In the 20th Century, European countries gave up their imperialism and colonialism around the world. They set colonized peoples free and welcomed them as equal nations. To many of these former colonial powers, their past actions have become unthinkable in the present world. But countries like China and Russia seem to be embracing a neo-imperialism in the 21st Century. They do not think like free democratic nations. Their priorities are different: annexation or dominance and exploitation. Free nations around the world must realize this in dealing with these neo-imperialist countries and not operate under the assumptions that they will have the same standards of civilization and behavior.
Here is more evidence of the neo-imperialism of China: in Africa. Every African nation that gives up its ties to Taiwan in order to embrace China may get more than they bargained for. It would be interesting to see how fast Malawi goes down this same road since it derecognized Taiwan in order to get "benefits" from China in January of 2008.
