That's a moral argument. In the west we believe liberal values are the best , and we want them around the world. As such, authoritarianism is a priori an enemy
There's exactly one country (Japan) where establishing a liberal democracy at gunpoint worked out. The US then tried to do the same in like a quarter of the world and kept failing. At some point some people up there ought to get the message right? I don't know how else to do it but war simply isn't it.
You called China an enemy in response to Schmidt being called a war mongerer. I read that as a defense of Schmidt stance and implicit support for war with China. If I got that wrong then I agree my comment is out of context.
