China’s rejuvenation: West is missing the wood for the trees

I am troubled by the commentary “Renewal, race, and the dark side of the Chinese dream” (June 23) and its portrayal of anything from Beijing related to the Chinese diaspora as hegemonic and evil.

Would the writer say the same of the Jewish, Indian or Irish diasporas?

The Belt and Road Initiative is peaceful and economic in nature, despite how the West maligns China for developing a loyal axis along its paths.

Many of the countries along the Belt and Road welcome the plans for economic development in their part of the world, which the greater powers have neglected or played off against each other.

What could be worse than the colonial era, when things were taken by force and subjects were coerced into submission, if only because the Europeans could?

If China’s seizure of peripheral territories it now proclaims it owns is proof of its hegemony and expansionism, then perhaps large swathes of the Americas and Australasia should be returned to their pre-Columbus natives.

The West, in its current form, needs the “rejuvenation”, if it could organise itself to come up with plans or have the wherewithal to do so.

Demonising others for its problems and shaping narratives that glorify its past is self-denial.

It is easy for the writer to select parts of history to frame readers’ minds. But I am sure that discerning readers see through the ploy to keep down those who rising, Chinese or otherwise.