> China is an expansionist dictatorship. It would be ridiculous to suggest it is more trustworthy than the US.
China never threatened to annex portions of EU countries, unlike the US.
If anything, China is definitely more reliable, as its only disputes with EU are on trade, not anything ideological or that threatens the integrity of each party.
EU has issues with human rights violations regularly happening in China.
China has even sanctioned European politicians voicing critique.
Only recently some of those sanctions were lifted by China so they can negotiate trade agreements with the EU.
China might be more reliable than the US right now, but ideologically they are further away from the EU than the US I think.
EU has issues with human rights violations regularly happening in China. China has even sanctioned European politicians voicing critique.
Does China sanction France for its role in suppressing parts of Africa?[0] In the video comments, a lot of French citizens never even heard about it. That tells you that the French government is also hiding a ton of atrocities it's committing to its citizens, right?
Why is the EU judging when they still violate human rights themselves?
I think when Europeans criticize China for not having the same values as them, they should learn some history about how European powers tried to tear China apart and take advantage of it. Start with the photo of Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom forces inside the Forbidden City.[1]
Perhaps China not having the same values of European powers is a good thing in terms of overall peace?
I would love to hear from EU citizens on why they should be the judge of all human moral values when their countries have arguably done more collectively to disturb the peace of others in the last 300 years than any country in Asia.
I don't think it's valid to say you can only criticize somebody if you are doing better on that front.
We should all watch and criticize other countries so humanity can improve.
> Perhaps China not having the same values of European powers is a good thing in terms of overall peace?
I fail to see why that could be the case. Why would different values support peace?
> I would love to hear from EU citizens on why they should be the judge of all human moral values when their countries have arguably done more collectively to disturb the peace of others in the last 300 years than any country in Asia.
Again you assume one is only able to voice concerns if you are doing better in a certain area. You are also treating different governments of different times in a country as a single entity. FYI: In most countries there is more than one party in government over time and parties have different values.
I don't think it's valid to say you can only criticize somebody if you are doing better on that front. We should all watch and criticize other countries so humanity can improve.
I think it's valid. Fix yourself first. Telling someone else to stop doing something you're doing yourself is meaningless - especially when the EU is trying to position as the morally superior entity.
I fail to see why that could be the case. Why would different values support peace?
Because we've seen what happens when Europe has more power than the rest of the world. It wasn't pretty for the rest of the world. Let's see what China can do.
Again you assume one is only able to voice concerns if you are doing better in a certain area. You are also treating different governments of different times in a country as a single entity. FYI: In most countries there is more than one party in government over time and parties have different values.
Yes, I'm assuming that. EU wants to be a leader. EU wants to sanction countries they think is doing something wrong. So why doesn't EU sanction itself first?
> We should all watch and criticize other countries so humanity can improve.
Many (if not most) Europeans think it is perfectly fine when they criticise other countries; but when people from other countries criticise Europe, these very same Europeans tend to agitatedly accuse these critics of interference in their domestic affairs.
From these Europeans' point of view, humanity progresses in pre-ordained stages, and Europe has already reached the end of history, the pinnacle of human development, and other countries just need to catch up.
> because we've seen what happens when Europe has more power than the rest of the world. It wasn't pretty for the rest of the world.
Indeed. At the height of their power, the Europeans and the Americans colonised, pillaged, plundered, murdered, started wars, and enslaved. This isn't ancient history either; e.g. after World War 2 the French tried to re-colonise Vietnam, fought in a war against the Algerians to prevent them from declaring independence, and has continued meddling in the Sahel States up to the present day, among other atrocities.
And don't get me started about how the IMF has frequently been wielded as an extractive tool by Western nations to exploit impoverished countries in times of desperation. So when the West falsely accuses [0][1] China of debt trap diplomacy, the hypocrisy is palpable.
Well, as I mentioned, many (or most) Europeans believe that they have arrived at the end of history, the peak of enlightenment. So according to their belief, Europeans are absolutely qualified to be the arbiter.
Well, one difference is, in EU I can (allmost) say whatever I want. In china I clearly cannot. Just mentioning 35 year old events is not possible. That is a big difference.
There is an actual genocide going on in Palestine, with two million people trapped in a strip of land and bombed and starved until they consent to emigrate- and the EU is silent and failed to sanction Israel in any way. How can you seriously talk about "issues with human rights violations"? It's ridiculous.
No, not EU countries, but they did annex Tibet, several islands in the South China Sea, and they have every intention of invading Taiwan in the future. Then there’s the belt and road initiative, which is essentially neocolonialism.
Edit: I also forgot to mention their human rights violations with regards to the Uyghurs and other minority groups.
Eh, US is threatening to annex Greenland, part of Panama and Canada, which may be more relevant for EU actually.
I can produce quite a list of human rights violations from the US too, if we are playing this game.
I was not trying to paint China as a happy friendly country. I was just saying that right now China is less of a threat to EU than the US, when those in power in the US numerous times voiced their ideological hatred for Europe
China never threatened to annex portions of EU countries, unlike the US.
If anything, China is definitely more reliable, as its only disputes with EU are on trade, not anything ideological or that threatens the integrity of each party.