Michael Gentile
A country whose foreign minister regards Russia as a "friend," and which conducts joint military exercises with that so-called country, should be punished. Sanction South Africa for its cooperation with the aggressor. Boycott South African wines.. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/26/asia/russian-hypersonic-warship-south-africa-china-intl-hnk/index.html
Jan 26, 2023 at 10:23amWeb
Show threaddemi7en 🎗🇪🇺Jan 26, 2023

@MichaelGentile ☝️

#SouthAfrica boycott part Deux?

One must admit that for a self-proclaimed inherently *#anticolonial* #African state, #Russia and #China are just about the oddest "friends" they can possibly find. And we can drop that "just about" right off the bat.

They are serial #genocidal #lebenraum expansionists with zero capacity for remorse, i.e imperialist equivalents of sociopaths.

Of course there is a very lucrative silver lining to all the ruling-party elites. While natural resources last.

#ANC #Mandela #Tutu #apartheid #putin #CCP

Show threadMichael GentileJan 26, 2023
@demi7en Indeed, particularly Russia (China hasn't expanded or even tried to for some time now, after all, but the vibes coming from there sure aren't good).
Show threaddemi7en 🎗🇪🇺Jan 26, 2023

@MichaelGentile

Wrt. China/PRC... the "PLA" wasn't idle for long after 1949 when they embarked to invade the entire Tibetan plateau in 1950. Aksai Chin in war against India as soon as PLA had gotten settled there, and regular enroachment of Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese territories, continuing to this day. The South towards SEA is less well chronicled. In the 2000s the grab of marine territories... see the 9-dash line.

re: "China hasn't expanded or even tried to for some time now"

Cold comfort to Tibetans, Uighurs, South-Mongolians and more recently also Hongkongers. China and Russia are part of the same autocratic and in this case re-imperialist development.

Show threadMichael GentileJan 26, 2023
@demi7en Of course, I meant expand beyond the confines of its legally defined boudaries, but yes, the maritime "seagrabs" are definitely expansionist and I frankly didn't think about the regular skirmishes along the Himalayas. But again, still not even close to what Russia has been doing in a much shorter and more recent time. That was the main point. With China, the economic expansionism ("China in Africa" etc.) is perhaps even more of a problem. Taiwan is a "we'll see" thing.
Show threaddemi7en 🎗🇪🇺Jan 26, 2023

@MichaelGentile

Right. Besides the peoples already inside post-WWII land grabs (and not exactly enjoying themselves), I do feel that the track record of constantly enroaching neighbouring land territories is an issue worth paying attention to. For coastal SEA countries those marine territories may have some significance too, even if the format is different.

The key however is that the CCP *thrived* despite everything (no consequences) and the imperialist-minded putin got the memo.

As long as crime pays, crime keeps happening. And despots keep cooperating.

I know of precious few Russia or China experts with great understanding of the other as well. And historically the latter field has been dominated by sinophiles and tankies although things are changing.

Giving Ukraine all the support they need (and more) is imperative, but it is also crucial that the free world realizes that the latest of russia's invasions is merely one "theatre" in the assault against the UN-era values of peoples' self-determination and human rights.

Ukraine needs weapons now because business trumped values for too long.