[guard-of-terra]

China has history almost as tragic as Russia does.

First their country was divided, then it was partially conquered by Japanese, then it was struck by civil war, lost some territories (Mongolia, Tyva), divided again (Taiwan), suffered under Mao and then lived in poverty and lack of human rights (one child policy) while building its economy.

I doubt anyone will argue that this was the place to go at the time.

[SamReidHughes]

Your justifications for your classification of what counts as civilization are irrelevant. You don't have to litigate the question in the first place. Nor did the question of what countries are worth living in need to be raised in order to discuss the fun little games of international diplomacy, or Russia in general.

[dang]

No, SamReidHughes is right: you insulted China by excluding it from what you called the "civilized world" and then backtracked by pretending you said something else. This is a pattern, and it's a poisonous one on this site. Please stop.