know why you’re using quotation marks.

                And Taiwan does desire the reunification of Han areas. Under the government of the ROC.

                • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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                  2 months ago

                  Again, yes, but I think there’s a lot of room to negotiate, the key sticking point is the CCP and that wall.

                  The main landers would probably be OK with that too, considering the CCP killed more Chinese than Genghis Khan, the only people on the planet who don’t are the CCP

                • grozzle@lemm.ee
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                  2 months ago

                  no they don’t, they just want to be left alone.

                  the only reason the old constitution hasn’t been amended is because China regularly threatens to start a full scale war if there’s any amendment to reflect the current reality, they would call it a “declaration of independence”.

                  • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world
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                    2 months ago

                    the only reason the old constitution hasn’t been amended is because China regularly threatens to start a full scale war if there’s any amendment to reflect the current reality

                    What makes you think that’s “the only reason”? Because some people on reddit said so?