First, do no harm (unless you have to)

Morality is defined with a gun. Yours or someone else's.

@SupraLibrix Not really. Behavior is influenced by threats of violence. Morality is a defined by people internally and sometimes defended to the death. History is full of such people, sometime revered, sometimes cursed.

I take your point, and I agree, but Japan is a postage stamp island next to a Goliath. Are you confident with that response?

China tried to take over some small islands in Japans territory. The Japanese navy showed up and the paper tiger ran away. China does not yet have a significant blue water navy. The navy they have has around a thousand mile range. China would loose very quickly to Japan alone. The only option China has is the nuclear one as they just have not developed a conventional navy. China bought an aircraft carrier from Ukraine that was being used as a casino. They made a copy of the casino carrier. China was building a smaller helicopter carrier but it recently caught fire. China is bulling Vietnam, India, Philippines and Malaysia. They stay away from Japan and the USA. China wins propaganda victories but has no material way of carrying out such fantasies.

Its about 50/50 odds Saudi Arabia will crush most other oil producers in the world in the next few months. Then the Saudis can charge what ever they want with their new monopoly. How do the Saudis feel about millions of their Muslim brothers in Chinese concentration camps? Will this push China to try to take oil resources from Vietnam? A new US, Vietnam, Japan alliance against the bully China?

@SupraLibrix If bigger is better, then would Russia be your choice?

@MosheBenIssac

Some would call that immoral behavior.

@MosheBenIssac China are in the process of making their own islands in the south pacific right now. They said they wouldn't militarize them but after putting in landing strips for aircraft, they installed anti aircraft weaponry. This greatly extends the military range of China. The paper tiger is far from running away.

That works too.

@cRaZyTMG Why do you say countries cannot be moral?

If morality exists, than countries can be moral.

Do you believe morality exists?

@SupraLibrix Countries cannot be moral because countries are concepts - they are only as moral as the people that recognize and identify with it. In of of itself countries, like identities, are not moral or amoral.

Do I believe morality exists? Yes, but it is a subjective state that differs between people. e.g. I will not steal from people, but I will steal from corporations whenever the opportunity appears. So I'm a lawbreaker yet I consider myself moral. Islamists will behead infidels, yet consider themselves more moral than someone who doesn't.

@cRaZyTMG thoughtful response, sounds like a lot of thinking and words without saying the obvious.

Are you a professor of something?

@SupraLibrix Kind words. Thank you. I am definitely "of something" but my identity doesn't include academia. My career was info tech for a wide range of businesses but mostly heavy manufacturing. Happily retired for the last 3 years. Nowadays I mostly troll the internet.

@cRaZyTMG trolling is the noblest of pastimes.