China says US attack on Iran has damaged its credibility

[NuffSaid]

China thinks a 79 yr old sex abuser whose birthday party parade was a failure has no credibility.

 

[OrphanSlug]

As much as I am concerned about what Trump has done, the last nation we need to turn to for a lecture on "credibility" is China.

 

[Gordy327]

China thinks a 79 yr old sex abuser whose birthday party parade was a failure has no credibility.

They're not wrong.

 

[Captain Adverse]

China has more credibility around the world than we do.

Maybe not as credible as once thought. See next response below.

China helps people build roads and ports.

Actually, the Chinese program known as the "belt and road initiative" gives the impression of being an effort to help "developing nations" by extending a line of credit as long as the funds are used to pay for Chinese development options, i.e. roads, buildings, railways, etc. Problem is this is not "free," it is "lending" to pay for these projects and all materials. The construction is mostly done by Chinese workers, and the borrower is expected to pay the loans back.

Of course, the Chinese then posit more "developments" using Chinese workers and Chinese made materials. All in order to keep the target nation in debt to China.

We drop bombs.

LOL! Only in situations like this where the USA is enforcing OUR long-standing policy of preventing nuclear proliferation, especially by rogue nations. Do you doubt that Iran's current government is involved in funding and promoting radical Islamism and is actively seeking to produce their own nuclear weapons? As pointed out in prior posts, there is no reason to "enrich" uranium unless for use in a nuclear weapon.

 

[JoeB131]

As much as I am concerned about what Trump has done, the last nation we need to turn to for a lecture on "credibility" is China.

Oh, I disagree.

The problem is we treat China as an adversary when China isn't nearly as hostile to us.

Do you know what the Chinese call America? 美国 Měiguó - Literal Translation - "Beautiful Country".

We need to look at some of the things China is doing right and start doing them. (Or remember how to do them, because it seems like we've forgotten.)

Take foreign Aid and investment. China has built bridges, roads, airfields, and ports all around the world with the Belt and Road Initiative. That, in turn, opens markets for Chinese goods in these countries.

We used to do this, especially after WWII.

Today we don't. Trump shut down USAID because it wasn't Trumpy enough.

 

[JoeB131]

Actually, the Chinese program known as the "belt and road initiative" gives the impression of being an effort to help "developing nations" by extending a line of credit as long as the funds are used to pay for Chinese development options, i.e. roads, buildings, railways, etc. Problem is this is not "free," it is "lending" to pay for these projects and all materials. The construction is mostly done by Chinese workers, and the borrower is expected to pay the loans back.

Of course, the Chinese then posit more "developments" using Chinese workers and Chinese made materials. All in order to keep the target nation in debt to China.

Yet countries keep signing up for BRI. If anything, China is scaling back the effort because they are losing money on the deal, not quite seeing their ROI.

LOL! Only in situations like this where the USA is enforcing OUR long-standing policy of preventing nuclear proliferation, especially by rogue nations. Do you doubt that Iran's current government is involved in funding and promoting radical Islamism and is actively seeking to produce their own nuclear weapons? As pointed out in prior posts, there is no reason to "enrich" uranium unless for use in a nuclear weapon.

Actually, I would dispute much of that.

We bombed Iran because the Israelis said they were about to get a bomb.
The Israelis have been saying that for 30 years. (Keeping in mind, the Manhattan Project was completed in only 4 years)

There are a lot of reasons to enrich Uranium - Energy, medicine,

My problem is, why is it okay for Israel to have nukes (when Israel has attacked nearly all of its neighbors over the last 80 years) and Iran, which has never started a war since the Islamic Republic was founded, can't have one.

Seems like a bit of a double standard to me.

 

[Captain Adverse]

Yet countries keep signing up for BRI. If anything, China is scaling back the effort because they are losing money on the deal, not quite seeing their ROI.

More like they are doing so because they are already in such a deep debt situation that they have no funds to pay the debt off and so they just keep borrowing in order to continue to operate.

Actually, I would dispute much of that.

We bombed Iran because the Israelis said they were about to get a bomb.
The Israelis have been saying that for 30 years. (Keeping in mind, the Manhattan Project was completed in only 4 years)

There are a lot of reasons to enrich Uranium - Energy, medicine,

My problem is, why is it okay for Israel to have nukes (when Israel has attacked nearly all of its neighbors over the last 80 years) and Iran, which has never started a war since the Islamic Republic was founded, can't have one.

Seems like a bit of a double standard to me.

Blah blah blah...and yet as I write this response Trump announced Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire. I provide this AP report on the topic.

Trump holds out reported Israel-Iran ceasefire deal as validation for his gamble of US airstrikes

President Donald Trump has declared the “12 day war” between Israel and Iran is set to end in a ceasefire.

apnews.com

I am hopeful Iran will stick to this "agreement," but if not, I still support the action.

 

[SonOfDaedalus]

Well China has absolutely NO credibility, so who gives a rats patootie what they think about U.S. credibility?

Fine but if we can attack Iran, why can't China attack Taiwan? If Israel can attack Iran due to national security concerns why can't China attack Taiwan? Why can't Russia attack Ukraine? We're supposed to set an example for the world.

We've lost the moral high ground. Who cares? Maybe China cares because now they have a sound moral defense to do whatever they want.

So yes, Trump has destroyed American credibility, and that will have repercussions all over the world.

 

[Lursa]

Okay, and...? These are the kind of rationalizations used by Russia, Iran, Israel, Al Qaeda and so on too, but they don't magically make illegal aggression legal.

While presumably non-zero, the 'security' risk that Iran poses to the USA is orders of magnitude less than the security risk that the USA poses to Iran... or for that matter the likes of Panama or Greenland, or frankly pretty much any non-nuclear-armed country on the planet should the whimsy strike its supreme leader. Moreover what little threat Iran did pose in 2024 had been ramped up in 2018 by the United States' own decision to torpedo the painstakingly-developed multilateral nuclear deal, and has now been amplified a hundredfold by this attack. I'd guess that there was literally zero possibility of Iran ever threatening the USA with a 'proper' nuclear weapon; the slim but non-zero risk came from the potentials for proxy terrorism and the possibility of a dirty bomb successfully smuggled into an American city, both of which are now greatly escalated.

Rallying around the flag in a show of good old-fashioned patriotism just because China happened to be one of the countries criticising Trump's illegal and idiotic actions just doesn't seem like an appropriate response, to my mind.

I wrote nothing about illegal anything.

 

[ElChupacabra]

China accuses the USA of instability.. big wow

In terms of the Middle East, it's a hard position to defend.

 

[anatta]

More like they are doing so because they are already in such a deep debt situation that they have no funds to pay the debt off and so they just keep borrowing in order to continue to operate.

debt-trap diplomacy. This involves offering loans to developing countries for infrastructure projects, which, when these nations struggle to repay, can lead to China gaining strategic assets or influence. This term describes the practice of China offering loans to countries, often with high interest rates and unfavorable terms, that they may be unable to repay (AI search)

 

[Bucky]

That's a carefully worded lackluster response. Add China to the list of countries happy that the USA took on Iran.

China wants to invade Taiwan; they have no room to speak!

 

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

Who give a Chit what China says !
They are lying bastards , who force their people in to Slave Labor !

Iran calling for the DEATH OF AMERICA for the last 40+ years and getting this close to having a Nuke ?????......
I think I'll go with Israel and Trump on this one, and STOP those FANATICS from getting a Nuke !

 

[JoeB131]

More like they are doing so because they are already in such a deep debt situation that they have no funds to pay the debt off and so they just keep borrowing in order to continue to operate.

Blah blah blah...and yet as I write this response Trump announced Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire. I provide this AP report on the topic.


I am hopeful Iran will stick to this "agreement," but if not, I still support the action.

I'm sure this is a case of the Zionists declaring victory and going home.

But Iran will probably redouble its efforts to make a bomb or buy one on the black market.

 

[JoeB131]

Who give a Chit what China says !
They are lying bastards , who force their people in to Slave Labor !

Iran calling for the DEATH OF AMERICA for the last 40+ years and getting this close to having a Nuke ?????......
I think I'll go with Israel and Trump on this one, and STOP those FANATICS from getting a Nuke !

China has raised 400 million of her people into the Middle Class while the US watches her middle class decline into gig work.

Iran has supposedly been "This close" to getting a nuke for 30 years.

The real problem is that we let Israel dictate our foreign policy. How many times have we militarily intervened over there because Israel was afraid of her neighbors?

 

[Simpletruther]

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-us-attack-iran-has-damaged-its-credibility-2025-06-22/

...The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.

China's U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said parties should restrain the "impulse of force, avoid exacerbating conflicts and adding fuel to the fire," according to the state broadcaster CCTV.

Fu said parties, especially Israel, "should immediately cease fire to prevent the situation from escalating and avoid the spillover of war."

Iran was hurt "but the United States credibility was also damaged- both as a country and as a participant in any international negotiations," Fu said.

State media commentary late on Sunday said the U.S. move was extremely dangerous and provocative. The Global Times newspaper in an opinion piece, said external military interference would never bring peace, and only "deepen regional hatred and trauma."...

China has no credibility.

 

[JoeB131]

China has no credibility.

Why?

China has lived up to every treaty they signed.

The US is the one breaking treaties left and right because Mango Mussolini thinks we got a "bad deal".

 

[Simpletruther]

Why?

China has lived up to every treaty they signed.

The US is the one breaking treaties left and right because Mango Mussolini thinks we got a "bad deal".

Genocide

 

[Metric Mouse]

China is watching closely.

Suddenly they might see that Taiwan isn't as easy a target as they thought... might not be worth it to them.

 

[Mithrae]

Iran calling for the DEATH OF AMERICA for the last 40+ years and getting this close to having a Nuke ?????......
I think I'll go with Israel and Trump on this one, and STOP those FANATICS from getting a Nuke !

They say that all bullies are cowards. I don't know whether or not that's true, but there's certainly some solid evidence for it coming from the folk who pretend that this is about 'stopping nukes' rather than having even the bare minimal cojones to at least admit they just want to blow more shit up in the Middle East.

While the latter is hardly admirable either, one guy who was (more or less) willing to say it out loud in 2018 was National Security Adviser John Bolton, openly advocating for invasion of Iran and expressing an intention to be "celebrating in Tehran" by 2019. Just a small problem: By that stage, Iran over the preceding years had reduced its enriched uranium stockpile by 98% from enough to (eventually) make eight bombs down to zero and agreed to an extensive international monitoring programme ensuring that no further uranium would be enriched beyond four percent. In exchange sanctions were being relaxed and there was a conceivable path in which future Iranians might view America less as the vicious enemy which overthrew its democratic government to install an oppressive puppet regime and more as a profitable trading partner. Who knows, maybe one day their native Iranian food chains Pizza Hat, ZFC and MashDonald's would even have ended up competing directly with American chains with suspiciously similar-sounding names!

Couldn't have that of course, so Trump torpedoed the nuclear deal and with the writing on the wall Iran frantically restarted its nuclear program in the hopes it could acquire sufficient deterrent capability before the likes of Bolton and Hannity could push the president to war. Within the prior twenty years America had outright invaded and occupied Iran's neighbours on both sides, neither of which possessed any kind of nuclear program, while countries like Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea secured their safety with their nuclear programs, so it was a bit of a no-brainer. But evidently they either weren't quick enough or (more likely) allowed optimism and prudence after Trump's defeat in 2020 to overrule their very well-founded fears and chose to stop short of full weaponization until absolutely necessary.

Now Trump has perhaps made Iran's nuclear weaponization absolutely necessary, without having reduced its enriched uranium stockpile in the slightest; so I guess a key question is whether a country of over 1.6 million square kilometers might have managed to hide any centrifuges and other operational nuclear facilities? Trump may just have made their nuclear weaponization inevitable.

 

[JoeB131]

China is watching closely.

Suddenly they might see that Taiwan isn't as easy a target as they thought... might not be worth it to them.

I think it's quite the opposite.

The fact that Trump gave up so soon, immediately backpedaled into a cease fire while insisting he wasn't for Regime Change or a War, tells me he doesn't have a stomach for a prolonged fight that has no benefit for him.

China might well conclude that a prolonged war, especially if they get a beachhead on Taiwan, might not be something Trump will do.

 

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

China has raised 400 million of her people into the Middle Class while the US watches her middle class decline into gig work

Yes because in China they have people who want to Make China Great Again! Unlike America where we have 1/2 of our Government trying to destroy America !.....

Iran has supposedly been "This close" to getting a nuke for 30 years.

I'm sure Israeli & US Intel have good reason to do what they did.
Just look at the response/ lack there of , by Iran. They know!

The real problem is that we let Israel dictate our foreign policy. How many times have we militarily intervened over there because Israel was afraid of her neighbors?

Iran dictated our foreign policy response.

You seem to now grasp the dynamics in the Middle East !

Just know that in Israel they have Jewish, Christian, and Muslim building, monuments, and relics !
In Muslim nations they do not preserve any other historical times that is not accepted by Islam !

Israel is not 100% good, but they are far more civil and reasonable than their neighbors.

 

[NoMoreDems-Reps]

They say that all bullies are cowards. I don't know whether or not that's true, but there's certainly some solid evidence for it coming from the folk who pretend that this is about 'stopping nukes' rather than having even the bare minimal cojones to at least admit they just want to blow more shit up in the Middle East.

While the latter is hardly admirable either, one guy who was (more or less) willing to say it out loud in 2018 was National Security Adviser John Bolton, openly advocating for invasion of Iran and expressing an intention to be "celebrating in Tehran" by 2019. Just a small problem: By that stage, Iran over the preceding years had reduced its enriched uranium stockpile by 98% from enough to (eventually) make eight bombs down to zero and agreed to an extensive international monitoring programme ensuring that no further uranium would be enriched beyond four percent. In exchange sanctions were being relaxed and there was a conceivable path in which future Iranians might view America less as the

You do know that Iran funded and assisted Hamas to attack Israel and kill thousands of women and children? Right ?
Iran is not some innocent nation that ANYONE should trust or take their word for !
To sit there and TRY and make a case for Iran is a real huge problem ! You should go live in Iran for a year!
You would most likely be killed because you're a leftist !

 

[JoeB131]

Yes because in China they have people who want to Make China Great Again! Unlike America where we have 1/2 of our Government trying to destroy America !.....

Yes, we know the REpublicans are trying to destroy the country because they don't like minorities and gays, what's your point.

Six months of Trump, and we already have War, Riots, and Recession.

Good job.

I'm sure Israeli & US Intel have good reason to do what they did.
Just look at the response/ lack there of , by Iran. They know!

I'm sure the Israelis have "good reasons", which is to manipulate the US into fighting their wars for them.

And didn't "Intel" tell us that Saddam had WMD's and he was going to kill us all? How'd that one work out again.

The Iranians didn't respond because they didn't really have to. Russia, China, and most of the Islamic World has condemned the US attacks.

Iran dictated our foreign policy response.

You seem to now grasp the dynamics in the Middle East !

Just know that in Israel they have Jewish, Christian, and Muslim building, monuments, and relics !
In Muslim nations they do not preserve any other historical times that is not accepted by Islam !

Israel is not 100% good, but they are far more civil and reasonable than their neighbors.

Israel is a European Colonial state oppressing an indigenous people. Period. Full stop. The only reason much of the West tolerates it is because they still feel guilty about the Holocaust.

Here's the dynamic of the Middle East. They are going to resist any invader or colonizer.

We need to keep out of it.

 

[Mithrae]

You do know that Iran funded and assisted Hamas to attack Israel and kill thousands of women and children? Right ?
Iran is not some innocent nation that ANYONE should trust or take their word for !
To sit there and TRY and make a case for Iran is a real huge problem ! You should go live in Iran for a year!
You would most likely be killed because you're a leftist !

"Iran bad" is not a coherent response to the fact that Trump's attack has potentially done little or nothing to delay their development of nuclear weapons and, quite the opposite, has strongly incentivized their development (which it seems they hadn't previously intended to do).

"Iran bad" was an excellent reason to incentivize Iran becoming better - such as through the nuclear deal developed in the mid 2010s, the one that Trump torpedoed - and a truly abysmal reason to incentivize their development of nuclear weapons.