> it's that Russia and China are engaging in terrifying behavior, attacking and undermining their surrounding countries, promoting a pure might-makes-right and historical grievance narrative, making vast claims over neighboring countries sovereignty with their "spheres of influence" and China's ludicrous ocean claims, and on and on
You're giving an extremely dramatized version of what China has actually been doing.
> attacking and undermining their surrounding countries
China hasn't fought a foreign war in over 40 years. That's actually pretty incredible, when you think of the fact that most major powers have fought many wars in that same timespan.
> promoting a pure might-makes-right and historical grievance narrative
I have never seen China promote a "might-makes-right" narrative. China consistently states that the United Nations framework is the basis for international relations. That's why, for example, China has never recognized Russia's occupation of Crimea - it's contrary to the UN Charter.
> making vast claims over neighboring countries sovereignty
China's territorial claims haven't expanded in many decades - since its founding. In fact, the PRC has reduced its claims over time. It inherited a bunch of border disputes from the previous government (the ROC), some of which is has resolved through negotiation (for example, with Mongolia, Vietnam and the USSR/Russia).
If you look at the South China Sea dispute, for example, you might be surprised to learn that Taiwan (a.k.a., the ROC) has nearly identical territorial claims as the PRC. I say "nearly" identical, because the PRC has settled some aspects of the dispute with Vietnam through negotiation. Taiwan actually occupies the largest, most valuable island in the South China Sea.[0] The reason why China has been pouring cement on reefs is because it is a latecomer to the scramble for the South China Sea islands, and all the largest islands and reefs are already occupied by other countries, as you can see from this list: [1].
All of the countries bordering the South China Sea have extensive, overlapping claims. The US strategy is fairly successful because it comes in and offers to help various countries enforce their claims versus China. The downside for these countries is that they risk worsening their relationship with China, which is the most important economic partner for every country in the region, and that they might get dragged into a military conflict between the US and China. That's why countries in the region have gone back and forth between cozying up to the US and China.
0. Taiping Island: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Island
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_maritime_features_in_t...