there are certain segments of the left that would call you paranoid for refusing to walk into a lion's den.

what is really behind this is not arrogance but white supremacism, but it's that kind of peculiar american white supremacism that extends to non-white americans, too: you might be better off to think of it as american supremacism, but you'd be deluding yourself into not understanding it as racism.

so, despite being a brutal fascist empire that is bent on colonial expansion and has already wreaked havoc through central and eastern asia, the chinese could not possibly be a threat to america, for two reasons:

1) as they aren't white, they aren't really threatening. they're just noble savages, really.
2) white america is, of course, invincible, anyways.

you can't win the argument because it isn't based in evidence, it's based on an internalized racial hierarchy that places america at the top - and can never be altered.

america will fall. that is certain. it will be violent, and deeply unpleasant for all. so, the question is in identifying which agents are most likely to bring us to this end point.

nobody with clear vision will pick anybody other than china.

besides, you could always ask them. you might not like what they tell you, or be prepared to hear it...