Why has China not taken over the World yet?

Augmerson

Often heard a lot of facts about China, such as the economy being a powerhouse and it having a massive military. It has a huge population, the biggest in the world at the moment I think, and probably the biggest industrial base in the world.

So why has it not made its presence felt on the international stage? Perhaps it has done so in more subtle ways that I am not aware of, but surely they could take over Taiwan tomorrow if they wanted to?

hfallada

Chinas economy just over tool Japan's as the biggest. There is talk about the countries economy being a massive bubble. Plus it relies on feeding its people a **** load of lies and censors all foreign influence. Germany have a stronger export economy than it.

If china is so amazing why does its people constantly try to move abroad?

token56

Taking over in such a scenario by military means is pretty much impossible in todays world imo. No country wants to engage in a nuclear war.

wazky

Too busy opening dodgy takeaways in rural Irish towns to be bothered with the whole "taking over the world" thing.

Banjo String

Too busy lashing out 4 in ones.

Karl Stein

'murica

Augmerson

hfallada wrote: »

If china is so amazing why does its people constantly try to move abroad?

You could say that about any country, including Germany.

Wacker The Attacker

Its all government and sh1t

The One Who Knocks

Take over from who?

keith16

Principally because they are a great bunch of lads.

Karl Stein

The One Who Knocks wrote: »

Take over from who?

'merica

PizzamanIRL

Because they're so small that nobody takes them serious.

Wacker The Attacker

The One Who Knocks wrote: »

Take over from who?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUmpTKXpIdM

Rayne Wooney

Read somewhere that they have America by the balls financially, any truth in that?

Mr Williams

The 21st century will be the chinese century.

SV

I'd love to see them build one of those man made islands out in the middle of the atlantic, so big that it could be seen from space and the island would be shaped to say
"MADE IN CHINA"
If that happens in my lifetime I'll die happy.

The One Who Knocks

Carlos Roca wrote: »

'merica

So the US controls Taiwan?


...I mean, define "take over" ....maybe China has already taken over and we just don't know it?

NuckingFacker

They're quietly taking over africa, eastern ussr and anywhere else that's a bit sh1t. Once they've cracked all that, they'll start with the shiny countries.

Rayne Wooney

The One Who Knocks wrote: »

So the US controls Taiwan?


...I mean, define "take over" ....maybe China has already taken over and we just don't know it?

What if Chinese people who've emigrated to different countries and set up restaurants are really spec ops awaiting the great attack....

catallus

I think the whole far east is going to either get along all great and everything or else it will very suddenly degenerate into mad megadeath war. China India Russia Philippines and all the rest bangbangbang.

SHANAbert

They are already ready. 1 billion people. Precious metals. Cheap labour. They are certainly a super power.

kirb42

Why has China not taken over the World yet?….

What time is it….

Playboy

Problem with personalities maybe. A lot of Chinese companies are reliant on westerners in leadership roles.

Spring Onion

The Chinese know how to copy stuff. They do not show initiative.
It wasn't always that way. The Chinese were very inventive down through the centuries but insular Emperors and Communism did not help.

.jacksparrow.

The day is coming.

Karl Stein

NuckingFacker wrote: »

They're quietly taking over africa, eastern ussr and anywhere else that's a bit sh1t. Once they've cracked all that, they'll start with the shiny countries.

They'd love to balkanize Russia and China. The US funds and gives political cover for terrorists separatists in China and on the flanks of the Russian federation.

.jacksparrow.

Spring Onion wrote: »

The Chinese know how to copy stuff. They do not show initiative.
It wasn't always that way. The Chinese were very inventive down through the centuries but insular Emperors and Communism did not help.

Who did they copy Chinese food from?

The One Who Knocks

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

The day is coming.

And how will we know when it has arrived? What are we going by?

GDP maybe?

goose2005

Actually their military is tiny, proportionate to their population they have fewer soldiers than Ireland. The US have hundreds of overseas bases. China has one.

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Read somewhere that they have America by the balls financially, any truth in that?

Not really. They own some US debt. But their economy is very dependent on exporting to the developed world.

So why has it not made its presence felt on the international stage? Perhaps it has done so in more subtle ways that I am not aware of, but surely they could take over Taiwan tomorrow if they wanted to?

Er, no.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_Armed_Forces

AllGunsBlazing

Western paranoia.

Back in the early 80's everyone thought the Japanese economy was going to gobble up the west. Obviously it didn't quite pan out that way.

The Chinese economy will normalize eventually and endure the same cycle of growth/recession as the rest of the modern world.

Temptamperu

Augmerson wrote: »

Often heard a lot of facts about China, such as the economy being a powerhouse and it having a massive military. It has a huge population, the biggest in the world at the moment I think, and probably the biggest industrial base in the world.

So why has it not made its presence felt on the international stage? Perhaps it has done so in more subtle ways that I am not aware of, but surely they could take over Taiwan tomorrow if they wanted to?

Thats why. They dont need land or resources and know its folly to start a war. Although they are buying up land in south america and africa.

Wattle

hfallada wrote: »

Chinas economy just over tool Japan's as the biggest. There is talk about the countries economy being a massive bubble. Plus it relies on feeding its people a **** load of lies and censors all foreign influence. Germany have a stronger export economy than it.

If china is so amazing why does its people constantly try to move abroad?

That's a bit of a myth really. Plenty of them would like to leave but only a small percentage have the money to travel abroad. The middle class is on the rise but a big percentage of the population would still be considered poor by western standards.

bbam

Maybe they just aren't interested?

I'd say they have enough to be going on with with their own borders.

When you go there you find like everywhere else, people just getting on with their day to day life.

I'd say once they can continue to buy land that gives them more food security why would they need to start a war.

NuckingFacker

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

What if Chinese people who've emigrated to different countries and set up restaurants are really spec ops awaiting the great attack....

Judging by the lads in our local take-away, the signal to attack better come across loud and clear, several times and not involve anything too complex. Or involve directions. If ordered to attack the local power-stations to destabilise society, the power station can expect several calls to ascertain exactly where it is, and then the pet-food factory next door will get blown to hell.

Owldshtok

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

Western paranoia.

Back in the early 80's everyone thought the Japanese economy was going to gobble up the west. Obviously it didn't quite pan out that way.

The Chinese economy will normalize eventually and endure the same cycle of growth/recession as the rest of the modern world.

This for me is a reassuring post.
Before reading it I was going along the lines of 19th century = mostly British,20th century = mostly USA,21st century mostly Chinese.

With the speed that information travels these days,its hard to see them taking over the world.The political issues around the middle east will probably remain the worlds biggest hotspot and keep everyone preoccupied including the Chinese.

old_aussie

Carlos Roca wrote: »

They'd love to balkanize Russia and China. The US funds and gives political cover for terrorists separatists in China and on the flanks of the Russian federation.

Would you have a link to support that?

xploderz

Once they get control of bitcoins (which will eventually be the world's single currency) which they are in the process of doing, there will be no stopping China then..

xploderz

That is my theory anyway

SpaceTime

Well there's a couple of problems:

#1 being that China's economic strength is built almost entirely on selling stuff to the US and EU markets (and various hangers on).

#2 being that China's current structure could prove catestrophically unstable as the economy progresses. There's a serious and growing demand for reform both towards democracy and people who are just fed up with growing levels of extreme corruption. That could ultimately turn nasty, particularly if the economy slows dramatically or starts to lose business to other earlier-stage developing (cheaper) manufacturing locations.

#3 I'm not sure that China has any ambition to take over the world. It's more concerned about making lots of money. There's no need to take over the world anymore. The 20th century has shown that all you need to do is accumulate vast wealth through trade and you become ever more influential. There's no reason for all this old-fashioned colonising places anymore.

Bowlardo

America owe 7b trilllion..the majotiry of which is tooo china...also i don't think it is their make up...,there a nice bunch in fairness...

NuckingFacker

Bowlardo wrote: »

America owe 7b trilllion..the majotiry of which is tooo china...also i don't think it is their make up...,there a nice bunch in fairness...

No, no they're not. They're a clever bunch, I kinda like em, I enjoy dealing with them, but they aint so nice. Ask a few Tibetans.

SpaceTime

Bowlardo wrote: »

America owe 7b trilllion..the majotiry of which is tooo china...also i don't think it is their make up...,there a nice bunch in fairness...

The majority isn't owed to China. 53% is owed to domestic banks in the USA.

European countries hold about $1trillion of US debt.

China hold less than 1/4 of US foreign debt, so while it's a big chunk, it's just one of many creditors. China is only owed slightly more than European investors in the US. The only difference is that they account for our investment as individual countries rather than the EU.

Lots of myths about the strength of China tbh.

It just suits some commentators to quote European figures as individual countries when they're talking about positive things and a big block when they want scary figures e.g. total debt load or whatever.

EU GDP : US$16.566 trillion
US GDP : US$15.68 trillion
China GDP: $8.227 trillion

old_aussie

Why has China not taken over the World yet?

They were going to then they looked at Ireland, Russia, US and a few other places and thought, "what for"

SpaceTime

old_aussie wrote: »

Why has China not taken over the World yet?

They were going to then they looked at Ireland, Russia, US and a few other places and thought, "what for"

Well, they're pretty much driving the Australian resources bubble at the moment. If / when they find alternatives in Africa (which they're actively developing) it's going to be a bit of a shock to the aussi economy.

.jacksparrow.

The day is coming.

Paramite Pie

goose2005 wrote: »

Actually their military is tiny, proportionate to their population they have fewer soldiers than Ireland. The US have hundreds of overseas bases. China has one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_Armed_Forces

Dude, your linked article is about Taiwan not mainland China.:rolleyes:

The army of China is the largest in the world, with approximately 2,250,000 personnel.It doesn't matter about proportions, it's still the biggest.

Proportions to population size doesn't matter, it's proportion to land area they need to defend that makes the difference.

China land area : 9,326,410 sq km versus, Chinese army : 2,250,000

US land area : 9,161,923 sq Km, US Army (incl Reserves) : 1,105,300


So I think China could win. They also have a larger army to conscript from.

As for number of worldwide bases, the British discovered firsthand how this is a disadvantage during WW2. Their army was spread too thin in these areas and they couldn't spare more troops. The cost was astronomical which is why they granted independence to so many territories post WW2.

South Korea and Japan would likely ally with the US which would be a problem for China. Few countries would choose China's side I'd imagine.

Notorioux

They're busy eating babies. :eek:

Stojkovic

The Israelis would bash them.

Karl Stein

old_aussie wrote: »

Would you have a link to support that?

Consider this.

As the Uyghur rioting simmered on, the NED was revealed to be dispensing more than US$200,000 a year to support the World Uyghur Congress, blamed for triggering the unrest. A Uyghur woman, Rebiya Kadeer, now living in suburban Washington after having made it to the US with powerful assistance from the US State Department several years ago, seems to be the organizer - and the recipient of much of the largess.

www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KG18Ad01.html

Now imagine that reversed. Imagine if China was supporting Hispanic communist separatists in Texas..

Timeless12

Carlos Roca wrote: »

'murica

Looking forward to the day that this comment joins "cool story bro, "blast with piss" etc on the banned list.

Karl Stein

Timeless12 wrote: »

Looking forward to the day that this comment joins "cool story bro, "blast with piss" etc on the banned list.

Well if I had tree fiddy for every time someone called for a ban I'd be able to buy my very own Loch Ness Monster.