Did you happen to see what I said about the Uighurs and the Tibetans? And here’s what I had to say about the prospect of an invasion of Taiwan. Do you realize that in almost metropolis and megalopolis in China, it’s *far* safer to walk down the street than in almost any city in America? And — again, not counting what’s happening to the Uighurs — America has a significantly larger prison population (in terms of totals *and* percentage of population) than China (or any other nation)? Which, really, is the “Land of the Free”?

Do not get me wrong — I could never live there, for the Chinese do not have anything close to the freedom of speech that you and I enjoy. But *their* culture is not ours. I spend a great deal of time in the Philippines and among the Pinoy community stateside, and as “westernized” as they certainly are, the “shame-based” culture, the overall cultural demand to fit in, to not make waves, to get along with everyone in the family and the community, is very real. This would be even more of a cultural imperative in non-westernized China.

Note also that historically speaking, Han China (as opposed to, say, the Mongols) has never shown itself to be especially imperialistic. In the early 1400’s, China’s military and economy were leaps and bounds greater than those of anyone else on the planet. They could have taken Eurasia if they they’d wanted…but chose instead to become isolationist.

This is not to say the leadership isn’t power-hungry or belligerent — they are, but this is confined largely to economics. But you should instead pay attention to the fact that China has been spending much more on infrastructure in developing nations than on its own military. *That*, sir, speaks volumes.

Concerning racism: yes, China is very racist — no argument there. But racism is found everywhere. I’ve found two things in my experience and travels: (1) the more ethnically-homogenous a nation is, the more racist it will be to those outside that ethnicity, and (2) in any given nation, the race or ethnicity that is socioeconomically dominant *will* be the most racist, and *will* commit the most (and most egregious) acts of racism. This is true in every nation on the planet.

So does all that still look like hopeless naivete? To you, it probably does, and we’ll probably have to agree to disagree.

But I do suggest you read the reply of James Finn — I can’t put it any better than that. As great as China’s feet of clay certainly are (though it can easily be argued that America’s are larger), the overwhelming majority of Chinese are benefiting greatly by the policies of the CCP.

The facts, sir, do not fit the dogma we’ve been taught…so you must decide whether to force the facts to fit our Western dogma, or to adjust our own opinions to accept the facts.