Originally Posted by
fitliker
Not the best way to make friends . Might actually encourage others to start building defences against the expanding resurgence of old empires and newer colonial ambitions in those regions.
The Xi policy appears to be designed to make it painfully costly to challenge Chinas dominance within its zone of influence. Those neighboring countries need to tread softly to avoid incurring Beijing's displeasure.
Some of them, such as Australia, are still in denial about their status, but short of a serious Australian nuclear program, no one else will be in doubt. India however is a different matter, so both parties are still careful.
Note that Xi can afford to be unpleasant, a multi hundred billion dollar annual trade surplus gives policy lots of leeway.