> they could just as well survive being the only civ on the planet unlike most western nations right now
but chinks don't want to just survive, they want to have a rich society because you don't revolt when you are rich, only poorfags want a revolution
and some economists think that even if whole world traded freely with china it still wouldn't be a big enough market for china to escape the middle income trap
if china wants to be self sustainable they first have to create a strong middle class and in order to do that they need to earn money by selling cheep shit to other countries