You brought it up so I have to ask.

based on your analysis, is China imperialist?

Is the Belt and Road initiative part of the same exercise of economic privileges

that allows a country to gain more than they would

otherwise through their financial and imperial power?

It's a spicy question I know.

Yeah sure.

Sure. No and again this could obviously go on, going a long time, but I think because the left is all too often taking what I think is the wrong view on this. It's important to spell

out a couple of things. To characterize China, I think you have to look at the historical context.

And I do this to some extent in the book, but you know I've got on my blog there's an article called

China and US Power, which goes into more detail so I'd recommend people look at that if they want a bit more of the background.

Essentially, the historical detail shows that for a hundred years China was carved up and

fucked up and dominated by the imperialist powers, right?

Even with the Versailles Treaty after the First World War,

the major powers told China to get lost,

we're going to hand a bit of your country over to the Japanese and we're

going to let different other countries do what the hell they like, right?

And it was only with China having a successful revolution by 1949, that they managed to get rid of what they call, you know, a hundred years of domination,

right? Basically, since the Brits screwed them up with the opium was you know from the

1940s and in the process you up grabbing Hong Kong.

So what the crap were Hong Kong and actually this is a little aside here but

all the garbage about Hong Kong democracy the Brits couldn't give us

...