[P.O.E.]

Quite a departure from the usual.

Oriental cultures are stereotypically deferential, and the ChiComs were obfuscatory to boot.

To come right out this directly and authoritatively has quite a sobering subtext.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

2001: Communist, Nationalist and Dangerous............"The Chinese people respond eagerly to these ultra-nationalist appeals: That is precisely why the leadership makes them. Resentment of the U.S., and a determination to enforce Chinese hegemony in Asia, are well-nigh universal among modern mainland Chinese. These emotions trump any desire for constitutional government, however much people dislike the current regime for its corruption and incompetence. Find a mainlander, preferably one under the age of thirty, and ask him which of the following he would prefer: for the Communists to stay in power indefinitely, unreformed, but in full control of the "three T's" (Tibet, Turkestan, Taiwan); or a democratic, constitutional government without the three T's. His answer will depress you. You can even try this unhappy little experiment with dissidents: same answer.

Is there anything we can do about all this? One thing only. We must understand clearly that there will be lasting peace in East Asia when, and only when, China abandons her atavistic fantasies of imperial hegemony, withdraws her armies from the two million square miles of other people's territory they currently occupy, and gets herself a democratic government under a rule of law. Until that day comes, if it ever does, the danger of war will be a constant in relations between China and the world beyond the Wall, as recent events in the South China Sea have illustrated. Free nations, under the indispensable leadership of the United States, must in the meantime struggle to maintain peace, using the one, single, and only method that wretched humanity, in all its millennia of experience, has so far been able to devise for that purpose: Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

________________

Though it would seem we're being handed over to China on a silver platter.

[ScottinVA]

Quite a departure from the usual.

Absolutely. These are very heady days for America's enemies. They know they can make the strategic moves they've wanted for generations, with no appreciable push-back from the USSA. They've measured us up and are confident we're not much of a threat now.

[Zhang Fei]

Quite a departure from the usual. Oriental cultures are stereotypically deferential, and the ChiComs were obfuscatory to boot. To come right out this directly and authoritatively has quite a sobering subtext.

This is the standard issue thing we get from China. The same thing happened after Wrong Way plowed into the EP-3 near the Hainan submarine pens. You may simply not have been paying attention at that time.