About behaving like a democracy, well we all saw how they treated Tibetan protesters and poor residents of Beijing ahead of the Olympics. About respecting people’s wishes, as long as people have jobs and the trains run on time, complaints will be few; that’s a universal truth. And it’s no different for China. It has little to do with want for or respect for democracy.
About wanting carriers, that’s hardly the issue here. China has far more territorial disputes than any other country and props up more rogue nations than any other regime.
I believe they are trying to address issues not just in Tibet but the Xighurs as well.
And as far moving people to make way for the Beijing Olympics, I'll take it one step further for you. There are nearly 100,000 protests in China every years. Most of it surrounding being compensated for property being taken by corrupt government officials, etc. and for just flat out being moved against their will.
But what do propose for China? This was a poor 3rd world country transitioning into a developed nation. The airport in Beijing was built in 4 years. Something that had to be done for the Olympics. America has the luxury to have public hearings. And don't forget there were conflicts in America in the early days of practicing eminent domain. The rail roads were built very quickly using 19th century technology. And there were conflicts in the process in which, the railroads won out with the backing of the federal government.
And you're right about trains running on time. However, many Chinese would rather China continue to move forward than to stop all progress until democracy comes about. Why not continue forward until then. I'm convinced democracy will come to China someday, but in the meantime, the people's wishes are being expressed more and more every year.
And as far supporting rogue nations, the US and Europe have done that in the past as well. I mean, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, by Western standards is a rogue nation (did you see the youtube video of the Prince in the Emmirates torture that poor Afghan worker?). And America supported Iraq early on. China's support, or rather indifference towards, rogue nations has more to do with her needing the energy resources and leaving all the human rights promotion to the US. No, its not right, but I hardly think the West has a right to point fingers.
As far as territorial disputes, well, they already have a larger military than any of its neighbors and haven't gone to war yet. Russia on the other hand, had already invaded Georgia. And ya gotta admit, if China had done what Russia did in Georgia, the global outcry (in particular from the West) would have been much much much worse. And getting back to the Tibet and the Xighurs, what if China had dropped bombs on them the way the Russians dropped bombs on Chechnya? Ya gotta admit, the world outcry would be deafening for the Chinese. Life, in many ways, is a matter of perspective.
I realize, from your perspective, I am making comparative moral comparisons. I'll be the first to admit, there are areas where the Chinese have behaved far worse (local officials have enslaved the disabled), but there are many instances when we can make a moral comparative comparison, i.e., the support or indifference to rogue nations. And those local officials who did enslave the disabled were the target of public backlash.