Here’s a more relevant question -— is it Hu Jin Tao’s contention that whoever stepped foot in a place ( as vast as Australia ) has a claim to own the place?
Granted there were Native American Indians living in this land we now call the USA — but WHO actually claimed to own the ENTIRE lower 48 plus Alaska among the Indian tribes?
They were busy warring with each other and enslaving one another.
I am not familiar with the history of aborigines PRIOR to the arrival of Europeans so I do not know if one tribe lived in peace and harmony with another tribe then.
“Here’s a more relevant question -— is it Hu Jin Tao’s contention that whoever stepped foot in a place ( as vast as Australia ) has a claim to own the place?”
From Chinazi point of view, yes. It, at the least, provides rationalization.
Why else would he say something so ludicrous?