Quote: (09-21-2015 03:21 PM)Samseau Wrote:
It doesn't matter if the Japs were horrible during WW2. Fact of the matter is, there is no reason to believe the Chinese or Koreans or anyone else in the area wouldn't have been just as monstrous had they the amount of power the Japs had.
China before modern the modern era when it was at the height of it's powers weren't particularly interested in conquest or colonization so I don't think that's quite true. No other nation in East Asia matched it in terms of cultural influence or power for centuries until the industrialization of Japan yet China was pretty content to keep to itself. China did attempt an invasion of Japan during the Yuan Dynasty but that was when China was ruled by the Mongols and we knew they're all about the conquering and pillaging.
China's power has always come from it's soft power; using cultural and economic forces to bring other societies under it's power. A good example is what it's doing with Taiwan right now - trying to bind the island closer to it by making it dependent on it economically rather then just marching straight in with guns blazing.
Until the modern era China has always been pretty uninterested in the outside world whether just for the curiosity of encountering new cultures and civilizations or for conquest. I'd say that's a big reason why it fell behind Europe from say about the 16th century and on.
I do think today China would be willing to get it's hands bloody if needed - but it's preferred operation of method is via more less direct forms of attack whether it be economic warfare or hacking and whatnot.