i think your definition of vassal state differs from everyone else's, for one, no American bases sit inside china, no american is going to take over command of chinese soldiers during war, American concerns are much further down the list in the minds of the chinese leadership than the korean leadership. and as we all know China and the US butt head over many issues from WTO to the envioronment, hardly the behavior of a vassal state.
and the biggest difference, china follows the world rules because it benefits from it, it willing follows them, if it didnt, china might be poorer but would still exist and would still be china(case in point see after sino-soviet split but prior to US-China honeymoon, where china didnt fit in either camp and didnt follow either ones rules but china was still there) south korea on the other hand would not exists were it not for the US intervention(immediately after ww2 in the negotiations, then in the korean war) and to this day needs to count on US assistance.
and and new word of the day for ya, CO-DEPENDENCE , thats the most used current description of US-China relations, the other being competitor
Hahaha, calling servitude co-dependence does not make it true.
On estimate China exports close to 17% of it's total 1.904 trillion dollar export total to the US.
That amounts to 300+ billion dollars of goods every year that is made from very low wages
just so the spoiled American people can continue to buy goods for cheap cheap prices.
What does China receive in return for 300+ billion dollars worth of goods sent to the US?
THEY GET DOLLARS!! Woot!! Dollars that every day continues to depreciate, because of the
economic policies implemented by the Federal Reserve, which is to create trillions of dollars
out of thin air to lubricate the anuses of their fellow crooked politicians and banker friends.
Year after year, the Chinese people working for what almost amounts to slave wages to make goods
that will be shipped off for American consumers who continue to demand lower and lower prices, which
only helps to keep working conditions low for the Chinese people.
When the majority of your people continue to work like serfs in low wage factory jobs just so spoiled
western countries can continue to benefit off the hard worked back of your people, yeah be blind and
call it co-dependence, lol, after my analysis can you truly call it that? It's laughable.