[mschuster91]

> Im not so sure about China being the economic future of the world these days, despite decades hearing this and despite actual economic sizes and pollution footprints, as I’m not sure China and the US or EU markets can decouple effectively so easily. It’s a bit of a double edged sword for all concerned

The US/EU for a long time acted like "change through trade" (or in German, "Wandel durch Handel") would be a realistic prospect for dealing with both China and Russia. Obviously that failed, with Russia invading Ukraine and China following the 1933-45 footsteps with the Uyghurs. The behavior of both Russia and China has become so explicitly bad that even the hope for profits cannot make politicians look away longer.

The problem is: China has amassed enormous amounts of money, and they are using that money in a way similar to the Marshall Fund of the past-1945 era to build out immense support and a destination market for their goods in Africa and Asia. For better or worse, China will become a dominant player in geopolitics.

[skhr0680]

Regardless of how much money they throw around, the list of China’s friends in Asia is much shorter than the list of countries that would literally rather burn to the ground than bend the knee to a Chinese emperor again, and I think that’s a big problem for their aspirations of being a major player in geopolitics.