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this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2026
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Yes, 100% agree.
The question is if China will do what all prime players do, which is become an empire that enriches itself at the expense of ther rest of the world.
Not being a massive a dick is a good strategy when you're #2. There are so many companies that do "the right thing" because it gives them a competitive advantage compared to their #1 competitor who is doing the "wrong thing" because they have the dominance to do so, but the instant #2 becomes #1, they adopt #1 strategies.
Perfect example is when X-Box tried to digitize games and limit physical media. Playstation countered with a brutal add on the one-step method to transfer your game to a friend (step 1: give them the game). Now that X-Box has fucked it's market position, it is Playstation that is pushing to end physical media.
The perfect world is one in which you don't have to trust anyone, where there is always a healthy ecosystem that gives you options and prevents any one controlling everything to their benefit.
But right now, the world's biggest problem is not China or Russia: it's the US.
China is already an empire that enriches itself at the expense of the rest of the world via its non market practices. Inequal market access / lack of reciprocity have led to deficits that hinder development in many emerging markets. The belt and road initiative and China's debt to sovereignty swap strategy allows them to build and own key infrastructure / ports around the world similar to US maintaining a global / hegemonic presence with its military bases.
I don't think China wants to rule the world the way the US does. Its traditionally a very inward looking civilization. But I doubt it has qualms over potentially harming others to enrich itself, which is the case for any empire.
I don't know, man, building infrastructure to benefit the country you're building it in sure sounds better than overthrowing socialists governments by arming child-raping rebels then giving them money through the IMF to enrich themselves to justify austerity measures that permanently keep the country from developing.
Yes the Western playbook is well known. I wouldn't be too quick to trust the Chinese approach though. China has already reclaimed sovereignty over ports via debt trap diplomacy in regions like Sri Lanka.
This certainly is not as bad as American actions on the global stage but China is fairly new to being a global power (in the modern era at least, not historically) so the long term strategy remains to be seen.
Yes, I just find it's good to have a complete picture. Talking to a lot of people about the problems with China is a lot like talking to people in 2001 about the problems with Saddam Hussein... that is to say, it's just a pretext for war or other skulduggery.
Depends who owns the infrastructure after it is built, and how payment is structured.