US is no more or less peaceloving than China

Tweet

The number of wars fought cannot be used to judge whether or not a nation is a peace-loving one; there are too many factors to take into account. Many people would argue that based on past history and the present situation, China is peace-loving and America is war-mongering; this idea is flawed from the start. Different nations with different situations have different ideas about such vitals issues as self-interests, territorial integrity, reputation, etc. While it is true that over the past century America has fought more wars and conflicts than China, it is understandable. America had tended to be the bigger player in the world stage, whereas China, up until the late 1970’s, was primarily an isolated nation (in terms of interests and diplomacy). The fact is, as America prospered last century, its interests grew and its role grew, the same way that China’s interests and roles are growing today. Hence conflicts with various neighbors such as Japan (over the disputed islands) and Vietnam (over fishing waters) have intensified. There are times nations have to go to war. China itself went to war several times last century including: 1937-1945 against Japan, and the long civil war that ended in 1949 as well as a short war with India over border issues. In today, China does not rule out the threat of force against Taiwan if it should declare independence; does this mean the Chinese people are warmongers? Personally I feel that Chinese people are peace-loving people. That said, frankly, it takes more than just the number of wars and conflicts fought to determine whether or not a nation is peace loving or warmongering. For example, while many nations use the Iraq War to claim that the US hates peace, one can make the argument that all the nations who opposed the war, virtually ignoring the thousands of people killed by Hussein and his regime, are the ones who truly hates peace. Others say that Hussein’s actions were a country’s internal affair, while the US’s actions were plain aggression and bullying. Fair enough, but if I could choose to have my relatives killed by either my own government or an outside force, I would choose neither. Whether innocent people are killed by their own government or by a foreign occupier, it is still blood spilled; in either case their blood will cry out for an accounting. All people and nations are peace loving; they just have their own interests and agendas. The US is no more or no less peace loving than China.