We already know Putin's model for global conquest. He appears to be failing badly. BUT !!
China has a substantially more sophisticated approach. You needn't check each of these links. Merely skimming the teaser texts reveals the controversy.
How China is bending the rules in the South China Sea
www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/how-china-bending-rules-south-china-sea
Feb 17, 2021 ... The conventional wisdom is that China claims sovereignty over “virtually all South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters.
Limits in the Seas #150: An Update on China's Illegal Activity in the ...
www.jtl.columbia.edu/bulletin-blog/limits-in-the-seas-150-an-update-on-chinas-illegal-activity-in-the-south-china-sea
Apr 13, 2022 ... Since 2013, China has engaged in dredging and artificial island-building, creating over 3,200 acres of new land. China has also deployed long- ...
China says South China Sea land reclamation 'justified' - BBC News
www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29139125
Sep 10, 2014 ... Using the Chinese name for the Spratly islands, she added: "China asserts indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the adjacent ...
The (Potentially) Legal Basis for China's Sovereignty Claims to Land ...
www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/2528218/historically-mine-the-potentially-legal-basis-for-chinas-sovereignty-claims-to
Mar 8, 2021 ... Germany ceased conducting a survey of the islands in 1883, after the Qing dynasty protested the survey and claimed that the islands belonged to ...
China's Dredging Strategy in the South China Sea
thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2016/3/25/chinas-dredging-strategy-in-the-south-china-sea
Mar 24, 2016 ... As part of their efforts to assert their claim to ongoing sovereignty in the area, China is engaging in significant dredging operations ...
No, China Is Not Reclaiming Land in the South China Sea
thediplomat.com/2015/06/no-china-is-not-reclaiming-land-in-the-south-china-sea
Jun 7, 2015 ... In summary, China considers these features to be islands in the legal sense and therefore claims not only sovereignty over them but a ...
Massive Island-Building and International Law
amti.csis.org/massive-island-building-and-international-law
Jun 15, 2015 ... Therefore the island building activities at these reefs cannot be within China's sovereignty. Furthermore, it would be illegal for China or any ...
China's latest weapon against Taiwan: the sand dredger - Reuters ...
graphics.reuters.com/TAIWAN-CHINA/SECURITY/jbyvrnzerve
Feb 5, 2021 ... Chinese dredging ships are swarming Taiwan's Matsu Islands, forcing the local coast guard to run round-the-clock patrols. The tactic is part of ...
Xi Jinping and China's maritime policy - Brookings
www.brookings.edu/articles/xi-jinping-and-chinas-maritime-policy
Jan 22, 2019 ... Xi-era China's most consequential move has been the massive expansion of its outposts in the Spratly Islands. The PRC's artificial islands now ...
Why the US Navy sails past disputed artificial islands claimed by ...
abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-navy-sails-past-disputed-artificial-islands-claimed/story?id=60993256
May 6, 2019 ... The Spratly Islands are a collection of several dozen low-lying islands and reefs close to Borneo. In 2014 China began massive dredging ...
Competing Visions of International Order in the South China Sea
www.crisisgroup.org/asia/north-east-asia/china/315-competing-visions-international-order-south-china-sea
Nov 29, 2021 ... The South China Sea disputes are fundamentally about competing claims of sovereignty over hundreds of small maritime features and competing ...
That's not all China's up to lately:
To what extent will Xi Jinping consolidate power? Will he be victorious against party elders? We seek clues from personal data of key political figures.
asia.nikkei.com
China's been buying up mining contracts around the globe. That looks serious to me. During the Cold War there were "strategic minerals", raw material the U.S. needed to wage & win the Cold War. Some of those were raw materials mined from Soviet territory.
But what happens if China corners the market on raw materials essential for Western commerce, and then China shuts off the supply?
Instead of picking off wedding parties with predator drones the way the U.S. does, China's been to very poor or "3rd world" nations to provide simple aid, such as providing wells from which safe drinking water is obtained.
And China's also been involved in road building, and other ways to help.
Kudos to China for this.
How nice it would be to see China and the West team up to cooperatively expand these humanitarian efforts.