Dear editor,
In the opinion piece entitled "Decline of America" by Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, printed in Oct. 29-30 edition, the author writes something quite astonishing.
He states: "Besides, throughout its long history China has never attempted to colonize other nations or peoples. Its singular preoccupation has been with securing its own borders."
This statement is astonishing for a variety of reasons, ranging from possible ignorance to willful naivete. I suppose the veracity of the statement depends upon what you mean by "colonize" and "its own borders." According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a "colony" is "a body of people living in new territory but retaining ties with the parent state."
Another definition states that a colonization is marked by conquest and sovereignty over an area for the benefit of the "parent" (suzerainty). As an "empire," it would be most easy to point out that the history of what the author deems "China" is a history of differing ethnic/geographical factions attempting to dominate, re-settle and control others (new or adjacent territory) from a "parent" or centralized location ― a combination of pure "colonialism" and suzerainty.
Of course, such parsing of words is not necessary ― simply ask what a resident of Tibet or Xinjiang might think about this statement.
The author continues with other bits of willful ignorance throughout the article, but I have not the time or inclination to respond.
Rev. Samuel Weddington Seoul samuel_weddington@hotmail.com