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The threat of China is not military. The threat of China is they can't be intimidated... Europe you can intimidate. When the US tries to get people to stop investing in Iran, European companies pull out, China disregards it. You look at history and understand why - they've been around for 4,000 years, they have contempt for the barbarians, they just don't give a damn. OK, you scream, we'll go ahead and take over a big piece of Saudi or Iranian oil. And that's the threat, you can't intimidate them - it's driving people in Washington berserk. But, you know, of all the major powers, they've been the least aggressive militarily.

Noam Chomsky#135

PoliticsPowerHistoryGeopoliticsInternational relationsSovereigntyIntimidation

About this quote

What does it mean?
China poses a threat because it cannot be intimidated by US pressure, unlike European nations, yet it remains militarily non-aggressive.
In plain terms
China is dangerous to US interests because it ignores threats, even though it has not been aggressive militarily.
What can you take from it?
Intimidation fails against states with long histories of sovereignty.

Where it applies

  • international news
  • policy analysis
  • global trade

Putting it to work

  • track investment flows
  • study historical autonomy
  • analyze sanctions

Questions to consider

  • Why can some states resist?
  • Is non-intervention peaceful?

Another view

China's non-intervention might also be due to strategic caution rather than contempt.

More from Noam Chomsky

  1. ...I don't feel that they deserve a blanket condemnation at all. There are many things to object to in any society. But take China, modern China; one also find…

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  2. China is the center of the Asian energy security grid, which includes the Central Asian states and Russia. India is also hovering around the edge, South Korea …

    Permalink to quote #136
  3. For example, take Suharto's Indonesia, which is a brutal, murderous state. I think Canada was supporting it all the way through, because it was making money ou…

    Permalink to quote #133

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