Part III of a review of The East is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century. Read Part I here, Part II here. Reactionary Socialism? The misplaced belief that China is a socialist great power leads The East is Still Red to a double standard: American exceptionalism and imperialism are depicted as menacing (not necessarily wrong), but its counterpart in Chinese exceptionalism at home and imperialistic conduct abroad go unacknowledged.
It's interesting that you (rightly) question the coherence between the rhetoric that claims to be "socialist" and the real world, but you do not apply that approach to the purported "no limits" partnership between Russia and China, taking it for granted. I think it is also the case that China-Russia relations are limited by certain boundaries and mistrust, don't you think? To begin with, if it was a real partnership without limits we would have seen Chinese military support to Russia and Chinese business would not be stopped by Western sanctions on Russia ("There is evidence that some Chinese banks are already dumping Russian business" https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/03/18/how-china-russia-and-iran-are-forging-closer-ties)
It's interesting that you (rightly) question the coherence between the rhetoric that claims to be "socialist" and the real world, but you do not apply that approach to the purported "no limits" partnership between Russia and China, taking it for granted. I think it is also the case that China-Russia relations are limited by certain boundaries and mistrust, don't you think? To begin with, if it was a real partnership without limits we would have seen Chinese military support to Russia and Chinese business would not be stopped by Western sanctions on Russia ("There is evidence that some Chinese banks are already dumping Russian business" https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/03/18/how-china-russia-and-iran-are-forging-closer-ties)