[nik-]

I actually think that's a naive post. We don't have to respect an authoritarian world view just because someone with money holds it. Donald Trump holds an authoritarian world view too and it's also trash. I don't think many people don't grant that China has an incredible history and culture, and if they do, then it's an opinion that doesn't hold a lot of weight. But history doesn't excuse action. Regardless of the circumstances of the possession of HK in the first place, which were at minimum amoral and in reality criminal, the handover had stipulations.

I also think you greatly overvalue how positive the relationships China has with other countries that they're not openly belligerent with. Debt slavery to strip resources isn't positive, it's just economic colonialism.

The rise of another power is inevitable, but we don't have to just accept it when the power suppresses freedoms and free enterprise.