you're right. China is thinking long term and hedging their bets on the global south (not a bad bet with their demographics, and Chinese capital investments can allow them to use their workforces much more efficiently).
Their policy of non-interference has already allowed them to displace the United States as the "champion of the United Nations." If you read diplomatic dispatches from the Chinese government, you will notice they speak in terms of "upholding the UN charter" which is a lot more comfortable for other sovereign states compared to America's (and the IMF's) "democracy (and free markets) are non-negotiable" stance.
Sure China may look weak now compared to America just waltzing around destroying countries in the Middle East, but that's the point of that "shock and awe" shit the US does. We all know America's imperial power is on the decline, but China is currently treading a careful line between "evil communist competition" and "awesome source of economic profit." It's tending towards the former, but their military still cannot compete with the US in force projection (aircraft carriers are the geopolitical meta rn but we are seeing some shift), so it wouldn't do much good for China to get humiliated in a military standoff or proxy war. They've have already made some early moves towards protecting their allies though, like in the Solomon Islands where they signed a defense pact. All the anglos are freaking out about how China can build a military base there.
IMO I prefer China's methods. I don't want them to start getting into a imperialist competition with the US and toppling governments around the world. Authentic revolution can only happen from within, and nobody likes armed missionaries. And if, theoretically, there was some sort of serious armed communist revolution in the western world, I believe current China would hook us up with some weapons and support. It would be geopolitically dumb for them not to, let alone the ideological compatibility.
(Apologies if this is hard to follow I'm kinda inebriated at the moment)
you're right. China is thinking long term and hedging their bets on the global south (not a bad bet with their demographics, and Chinese capital investments can allow them to use their workforces much more efficiently).
Their policy of non-interference has already allowed them to displace the United States as the "champion of the United Nations." If you read diplomatic dispatches from the Chinese government, you will notice they speak in terms of "upholding the UN charter" which is a lot more comfortable for other sovereign states compared to America's (and the IMF's) "democracy (and free markets) are non-negotiable" stance.
Sure China may look weak now compared to America just waltzing around destroying countries in the Middle East, but that's the point of that "shock and awe" shit the US does. We all know America's imperial power is on the decline, but China is currently treading a careful line between "evil communist competition" and "awesome source of economic profit." It's tending towards the former, but their military still cannot compete with the US in force projection (aircraft carriers are the geopolitical meta rn but we are seeing some shift), so it wouldn't do much good for China to get humiliated in a military standoff or proxy war. They've have already made some early moves towards protecting their allies though, like in the Solomon Islands where they signed a defense pact. All the anglos are freaking out about how China can build a military base there.
IMO I prefer China's methods. I don't want them to start getting into a imperialist competition with the US and toppling governments around the world. Authentic revolution can only happen from within, and nobody likes armed missionaries. And if, theoretically, there was some sort of serious armed communist revolution in the western world, I believe current China would hook us up with some weapons and support. It would be geopolitically dumb for them not to, let alone the ideological compatibility.
(Apologies if this is hard to follow I'm kinda inebriated at the moment)