You must be talking about us?
There is a reason why we treat Russia differently than the PRC.
Let’s use your BS human rights, democracy, and sovereignty arguments we always use as justifications for war.
Who do you think is FAR-FAR worse, Russia or the PRC in any one of them?
Russia doesn’t have 1 million people in internment camps, they aren’t the worlds champion in executions, nor do they have forced abortions, had a one child policy, oppress religion, questionable organ harvesting policies, they aren’t governed by a single Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and make dissidents disappear all the time...
But we would NEVER dare mess with Taiwan the way we did with Ukraine, in fact we don’t even mention the human rights abuses in the PRC if possible and we have wiped Tibet completely off the radar.
The PRC is a major hub for US manufacturing, holds onto a lot of US securities, is one of the worlds largest markets for US made products, has a lot of influence in the US via lobbying efforts and campaign contributions by their US based subsidiaries. The PRC actually has a big military, in fact they try to downplay their size and modernization. It is the PRC which is a true near peer threat, not Russia: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/China-Military-Budget-Graphic.png?x85095 Finally, the PRC has some influence on the US media and is permitted to blast their side of the story to the US audience via a laundry-list of CCP owned media (some US brand outlets they own) which is permitted free reign in the US.
So, we play very nice with the PRC, but hardball with Russia. What’s the difference?
“ Who do you think is FAR-FAR worse, Russia or the PRC in any one of them?”
That is some pretty good rationalization.
This guy has only murdered one person, but this guy has murdered 5, why are you picking on the first one and not the second . Of course we have forgot to mention Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, or Afghanistan when it comes to whose “far far worse”
And to your last point
“What’s the difference”, well at this moment it is the fact that Russia has invaded and is razing a sovereign nation.
China may be next, time will tell, but the results of the actions of Putin may give them something to reflect on. My guess is cherry picking some of china’s “historical” claims on eastern Russian federation may come before Taiwan
Given that each side is rational, the doctrine of mutual assured destruction says neither side will start a nuclear war. During the cold war, the US and the USSR opposed each other with nuclear arsenals, and even engaged in flare-ups here and there. But, there was no nuclear war because each side was rational.
Each side was confident in its ultimate victory. The democrats believed in democracy, and the communists believed in communism. Khrushchev famously said, we will bury you (meaning with kitchen appliances, family homes, health clinics, etc.) Nixon engaged him in “the kitchen debate.” Why would either side gamble a sure victory with peace by getting into a nuclear war?
Well, when the Berlin Wall fell, it was your side that collapsed. Democracy won, not communism.
For a time it looked as though Russia would join with the west as a democratic country. But, no. I’m sorry. Yeltsin was weak and the Chechens were (and still are) crazy. Russia needed a strong leader, and that person turned out to be Putin. Putin and his party were actually the best at the time for Russia. But, the corruption was too ingrained. And, instead of evolving into a multi-party democracy, Russia evolved into a dictatorship. Eventually Putin and his party succumbed to corruption.
Nowadays, Russia is a kleptocracy with nuclear weapons. It has become a big version of North Korea. It is not clear that Russia is rational.
Certainly Iran isn’t rational. They have the idea they can usher in the battle of Armageddon and the coming of the 12th Imam. They are religious fanatics and there’s no telling what they will do.
China, on the other hand, appears to be confident in their system. They say the west is corrupt by materialism. That we are lazy, stupid and fat. That crime and sexual perversion is growing. They think their system, in which the state controls the media and education, is better, because it maintains the ethics of hard work and saving.
Xi is therefore like Khrushchev. He believes his system will win with peace. Why would he risk victory by getting into a war with us? As long as we are reasonable, we can work with that guy. Let’s wait until the next time something like the Berlin Wall falls, and one of the two sides collapses. Then, we will find out whether Chinese communism or western democracy prevails.
