[thuanao]

Current membership of BRICS (BRICS+) is larger GDP than G7.

Either side!? Only the USA speaks of China as having no right to exist and attacks Chinese sovereignty openly at every opportunity.

The USA started the trade war, not China. US leadership and its propaganda news channels constantly speak of war with China. Not as a war to defend US territory but as a war to topple the Chinese government. The current defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, wrote in his book "American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free", that if Trump could return to the White House and Republicans could take power, "Communist China will fall—and lick its wounds for another two hundred years".

Hegseth said China “are literally the villains of our generation”, and warned, "If we don’t stand up to communist China now, we will be standing for the Chinese anthem someday".

[twothreeone]

Relax, that's just words. War starts with weapons. And I would disagree that the US started the trade war. China has been much more aggressive than any other country when it comes to trade policy, certainly more aggressive than the US ever was. Ask literally any company on the planet who wants to do business in China. Or ask the Kenyan's, or Nigerian's about who operates and uses their railways. The only difference is that the Politburo doesn't (openly) discuss its policy. That doesn't mean its actions are hidden, the intention is clear.

[anigbrowl]

Relax, that's just words.

Free speech is great and all but a lot of Americans seem to have internalized the idea of just saying whatever you like with no regard for feelings of or impact upon others.

War starts with weapons.

Please read more history.

And I would disagree that the US started the trade war. China has been much more aggressive than any other country when it comes to trade policy [...]

This too is historically illiterate. The US happily ripped off others to build its own industrial base, and arguably still does so, with AI companies training on vast archives of unlicensed content and data brokers laundering personal information with zero regard to consumer privacy. Historically the US forced open markets at gunpoint, most famously by sailing naval vessels into Tokyo harbor to demand the Japanese Shogunate engage in trade relations.

https://apnews.com/general-news-b40414d22f2248428ce11ff36b88...

https://ipwatchdog.com/2017/07/05/americas-industrial-revolu...

https://www.techdirt.com/2013/03/05/yes-us-industrial-revolu...

It's not that China doesn't leverage its own economic power in one-sided ways, but this comment reeks of 'it's different when we do it'.

[twothreeone]

Let's chill and end the discussion with your ad hominem standing there as living proof of how weak these arguments really are.

[anigbrowl]

There aren't any ad hominem arguments in my post, though. Are you unclear on the definition, or just throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks?

[I-M-S]

Wars definitely start with words, not weapons.