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2. With that out of the way, if anyone thinks there is a SINGLE powerful country that has been peace loving, then I have bridge to sell you.

They are 'brainwashed' in a sense to believe that. They are told it so often that they believe it without thinking.

Besides Chinese education doesn't empathise questioning things. It emphasises being taught answers. Rote learning.

Historically China used to extract tribute from its neighbours. If they didn't pay then China would send an army to enforce payment of the protection money. Actually protection money is an apt term. They maintained that vassal states were paying for China's protection.

Chinese people appear to never think about the inconsistency of their belief that China is a peaceful country even though it grew from a small city state to dominate a huge area. Nor do they seem to acknowledge that some parts of 'China' would happily break free if they could. They maintain that those parts of China were always Chinese.