China did get rich. They most certainly got rich, but they didn't use that money to buy our products. They used that money to buy the products that are made in China. And they didn't become a democracy either. Now you have a rich Chinese Communist Party that has tightened its grip on the country.
Ah yes. China actually buys a ton of US products and services. But I think what Rubio is stating here is that China is moving up the value chain. Rubio thinks China needs to stay as America's cheap labor. China should not be allowed to compete in advanced products and services, the bread and butter of America's economy.
I think it's more that the West does not want a strong, unchecked, communist opponent. The CCP doesn't play fair or by the same rules. Why should we let them keep taking advantage of us?
West vs CCP is liberal democracy vs authoritarianism. CCP could be equally replaced by USSR, and to a lesser extent Russia, Iran, or North Korea, among many others
Don't use whataboutism or play the race card because you don't have an actual retort
We, in West have a tendency to judge other countries by our standards - but those standards changed over our history and are also based on the resources & limitations of our countries. Is it really fair to judge a country that has been trying for less than 50 years to bring up the standard of living of their 1.5 billion people to a country with only 300 million people and which has had 300 years to get to its current standard of living?
I'm not making excuses for China's repression of various minorities in their country - but perhaps we should look a bit more at our own history before casting stones. E.g. China's repression of the Uyghurs is but child's play compared to what the US did to the native Americans or the West's use of slavery to benefit their countries.
China has nearly accomplished in 50 years, what took those countries centuries. It raised more people out of abject poverty than the entire populations of the US and Europe combined. Yes, the country has human rights issues and we don't like its non-democratic system of government. But there's no denying its success either. And what country is without problems? We chastise the Chinese for their treatment of the Uyghurs - yet here at home in the US, we allow 20,000+ of our citizens to be killed by guns every year. We lost 2 million+ people to Covid because our leaders thought that drinking bleach will cure it. Our children need armed teachers because they're afraid of the next mass shooting. China has none of those issues. Their children are safe in schools and nobody dies in mass shootings; despite being a 5 times bigger country, they had 1/10th people die from covid. Mass transit and telecom technology in China far outclasses the decrepit systems we have in this country. Medicine & medical treatment is far cheaper there than here. Literacy and educational levels are much higher.....and, finally, let's speak of the military threat. The US has bombed 1/3 of the world's population. China has not. Lots of talk by US military haws about how China is accelerating military spending. But if you look at any data, it shows the US still outspending China by 4 to 1.
4:1 spending is surface level, you haven't accounted for allocation and purchasing parity. The US spends more on salaries and China has ~2x purchasing power for each dollar, so the spend on capability is much closer. See Perun's videos on YT for your education.
The main reason China was able to lift that many people out of poverty is because it joined the West's economic group and we bought their stuff. Wonder why it is that they will lose half their population by the end of the century if nothing changes...?
The West does not want any opponents. Of course they don't. The 'communists', 'not a democracy' angles are just for public consumption.
The rules are set by the dominant power. So when they complain about China not playing fair or by the rules what they really mean is that they don't like that a country becomes strong enough to set their own rules according to their own interests
I don't really have a problem with what the US is doing or trying to do. What I can't stand is that people actually think this is good (USA) vs evil (China).
Of course the West wouldn't welcome economic competition from China even if it were a flourishing democracy. Still, let's not lose sight of the fact that there are real moral differences between the US and China.
Note, for example, that you can say whatever you like about the US on this board, and the worst that will happen to you is that some people downvote or flag your comment.
I do not see China murdering people around the globe with drone strikes. And then not punishing everyone involved with death penalty. To me it is very clear which is evil and has evil population which keeps supporting these actions even if they still have some tools to fight against them.
China has the death penalty, and executes vastly more people per year than the US (~800 vs a handful).
You can (and should) protest certain aspects of US foreign and military policy within the US. There is far less latitude for internal criticism within China. Just try bringing up e.g. the Uyghur genocide and see how far you get.
