How Do I Explain to People That China Isn't Imperialist?

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/10270361

As you may know, China is rather passive about the recent kidnapping event. Many people I talk to about it believe China and Russia are staying silent because they made a deal with the USA about Venezuela's oil sources. There are more conspiracy theories about the incident, but it's for another topic.

Furthermore, Türkiye granted visa-free travel to Chinese nationals, and there's a residential area being built for the new BYD Auto factory at Manisa city. These developments fueled sinophobia in Türkiye.

**I talk about Turkish history here; feel free to skip.**

Now, before talking about my question, I should briefly talk about why Türkiye is very xenophobic. Since the foundation of the country, the Turkish government has been pushing the narrative that every person living in Türkiye is Turkish and Muslim. They were teaching how Sumerians and Hittites were Turkic back in my parents' day to back this claim up. They taught me how Turks have been the legitimate settlers of Anatolia for thousands of years, and we are the true defenders of the faith at every level of my education—even at university.

To strengthen the nationalist ideas, the government purged the Rums (Anatolian Greeks), Armenians, Jews, and non-Muslim Turks, then oppressed and massacred the Alawites and left-wing groups.

Decades under conservative and near-fascist polities made people prone to governmental propaganda. Now, the current government doesn't push anything against China because they need the money. But when you dictate to people that China was your “historic enemy” and grow them as xenophobic as possible, they will behave like that.

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A lot of people here claim China has been pushing its agenda sneakily for years; by the 1980s, China became capitalist, and by the 2010s, it became imperialist. They are putting countries in debt traps and colonizing them by moving their populations to indebted countries and building businesses there. The kidnapping of Maduro inflamed this rhetoric, and now they claim China, Russia, and the USA set a deal for splitting Venezuela, like how the Allied Powers split the Ottoman Empire.

I know, and I try to explain why this isn't the case, but the conservative/reactionary roots run too deep to convince them. Before anyone tells me to stay away from those people, they should know it is like trying to stay away from the sands in a desert—I'm living in a country full of people like these. I must defend my case in the best way possible so at least they will know I'm not just saying empty words (this last bit would open another can of worms, but again, I'll refrain from diverting the topic).