| ▲ | saturn8601 20 hours ago | |
Your intro contradicts your conclusion and thats why I think this story isn't as clear cut as you make it. The US gained that reputation because of trust. China does not magically have that same trust. The relationships that countries build with China appear to be built on a bed of sand. Case in point: A lot of African/ME countries took bribes in the form of Belt and Road(among others). Then came the public show of support for China. When China started to struggle after Evergrand, they slowed down support or asked for repayment. All of a sudden, a lot of support for China disappeared from these countries. Can you provide any clear evidence that China is really building a lasting trust that is mutual with any country? Even the EU is treating China as a potential short term economic partner and not as an ideological ally. Its really sad how the US has acted these past few years. Its an insult to the sacrifices of those that came before us. But time is long and it appears China has to do a lot of soul searching to see where they really want to be. I don't feel confident the more I look. They have serious problems that dont seem solvable anytime soon. | ||
| ▲ | jmyeet 15 hours ago | parent [-] | |
It's funny that you call Belt and Road "bribs" when it's basically the World Bank/IMF playbook with one difference: it's a much better deal for the recipients. The WB/IMF playbook is to pressure or bribe leaders into taking on debt that forces policy changes. Somalia is the posterchild for this. They force the country to produce export crops and the result is the country ends up being unable to feed itself and then the currency inevitably collapses and the country can no longer service its debt. They did the same to Haiti and elsewhere. It's economic colonaialism. The WB/IMF are a tool for American foreign policy. China offers a significantly better deal [1]. US influence ("exploitation") in Africa is fading [2]. It's such an issue that the US Africa Command is headquartered in Germany. China's foreign policy is largely offering to build ports, airports, roads and power plants. You know, infrastructure that actually helps and doesn't just enrich the leader and drown the country in debt. [1]: https://gga.org/china-vs-the-imf/ [2]: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-us-is-losing-africa... | ||