How would you answer this, and how would you expect Chinese netizens on Xiaohongshu to answer?
I will link to the thread in the comments because I want you to take a moment and think about it first.
I would like to hope no one nation is the future. Replacing one global hegemony with another is not my idea of progress.
I’m onboard with Wales. Let Wales rule for a bit.
Oh my, I can’t even begin to imagine what a Texan or Creole Welsh accent would sound like if that was the international language! 😵💫
*sneezes* *snorts* *coughs* *clears throat* *yodelays*
I’m sorry, what was your question
In one sense, as a key component of the UK, they already had that chance somewhere between the years of 1600-ish to 1945-ish.
Heh, I think you’ve just pissed off Welsh/Irish/Scottish people with that sentiment.
Ehhhhh we Scots should probably not argue too hard. Unlike the other two we joined mostly-voluntarily and were doing our own small scale empire thing beforehand as well. We were rubbish at it, but I don’t think there are sympathy points for incompetence. The Welsh and Irish definitely got dragged along wthout a say though
As an Indian, I think they seem more well-planned and more decent than recent USAmerica.
India and China does have border issues, but I do respect them as I agree with their leftist view of reducing poverty and improving literacy. I think our countries could come to decent compromise there.
Also, the communism aspects.But saying that a single country is the future is too simple.
And even the Chinese seem to be not emulating America to be an empire.
I think their aim is a multi-polar world. Atleast if the random yt vids I saw are proper representations.Real talk, I take comfort in knowing that the high tech future we were promised at the turn of the millennium isn’t dead after all, it’s just happening in China
I think it’s pretty clear that despite Trump’s attempts to revitalize US manufacturing, the US won’t be able to outpace China’s industrial growth even if they hard pivot. China is, like it or not, almost certainly the next Global Hegemon as the US’ grip on the world is falling. Western Europe won’t be able to oppose it either.
I think Chinese citizens are generally hopeful for their country, but more than anything I think most of their citizens would want everyone to advance. I don’t think any doubt that China will surpass the US.
In many ways, China already has surpassed the US.
For sure. However, the PRC is still a developing countrt, while the US is a declining Empire. The US has farther to fall and China further to rise, especially in the next 1-2 decades.
Still hoping for that future that’s borderless and red and queer and bold.
We’ll get there.
For whatever it’s worth, despite never formally studying Chinese, I managed to read both the Chinese sentences, albeit with the wrong tones. Like to be fair I have studied Japanese, and I am generally a bit of a weirdo with a knack for this sort of thing — but I do still have to wonder if more people are just going to start casually picking up hanzi just from exposure like I have, as China becomes more prominent. I could certainly see it happening.
“China is the future” is a bit of a vague question, though. Just from my interpretation of it…
I absolutely think that the USA is currently crumbling as the world’s hegemon — interestingly enough, the USA’s flag actually has stars on it to represent a “new constellation”, using the constellations in the sky as an allegory for the rise and fall of nations; so it indeed seems like the fifty-star constellation is beginning to fall beyond the horizon, as a new five-star constellation rises.
This being said, I don’t think China’s behavior as future hegemon will be the same as the USA’s current behavior as present hegemon. I don’t necessarily know what to expect from the future, though, so it’s probably best to prepare for all possibilities until we gain a clearer understanding of the situation.
Also, we can’t really know and judge China as the world leader, as they’re not yet.
As soon as you are on top, your behaviour might change. Both for the better, but most likely for the worse. (see US)
Also, we have to remember that China still needs all western partners to keep up their production. They are still a manufacturing country.
As soon as you are on top, your behaviour might change.
It might, it might not. America’s behavior didn’t change; from the start they’ve been aggressive and expansionist, the scope just grew as they became more powerful.
China’s been growing rapidly for decades while very seldomly acting militarily outside their borders. They don’t seem to have expansionist goals outside those declared over 70 years ago (ie Taiwan) and have even negotiated down on border conflicts. It’s not impossible but it’d be strange for China to make a complete about-turn on their stated policy of non-intervention.
If you don't have the app, it may be hard to view, so here are some screenshots
Looks like I was dead-on, haha.
Tbh, I was shocked. Much as I’m sympathetic towards China, but I still usually look at it through a lens of realpolitik, like, “Of course they’re vying for dominance like everyone else, but at least they’re doing it through economic development instead of wars, and it’s better if there are two major powers instead of one.” Maybe that cynical perspective is more realistic, and maybe XHS users aren’t a representative sample of all Chinese people, but still, the fact that so many of the replies were so hopeful and internationalist was genuinely moving to me.
Well, you’re correct that XHS isn’t the general population of China, it skews middle-high income, so you aren’t getting the full picture. However, from what I’ve read from many younger Chinese political activists and analysts is that as China is now heavily industrialized, there is a sense of moving out of the over-ambitious optimism of the previous generations to a more grounded, educated, realistic optimism that is genuinely more hopeful as a consequence of its grounding.
China has libs. China has problems. China has struggles. But, by virtue of its position and strategy, the people also take on a generally internationalist character. “Let a hundred flowers bloom,” Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is a prediction, more than a description. It’s a prediction of Socialism with Ugandan Characteristics, Canadian, Brazilian, etc. That gives a sense of their overall attitude, IMO.
As much as we might criticize the whole, “End of History” idea, I feel like the 90’s was the last time Americans had anything like that kind of optimism. There was a feeling that we were entering a new age of international cooperation, and although I was only a child that was something I really believed in. But we soon found new conflicts to be embroiled in a the dream has died and was proven to be foolish and naive, and now everyone across the political spectrum is highly cynical.
I’m sure that there are many cynical people in China too, but I can hardly remember the last time I saw someone who wasn’t cynical when it comes to politics. Whether or not it’s naive, it hits me on an emotional level.
The good thing about China is that they have a lot of reason to be hopeful, due to many massive improvements in the last century, skyrocketing in the last decade. USians largely still envision 90s China, and are having that image shattered.
No thanks, replacing one imperialist for another won’t help the world.
Can you elaborate? How is the PRC in any way comparable with respect to Imperialism as the United States?
Sure buddy:
Tanks stopping when a person blocked their path? And remaining calm even when the person climbs over the tank? Finally the tank driver talking with person calmly?
Their army or atleast the tank driver seems to be very decent.
Post the video coward.
I mean china is an authoritarian state, that kinda thing never works for long
What’s a non-authoritarian state?
no state at all, I’m a libertarian socialist
So when you said “that kinda thing never works for long” you were referencing to any state? I think history has proven you wrong on that one, champ.
just look at rome, or any other empire for that matter, didn’t last for ever, I was talking about the history of humanity, not a few lifetimes
Rome wasn’t a state, and it lasted for many centuries. Don’t try to pretend by “doesn’t work for long” you were talking about geological time or something
libertarian as in capitalist?
They did end up saying AnCapism or Minarchism would be better than current regulated Capitalism. I mean, if that happened to the US Imperialism would be kneecapped, so I suppose that would technically be better for most people.
I’m saying this unironically: this comment could go on any dumbass thread about China’s dumbass social media and dumbass AI. I don’t understand why I don’t see it more.
They. Are. Authoritarian.
The reason you don’t see it more is because “authoritarian” isn’t a hard line you can cross, but a general descriptor, and as a consequence many will disagree about the legitimacy of that vague descriptor or believe other countries like the US fit that descriptor better. What do you personally think counts as sufficient to label one country authoritarian, and another not? Can you give an example of each, or is every country authoritarian? Does it matter if some are more or less authoritarian? All of these questions have different answers from person to person, because they apply to a general descriptor and not a hard metric, like “does the PRC have growing wages for the working class?” Or “do Chinese people enioy their system?” Food for thought.
Ok
Not a nationalist, I find this a terrifying thought, but 100%. Unless action is actually taken in the U.S., I don’t think the West stands a chance. China is already in a much stronger position than I think many Westerners realize, they made tremendous gains during the last Trump presidency. If Trump really does cling to power for the rest of his life, I think we’ll see a world where SA, SEA, Africa and parts of Europe are all completely economically reliant on China.
As if it wasn’t like that with USA too
I don’t think it’ll be as bad as mentioned
Already!
I want the mandate of heaven to come to all of us.
If the US doesn’t fuck up it’s own demise and just dies peacefully, I can see that being the case.
But I think China would use their new powers to help lift other countries up instead of continuing to use the global south as a giant slave plantation like the US is doing.
I don’t really know anything about China, so I really can’t say.
It would be a good idea to learn a bit, I think, considering that they will play an increasingly large role on the global stage.
the future of neo-colonialism? definitely
Can you elaborate?
Belt and Road Initiative, China owning most of the cobalt reserves and refining resources that oftentimes rely on enslaved child labor, anti-Black discrimination inside Chinese enclaves in Africa (1) (2), mandating Mandarin in Ugandan schools, with Kenya and South Africa making it optional
Can you elaborate on how BRI is Imperialism? Further, learning mandarin as a second language in schooling isn’t the same as forcing everyone to speak it, Spanish is required learning in many US schools and it isn’t a form of Mexican imperialism. I’d also like to see a source on the child labor in the cobalt mines.
The racial discrimination is terrible, no doubt, and it needs to be worked on and fixed. However, this doesn’t seem to be something the PRC is pushing so much as individual racists. I am hopeful that that situation will improve especially.
There are many arguments against China being Imperialist, from Vijay Prashad. Here’s an excerpt from a sepatate article, a quick 9 minute read:
In a 2005 presentation to the Congressional U.S.-China Commission, U.S. State Department official Princeton Lyman assessed how China’s model of socialist state loans don’t serve the function of profit:
“China utilizes a variety of instruments to advance its interest in ways that western nations can only envy. Most of China’s investments are through state-owned companies, whose individual investments do not have to be profitable if they serve overall Chinese objectives. Thus the representative of China’s state-owned construction company in Ethiopia could reveal that he was instructed by Beijing to bid low on various tenders, without regard for profit. China’s long term objective in Ethiopia is in access to future natural resource investments, not in construction business profits.”
Despite recent claims that China has been using its companies to engage in neo-colonialism throughout Africa, the situation Lyman assessed has continued to be the case throughout the last fifteen years. As I’ve mentioned in past writings, China’s investments do not meet the definition of neo-colonialism; Chinese enterprises help the job markets abroad rather than only employing Chinese workers, China hasn’t been engaging in “land grabs” in Africa, and China isn’t working to trap African nations in debt. In accordance with China’s not engaging in regime change, China has also never favored any government for its form or ideology.
I’m really glad to hear that in classic ML fashion, you know better than Ugandans themselves what does or doesn’t constitute colonialism. I recommend actually watching the TikTok video from the Ugandan activist I linked you that already explains how Mandarin is erasing indigenous languages in favor of facilitating Chinese exploitation of local resources.
Believe it or not, Spanish is also a colonial language. It’s pretty well known in any history book that it was used to enact cultural genocide on indigenous people all across Turtle Island. Indigenous people in Latin America have the “choice” of assimilating into Spanish culture or face poverty, starvation and genocide by white Latinos.
lmao imagine unironically linking the qiao collective, the mouthpiece of the CCP, as a credible source. I was wondering how long until the .ml brainwashing chip activates 🤭
here’s an even quicker read:
The University of California, Irvine report stated that the Qiao Collective posts “positive, often revisionist perspectives about Chinese politics.” That report stated that Qiao Collective claims that the “West’s perceptions of China as a human rights violator are actually the opposite; China is benevolent in helping marginalized people.” 1
The UC Irvine report stated that the Qiao Collective is particularly sympathetic with regard to how China treats the Uyghur people. 1 On Aug. 31, 2022, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report stating that the “Chinese government’s rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang ‘may constitute … crimes against humanity.’” 5
The left-of-center Human Rights Watch stated that since 2017, the Chinese government has carried out “a widespread and systematic” attack against the Uyghur people that included mass detention, torture, religious persecution, separation of families, forced labor and sexual violence. 5
The UC Irvine report stated that the Qiao Collective “assert[s]” that re-education camps do not exist and the camps were built to “deradicalize” extremists so they can get proper training to live on their own. UC Irvine’s report stated that Qiao claimed the camps teach Uyghurs to “better function in the economy,” learn technical skills, and they are allowed to go home a couple times per week to see their families.
I watched it in full.
As for Spanish, I’m aware of its origins. I still don’t see how making it a mandatory second language in many US schools would imply Mexican or Spanish colonization of the US.
As for linking QiaoCollective, yes, I did. Is there a problem with reading sources that go against your narrative? Funny you link HRW, which is a US-based group founded explicitly to push anti-communism:
Some criticism:
In 2014, two Nobel Peace Laureates, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Mairead Maguire, wrote a letter signed by 100 other human rights activists and scholars criticizing HRW for its revolving-door hiring practices with the U.S. government, its failure to denounce the U.S. practice of extrajudicial rendition, its endorsement of the U.S. 2011 military intervention in Libya, and its silence during the 2004 Haitian coup d’état.[68]
In 2020, HRW’s board of directors discovered that HRW accepted a $470,000 donation from Saudi real estate magnate Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, owner of a company HRW “had previously identified as complicit in labor rights abuse”, under the condition that the donation not be used to support LGBT advocacy in the Middle East and North Africa. After The Intercept reported the donation, it was returned, and HRW issued a statement that accepting it was “deeply regrettable”.[69]
HRW does good work sometimes, like calling out Israel for their genocide on Palestinians, but they were formed explicitly to target countries that dared stand against US hegemony. Read the actual, full UN report.
if you think criticizing the USSR is “anti-communist” that’s your own cultist complex to deal with. critiquing Russian imperialism has always and will be based, regardless if it’s hiding under the hammer and sickle or the Wagner logo
There’s meaningful critique of the USSR, yes. Being founded in the United States to serve as a watchdog over the Soviets at the height of the Cold War while the United States was licking its wounds after commiting untold masses of war crimes in Vietnam is the peak of hypocricy and purely exists to slander Communism. Moreover, the USSR was not Imperialist, it stood against Imperialism by supporting Cuba, China, Vietnam, Algeria, Palestine, Korea, and more liberate themselves from Imperialism and Colonialism.
