PRC acting like a dick to Vietnam, Philippines

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How relevant is it to compare ancient Chinese dynasties to the current communist party?

It's extremely relevant. The Party almost openly (but not explicitly) fashions itself as just another of the long list of dynasties. Dynasties come and go, yet the implicit values have not changed in over two thousand years.

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I have been living in Ho Chi Minh City for a month and the entire downtown area has been closed down on Sunday mornings due to the protests.

Anti-Chinese sentiment is quite strong and I have been treated to a few diatribes about the history of Vietnamese control over the Spratlys and Paracels before Chinese imperial conquest and historical revisionism. Lot of questions about why America hasn't gotten more involved in the dispute.

Vietnam, and to a lesser and different extent China, are experiencing various economic and social problems. In those circumstances dictatorships are bound to engage in cynical flag-waving to distract the population. But many dictatorships have been overthrown after such flag-waving goes wrong and the political elite obviously have to think of this as well.

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I hope they keep it up -we just might get our bases back on Luzon. 

...if Uncle Sam has not already experienced a Greek-style crisis where decades of bloated spending come home to roost.