zraver

The proof as they say is in the pudding.

Your yourself said there are over 1 million Taiwanese living and working in ML China. trade between the two is booming and if left to thier own devices the two will probably re-unite at some point but even if they don't both sides are still benefiting. So why station such a large amount of China's military capacity opposite the other China?

Other examples abound, China has new cancer cases emerging out of proportion to its population this is almost assuredly environmental. What has China done to address the current problem and then fix it? The health care system still sucks and the environment is still a far distant third behind growth and profit. Who do you think is most negatively affected by increased military spending, pollution, and a inadequate health care access? Those hundreds of millions living on less than 1 dollar a day.

What exactly is China doing to lift them from grinding poverty, to save the environment, and address these issues? Aiming missiles at other people, Olympic events, poor environmental and quality controls damn sure don't address them. Every time a Chinese official comes forward and says, "China is a still a poor country" its tongue in cheek becuase other parts of the Chinese government are engaged in chest thumping and giving the world the middle digit.

Is this a zero sum game? I don't know but history would argue that greater powers are always in competition to divide lesser powers into spheres of influence and other forms of confrontation. China stepped up and took on the mantle of Challenger of the US so we know the rules of the game. If China did not want to place itself into a strategic chess match with the US she should have focused on internal issues instead of external ones. This choice to focus outward was made by the CCP while hundreds of millions exist on less than 1 USD a day.