Open Thread Friday 5-22-2020

A Look at China Part Five
I came across this passage yesterday while reading a book on the Southern United States discussing the aftermath of the Yamassee War (1715—1718).

"In the meantime. the British authorities began political steps to prevent the rise of any future tribal confederacies that might threaten their trading empire. In essence the English determined to follow the old rule of divide and conquer. They would forment discord among tribes by pitting Indian against Indian. Inparticular the Carolinians would sustain a Creek-Cherokee feud. "This makes the matter of great weight to us,' explained on colonist, "how to hold both as our friends, and assist them in cutting one another's throats. This is the game we intend to play."
Tribes of the Southern Woodlands

Three great powers of Europe England, France and Spain were carving up North America and the American Indian tribes. Our founding fathers grabbed the prize from the Europeans. The next century Western powers moved onto China.

Some of the key individuals pushing China into the Western centered world.

Empress Dowager Cixi
Deliberate efforts were made to understand the West and incorporate western ideas during the years Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Zhen co-ruled China. Americans and Englishmen were employed in key positions. Anson Burlingame appointed the US Minister to Beijing by President Lincoln became China's Ambassador to Europe and America.

Efforts were being made at the end of Cixi life to change the political system to a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament to ensure continued Manchurian rule. Instead revolution happened within a few years of her death.

Author Jung Chang discussing Cixi
(1 hr 15 min)
[video:https://youtu.be/QTsAlaZDQLY?t=105]

Sun Yet Sun
Considered the Father of Modern China.
Developed the well-known 'Three Principles of the People' -- often summarized as nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KKtH2Y_cFE]

Chiang Kia-Shek

President of China - Chiang Kai-Shek - 1929
(less than 3 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDpHcaB4tQc]

Considered himself the successor to Sun Yet Sun.

He ruled Taiwan as President of the Republic of China and General of the Kuomintang until his death in 1975.

Why he lost mainland China.

When he became the leader of the Guomindang in 1925, Chiang launched the so-called Northern Expedition, a military campaign aimed at defeating the warlords and unifying China. The Expedition was completed in 1927, and a new central government was established in Nanjing.

The Guomindang had risen to power by promising sweeping social and economic reforms. Soon after its military triumph, however, the regime lost its momentum and institutional inertia set in. Despite some attempts at modernization, which we will discuss later, the regime became increasingly preoccupied with maintaining its hold on power, with preserving the status quo and fighting against radical forces, such as Communism.

Mao Zendong
The man who the moving force of pushing China into a modern industrial nation. To put it bluntly he pushed the Western and Japanese powers out of China. When he felt China was ready he invited them back onto Chinese soil per his terms.

Considered communism the successor to Sun Yet Sun.

Mao did not single out Christianity to persecute any competing belief system received the same treatment. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism were considered competing ideology to communism and science.

It is hard to find a biography for Mao without an ideological bent. He was either hated or loved depending on how he effected ones life. The author of this video does a fair job and declares when he is stating his opinions at the end.
(30 min)
[video:https://youtu.be/EnudA5M9l_w?t=24]

Chairman Mao Tse-Tung Life & Legacy Documentary Film
(14 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al5jozIZf7E]

Soong Siblings
Soong Ai-ling served as Sun Yat-sen’s chief secretary after her graduation from Wesleyan College. Married Kung Hsiang-hsi a graduate of Yale University. He served in the Republic of China as Premier, Minister of Industry and Commerce and Minister of Finance. Also served as the Governor of the Central bank of China.

Soong Ching-ling married Sun Yet-Sen. She served as the Vice Chairman of Peoples Republic of China in communist China.

Soong May-ling married Chaing Kai-shek’ and served as First Lady of the Republic of China.

Soong Tse-ven graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University. Served as Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank of China, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1945 he was the head of the Chinese delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization.

Soong Tse-liang served as the Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

Author Jung Chang discussing the Soong sisters.
[video:https://youtu.be/0pxZ6Tcfnu0?t=199]

________

A Look at China Part One Potential Conflict with China
A Look at China Part Two Documentary Series on development of Chinese culture
A Look at China Part Three Timeline of Christianity in China beginning prior 100 AD
A Look at China Part Four Century on Humiliation

________

Open thread all discussions are welcome.

(edited spelling)

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Thanks SOE for your very informative China series. Fascinating stuff.
Brought to mind the times spent in Singapore building boats.
When occasioned upon the older Chinese women, it was determined
first off -- what are the contents of your stomach?
followed by -- what is your matrimonial state?
Even being a round eye, it was difficult to escape the woven spell
these matriarch's would spin. Very social with extended families.
Unlike here, one's occupation was not a chief concern.
Acceptance and pliability seemed more important.

Fun times.

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studentofearth's picture

@QMS small towns in Oregon growing-up and early career. Communities shared the good and bad times. Then it changed were you an environmentalist or timber industry supporter as the 80's progressed and in the 90's progrowth or antigrowth. Early 2000 political party became more important, the moderates of both parties have slowly disappeared. Today we can divided ourselves over the foods we choose to eat and the types of marriage we support.

My parents ran a small salmon troller out of Newport, Oregon and I would help occasionally. In the middle of the timber crisis we would watch cargo boats load logs from private timber lands and head towards Japan for manufacturing. At the same time Oregon's economy was in the hurting the Timber Industry was laying off workers due to lack of logs being harvested off federally subsidized land. It was the beginning of this cycle of urban/rural divide and changed politics in the state.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

magiamma's picture

Thank you so much for your continued lessons in Chinese history. I would like to recommend a book to you. Maybe you have read it. I got it from my Chinese teacher when I lived in Canada. She was born in Germany and spoke with a heavy German accent but spoke perfect Chinese and offered to teach me Chinese. I wanted to study it because I believe you can learn a lot about a culture from a language and there was a large number of Chinese in Vancouver. I do not speak Chinese except for a few sentences, but learned a lot about the culture through my studies. The name of the book is GRACE

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56947-314-6

"May you live in interesting times" goes the Chinese blessing, especially apt for the life of Grace Divine Liu (1901–1979), a Tennessee native who, while living in China, witnessed the Japanese occupation, the Communist revolution, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. As this biography by Grace's cousin Cooper and her son Liu explains, Grace's own leap from Chattanooga, Tenn., to China began in 1926, when she moved to Manhattan at the age of 25 to pursue a singing career. There she met Liu Fu-chi, a Chinese engineering student at Cornell. The improbable couple nearly broke up under pressure from the two disapproving families, but ended up marrying and raising three children in his native land. They lived in the foreign-controlled territory of Tientsin, where Grace was one of a handful of Westerners to watch semicolonial China melt away and, later, to see all things Western or "bourgeois" purged under Mao. When her husband died in 1955, she supported herself by teaching English at Nankai University, and was briefly arrested during the Cultural Revolution for corresponding with foreign academics.

Take good care and have a good one.

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studentofearth's picture

@magiamma I am adding the book to my reading list.

Spanish is the only second language I began to learn. It did open up new ways to think. Chinese organizes its communication differently. I am starting to recognize the cadence and words, but have not formally tried to learn the language. Mixed media arts can open up news ways to process the world around us.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

enhydra lutris's picture

Yamassee War ended in 1718. Louisiana Purchase 1803. Battle of New Orleans 1815. End of War of 1812 also 1815. Andy Jackson's Indian Removal Act was 1830 or so. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was May 30 1848.

OK, we have a jump-shift segue in the quoted passage as follows:

"In the meantime. the British authorities began political steps to prevent the rise of any future tribal confederacies that might threaten their trading empire. In essence the English determined to follow the old rule of divide and conquer. They would forment discord among tribes by pitting Indian against Indian. Inparticular the Californians would sustain a Creek-Cherokee feud.

Whatever the Brits did or didn't do, including the English, and maybe the English colonists/settlers of the nascent USA are intended to be included in that, California, way way way out west of the whole Southern Woodlands, and the Oklahoma destination of the removal, was Mexico with a side of Russia Help me out here. I know some Cherokee exist in the state today, as well as some Creek, but how and when the got here I dunno. (I saw a reference to an "Indian Relocation Program" in the fifties, but that would make no sense in the context of the quoted material.) I know that the Mexicans were seriously oppressive to the Indigenous Californians, and the post Guadalupe-Hidalgo settlers and governments were horrible to them,

be well and have a good one.

Edited to fix chronology

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

enhydra lutris's picture

@enhydra lutris @enhydra lutris
there were no material populations of Creek or Cherokee out here until relatively modern times; here are the indigenous California peoples, more or less (per da wiki):

Achomawi, Achumawi, Pit River tribe, northeastern California[4]
Atsugewi, northeastern California[4]
Chumash, coastal southern California[4]
"Barbareño", Coast Central Chumash
"Cruzeño, Isleño", Island Chumash
"Emigdiano", Tecuya, Interior Central Chumash
"Interior"[disambiguation needed], Cuyama, Interior Northwestern Chumash
"Inezeño", "Ineseño", Samala, Inland Central Chumash
"Obispeño", Yak-tityu-tityu-yak-tilhini, Northern Chumash
"Purisimeño", Kagismuwas, Northern Chumash
"Ventureño", Alliklik – Castac, Southern Chumash
Chilula, northwestern California[4]
Chimariko, extinct, northwestern California[5]
Kuneste, "Eel River Athapaskan peoples"
Lassik, northwestern California[4]
Mattole (Bear River), northwestern California[4]
Nongatl, northwestern California[6]
Sinkyone, northwestern California[4]
Wailaki, Wai-lakki, northwestern California[4]
Esselen, west-central California[4]
Hupa, northwestern California[4]
Tsnungwe
Karok, northwestern California[4]
Kato, Cahto, northwestern California[4]
Konkow, northern-central California[4]
Kumeyaay, Diegueño, Kumiai
Ipai, southwestern California[4]
Jamul, southwestern California[7]
Tipai, southwestern California and northwestern Mexico[4]
La Jolla Complex, southern California, c. 6050–1000 BCE
Maidu, northeastern California[4]
Konkow, northern California
Yamani[disambiguation needed], Mechoopda, northern California
Nisenan, Southern Maidu, northern California
Miwok, Me-wuk, central California[4]
Bay Miwok, west-central California[4]
Coast Miwok, west-central California[4]
Lake Miwok, west-central California[4]
Valley and Sierra Miwok
Monache, Western Mono, central California[4]
Nisenan, eastern-central California[4]
Nomlaki, northwestern California[4]
Ohlone, Costanoan, west-central California[4]
Awaswas
Chalon
Chochenyo
Karkin
Mutsun
Ramaytush
Rumsen
Tamyen
Yelamu
Patwin, central California[4]
Suisun, Southern Patwin, central California
Pauma Complex, southern California, c. 6050–1000 BCE
Pomo, northwestern and central-western California[4]
[[Te'po'ta'ahl[[, ("Salinan"), coastal central California[4]
"Antoniaño"[8]
"Migueleño"
"Playano"
Shasta northwestern California[4]
Konomihu, northwestern California
Okwanuchu, northwestern California
Tolowa, northwestern California[4]
Takic
Acjachemem, ("Juaneño"), Takic, southwestern California
Iívil̃uqaletem, Iviatim, ("Cahuilla"), Takic southern California[4]
Kitanemuk, ("Tejon") Takic, south-central California[4]
Kuupangaxwichem, ("Cupeño"), southern California[4]
Payómkawichum, ("Luiseño"), Takic, southwestern California[4]
Tataviam, Allilik Takic ("Fernandeño"), southern California[4]
Tongva, ("Gabrieleño"), ("Fernandeño"), ("Nicoleño"), "San Clemente tribe" Takic, coastal southern California[4]
Yuhaviatam Morongo, Vanyume Mohineyam ("Serrano"), southern California[4]
Tubatulabal, south-central California[4]
Bankalachi, Toloim, south-central California
Pahkanapil, south-central California
Palagewan, south-central California
Wappo, north-central California[4]
Whilkut, northwestern California[4]
Wintu, northwestern California[4]
Wiyot, northwestern California[4]
Yana, northern-central California[4]
Yahi
Yokuts, central and southern California[4]
Chukchansi, Foothill Yokuts, central California[4]
Northern Valley Yokuts, central California[4]
Tachi tribe, Southern Valley Yokuts, south-central California[4]
Yuki, Ukomno'm, northwestern California[4]
Huchnom, northwestern California[9]
Yurok, northwestern California[4]

Anybody moving west from the Southern Woodlands on foot, way back then, singly or in family groups or small bands had to contend with whites and Mexicans, as well an Comanche, Arapaho, Apache, Navajo,(southwest), Shoshone, Paiute and more Comanche (basin and range), and add in Ute if going via Utah. Mountains and deserts also too. How the hell did they get here?

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

TheOtherMaven's picture

@enhydra lutris

That sounds more geographically plausible.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@TheOtherMaven

there was something very special that happened that I was unaware of. The wanderings, migrations, relocations and translocations of the continent's indigenus peoples is pretty much way outside of my purview.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

smiley7's picture

@enhydra lutris

the dust bowl.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@smiley7

then the gringos weren't openly slaughtering them and such.

be well and have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Azazello's picture

@enhydra lutris
in 4th grade California history into something called "Mission Indians."

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

enhydra lutris's picture

@Azazello

Fort Ross, the rest were simply ignored and elided; except for nasty old Captain Jack and his crew who may have been given a brief nod, Eris bless him. Wink

be well and have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

TheOtherMaven's picture

@enhydra lutris

He was the villain, of course, but depicted as a "Well-Intentioned Extremist". And he was played by a guy who had just changed his name to...Charles Bronson. The movie is Drum Beat, and it is Very Very Loosely Based on a True Story.

You may or may not be able to find a copy (or a TV showing), and it may or may not have been butchered for narrow-screen (the movie was originally filmed in Cinemascope). And you may or may not think it's worth it (Charles Bronson and Alan Ladd fans generally think it is, just because of them).

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

lotlizard's picture

https://consentfactory.org/2020/05/20/brave-new-normal-part-2/

Popular Internet “anti-imperialists” started accusing everyone opposing the lockdown of being part of some far-right Republican plot to “promote mass death under the banner of freedom” or to “normalize death” to benefit rich people, or being members of a “death cult,” or something. Celebrity socialists took to Twitter to warn that we would “shortly have the blood of thousands of people on our hands,” and call us “anti-vaxxers” and “flat earth fucks.” Indie political and military analysts patiently explained why governments needed to be able to pull people out of their homes against their will and quarantine them. Anarchist anthropologists averred that the lockdown wasn’t damaging the productive economy; it was only damaging the “bullshit economy,” and those complaining about being out of work were people whose work is “largely useless.”

Others simply looked away or sat there in silence as we were confined to our homes, and made to carry “permission papers” to walk to work or the corner grocery store, and were beaten and arrested for not “social-distancing,” and were otherwise bullied and humiliated for no justifiable reason whatsoever. (We are talking about a virus, after all, that even the official medical experts, e.g., the U.K.’s Chief Medic, admit is more or less harmless to the vast majority of us, not the Bubonic Fucking Plague or some sort of Alien-Terrorist-Death-Flu … so spare me the “we-had-no-choice-but-to-go-totalitarian” rationalization.)

My intent is not merely to mock these people (i.e., these “radical,” “anti-establishment” types who fell into formation and started goose-stepping because the media told them we were all going to die), but also to use them as a clear example of how official narratives are born and take hold.

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studentofearth's picture

@lotlizard worse. China reacted like the infection was a bioweapon of war. The whole country mobilized. Specific actions and assumptions changed as more information was collected and analyzed.

Our country's response did not seem place any importance on general citizen's medical and economic safety. Infection control is not a new concept and there are many non-technological practices that could have been implemented immediately at federal and state government levels and altered as we learned more about the virus. Once the fear level was raised high enough the politics and propaganda has been intense as different power based fight for control.

Any quarantine requires planning to be effective. Why to initiate, plans for implementation, monitoring conditions for maintaining and evaluate when and how to end. In worse case scenarios when to reimplement. It has just become another political football to prove "my side" is the best team and move towards some unspoken goalposts. Crossfire can be deadly.

We still have no idea if chronic medical conditions can result from mild cases. The official version of Lyme's Disease treat it with a round of antibiotics and the infection no longer effects the health of the infected person. Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are still considered "made up" conditions in some medical circles.

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--When the opening appears release yourself.

magiamma's picture

@studentofearth
Well said. Thanks.

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CB's picture

showing western influences from the Opium Wars to the present violent protests.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyECgE0oegE]

Western backed media distorts news on protestors vs HK police.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5D8ZQBIlsM]

The economic rise of China is an existentialist threat to US world hegemony and the COVID-19 has exacerbated this conflict. I believe the HK protesters will become increasingly violent in the coming months as Washington doubles down on it's anti-China policies/propaganda.

Just in. It appears that China's law makers are anticipating US interference in HK.

A draft decision on national security legislation for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been submitted to the National People's Congress for deliberation.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vgkjaUHh3k]

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CB's picture

@CB
and encourages young students to reject China. They no longer have knowledge of their country's history. There has been an insidious poisoning of their impressionable minds. The colonial powers obviously have no intention of letting Hong Kong return to China, even to the extent of it's destruction.

Within Hong Kong, the influence of politics on the school curriculum has raised a number of questions. Inevitably, education has been politicized, and some basic information about China and its history has been neglected. In Hong Kong, there are many in the teaching profession who embrace extreme ideas, to the point they advocate violence and encourage their students to stir up trouble.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jItXWmrjPU]

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studentofearth's picture

@enhydra lutris suddenly seeding discord similar to British Colonists as a tactic for conquest. We only bandy about a few words none of us are being sold into the West Indies slave trade or having our winter food stores destroyed.

The idea of divide an conquer has been played on the world and political stages over and over.

"This makes the matter of great weight to us,' explained on colonist, "how to hold both as our friends, and assist them in cutting one another's throats. This is the game we intend to play."

The British powers are masters of the game of getting someone else to keep continual conflict. Many longstanding conflicts around the world are along "fuzzy" borders area left in dispute as the British Empire retreated or divided up areas into nation states.

American's are not as subtle we like to show off our weapons. Our policy was simply to annihilate Indians with military and settler militias from any land with economic potential.

Hong Kong was the British foothold and if nothing changes any remaining legal loopholes created by the British to influence China are gone by 2047. Republic of China in Taiwan is America's foothold. They claim a larger geographical territory of land and sea as their sovereign country than the Peoples Republic of China.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
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smiley7's picture

Enjoyed your series on China which i know so little about. Did have a high school and college friend who spent a year there as an youth ambassador in the late sixties and i recall the amazing stories he shared with us.

Truly a shame how colonial exploitation destroyed better societies all over this earth. Happy history survives to enlighten us.

Imagine it's a busy time for you on the homestead, happy gardening and all.

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Lookout's picture

Thanks for the China info. I'll look forward to learning more about the few names in China history I heard in my youth.

My sister is off to Tiawan to teach next month. I should learn some more through her.

All the best. Hope all is well on the farm. A cool wet spring so far here. Early crops still bearing strong....summer crops ain't too happy, but should come around as it warms next week.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

studentofearth's picture

@Lookout like petunia and pansies in my gardens. Everywhere, numerous varieties in the ground, outside containers and inside houseplants. It is a beautiful part of the world.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

You did a great job.
I had a surprise visit from a friend/client, and he regaled me with stories about his insane youth, then left me with some documents to revise. Seems he has discovered 2 more kids that he fathered. He wants them included in his will.
Seems the last time I re-wrote his will, he had just discovered a love child.
I should just keep a permanent file, and just add a child's name when he gives me a call.
He did a count of my empty beer bottles, said it was impressive! Lol!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

studentofearth's picture

@on the cusp Amazed at how uninformed I was when first visited the country in 1989.

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--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth Our guide had a masters' degree in China's history.
Every building, bridge, road, statue, had an amazing story.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

CB's picture

from MoA.

China's Move In Hong Kong Illustrates The End Of U.S. Superiority
...
As the U.S. is busy to counter the epidemic at home China has already defeated it within its borders. It now uses the moment to remove an issue the U.S. has long used to harass it. Hong Kong will finally be liberated from its U.S. supported racists disguised as liberals.
...
The 'Cold War 2.0' the U.S. launched against China will now see significant counter moves.

Last year's violent riots in Hong Kong, cheered on by the borg in Washington DC, have demonstrated that the development in Hong Kong is on a bad trajectory that may endanger China.

There is no longer a reason for China to hold back on countering the nonsense. Hong Kong's economy is no longer relevant. U.S. sanctions are coming independent of what China does or does not do in Hong Kong. The U.S. military designs are now an obvious threat.
...
In his 2003 book After the Empire Emmanuel Todd described why the U.S. was moving towards the loss of its superpower status:

"Todd calmly and straightforwardly takes stock of many negative trends, including America's weakened commitment to the socio-economic integration of African Americans, a bulimic economy that increasingly relies on smoke and mirrors and the goodwill of foreign investors, and a foreign policy that squanders the country's reserves of "soft power" while its militaristic arsonist-fireman behavior is met with increasing resistance."

The Covid-19 crisis has laid all this bare for everyone to see.

Will the U.S., as Todd predicted, now have to give up its superpower status? Or will it start a big war against China to divert the attention elsewhere and to prove its presumed superiority?

Posted by b on May 22, 2020 at 17:41 UTC

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studentofearth's picture

@CB At some point the Chinese may determine non-engagement practices will not be sufficient to prevent the harm to their citizens and country. Thanks for the link.

The U.S. Marine Corps is being reconfigured into specialized units designed to blockade China's access to the sea:

Thus, small Marine forces would deploy around the islands of the first island chain and the South China Sea, each element having the ability to contest the surrounding air and naval space using anti-air and antiship missiles. Collectively, these forces would attrite Chinese forces, inhibit them from moving outward, and ultimately, as part of a joint campaign, squeeze them back to the Chinese homeland.

The Navy and Marines were an active presence in China between 1818 and 1949. In 1949 the victory of Peoples Republic of China forced them off the mainland. Militarily they have been restricted to neighboring countries, islands and sea lanes.

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CB's picture

@studentofearth
today. Things could get out of hand between the US and China/Russia. Personally, I have more trust in the leadership of China and Russia than in America. The US will not go quietly into the night. There are individuals within the US government that would rather the world get destroyed than the US lose it's position as The Indispensable Nation.

China: one country, two sessions, three threats
May 22, 2020

The key takeaways of the Two Sessions of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing are already in the public domain.

In a nutshell: no GDP target for 2020; a budget deficit of at least 3.6% of GDP; one trillion yuan in special treasury bonds; corporate fees/taxes cut by 2.5 trillion yuan; a defense budget rise of a modest 6.6%; and governments at all levels committed to “tighten their belts.”

The focus, as predicted, is to get China’s domestic economy, post-Covid-19, on track for solid growth in 2021.

Also predictably, the whole focus in the Anglo-American sphere has been on Hong Kong – as in the new legal framework, to be approved next week, engineered to prevent subversion, foreign interference “or any acts that severely endanger national security.” After all, as a Global Times editorial stresses, Hong Kong is an extremely sensitive national security matter.

This is a direct result of what the Chinese observer mission based in Shenzhen learned from the attempt by assorted fifth columnists and weaponized black blocs to nearly destroy Hong Kong last summer.

No wonder the Anglo-American “freedom fighter” front is livid. The gloves are off. No more free lunch. No more paid protests. No more black blocs. No more hybrid war. Baba Beijing’s got a brand new bag.
...
The whole fulcrum of US foreign policy since WWII has been to prevent Eurasia integration – now actively pursued by the Russia-China strategic partnership. New Silk Roads across Russia – part of Putin’s Great Eurasia Partnership – are bound to merge with Belt and Road. Putin and Xi will meet again, face-to-face, in mid-July in St. Petersburg, for the twin summits of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and will further discuss it in extensive detail.

So presiding, in silence, over the Two Sessions, is the understanding by the Chinese leadership that getting back to domestic business, fast, is essential for a renewed push on the grand chessboard. They know the industrial-military-surveillance-media complex will pull no punches to deploy every possible geopolitical and geoeconomic strategy to sabotage Eurasia integration.

Made in China 2025; Belt and Road – the post-modern equivalent of the Ancient Silk Road; Huawei; China’s manufacturing pre-eminence; breakthroughs in the fight against Covid-19 – everything is a target. And yet, in parallel, nothing – from a remixed long telegram to stale ruminations on the Thucydides Trap – will derail a rejuvenated China from hitting its own targets.

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enhydra lutris's picture

Republic of China in Taiwan is America's foothold. They claim a larger geographical territory of land and sea as their sovereign country than the Peoples Republic of China.

Uhm, Formosa?

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

studentofearth's picture

@enhydra lutris I am not informed adequately to form an opinion. This author simply claims the boundary issue is communist China's fault.

When Taiwan broke off from China in 1949 at the end of the Chinese Civil War, both governments claimed to be the rightful government of “China”. Taiwan established a constitution that included the full boundaries of what was considered at the time to be Chinese territory, and adopted the name “ The Republic of China”. Since then, the People’s Republic of China has adjusted their borders and resolved many of the disputes, leaving Taiwan alone in holding up outdated border disputes.

Although these remain in the constitution, the government of Taiwan has not made moves towards most of these territories. For example, in 2002, the Taiwanese government excluded Mongolia from the administrative definition of “mainland area”, basically saying that they are acknowledging Mongolia as a separate country(though it’s still technically included in the constitution). In practice, Taiwan treats Mongolia as a functional government, with some creative loopholes used to avoid changing the constitution.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@studentofearth

disputes, which it could do, since the counter-parties recognized it, but Formosa Taiwan couldn't ratify or accede to because nobody but the US recognizes it, so this is China's fault for being the real China. Was this written by Kissinger?

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --