Xi promises Chinese soft power

Chinese President Xi Jinping says China will never seek to impose its will on other nations, no matter how strong it becomes.

Source: www.bbc.com

A very interesting statement.

But actions will speak louder to the international community, especially as China comes up against resistance in the South and East China Seas and if they face resistance over their interests in Africa especially.

This is, however, what will ultimately put the Chinese over the Americans as a world power.  All China needs to do is garner greater respect, admiration, and friendliness from the other countries of the world and they will have legitimacy, power, and authority that the US will only be able to dream of having with mere military superiority.  We run around, flexing our muscles, forcing people to be like us and receive resentment, bitterness, hatred, and animosity that we feel compelled to chase around the world.  Projection power is important, I think, to American national security.  However, occupation, forced nation building on our terms, and other forms of resource exploitation are ultimately practices that are going to have to be abandoned by the US, if it wants to remain relevant as a world power.  Military strength alone does not make one a great nation, after all, in spite of what our conservatives and ideologues believe, nor does spreading liberalism and democracy make for good liberalism or democracy.

This Is a cue to soul search on our part, as a nation and as a polity, with regard to how we handle ourselves socially, politically, economically, and militarily abroad.  A shame that it is likely to go un-noticed by the policy makers who currently sit in our high offices of consequence, authority, and responsibility.

Think about it.