I still struggle to see this as a weakness honestly... why should we be condeming China for not taking the American approach and resorting to bombs first, talking later?
That's my view, too. We also don't know what's said behind closed doors. And the consequence of crossing a red line doesn't have to be a military response. China does seem to respond when it's red lines are crossed, it just does so subtly.
I believe the reason China does this is to boost its foriegn policy to BRICs/the third world. Its hard to make an arguement that you're the better option to the USA if you're engaged in 20 proxy wars.
I still struggle to see this as a weakness honestly... why should we be condeming China for not taking the American approach and resorting to bombs first, talking later?
That's my view, too. We also don't know what's said behind closed doors. And the consequence of crossing a red line doesn't have to be a military response. China does seem to respond when it's red lines are crossed, it just does so subtly.
I believe the reason China does this is to boost its foriegn policy to BRICs/the third world. Its hard to make an arguement that you're the better option to the USA if you're engaged in 20 proxy wars.