they’d treat us like we (the British empire) treated lesser foreign powers
How’s that? Disadvantageous trade agreements? You already have those.
What would “direct power” look like? China invades Canada, a country defended by US nukes, with the PLA? There’s a reason Iran and North Korea are still around despite open animus from the US.
My point is largely that these nebulous fears of “Chinese hegemony” are just that–nebulous. Asking people to drill down into what they’re really afraid of either reveals the status quo or impossible scenarios.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 month ago
You know the Brits did worse that that.
Hell, our trade agreements with the US are fine anyway.
That assumes the US still has our back, and Iran doesn’t even have nukes, they’re just more trouble than they’re worth. In the long run, nukes only guarantee countries that actually have them, and that’s not us.
For what it’s worth, if China was a democracy, I’d be fine with them as the new hyperpower. But they’re not, so they are ideological enemies to me.
regul@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Did worse than that to, like, China in the 19th c. But I thought you were talking about like France and Spain.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 month ago
I admit I’m fuzzy on how it all went down, exactly, but I was indeed thinking of the opium stuff when I wrote that. And all the shifty dealings with natives here, when we bothered to treat them as actual people worthy of relations.
regul@lemm.ee 1 month ago
The Opium Wars involved armed conflict on Chinese soil. That’s the sort of thing nukes deter.