[Shaved Monkey]

Maybe Xi's interest in Greek history explaines his leadership style.
Much more suited to a technological stable situation than to one where it is moving rapidly.

No leader has transformed a country so quickly from the 3rd world to the first world.

Thats what scares Sparta

[Newfie]

I think you have that backwards.

The upsurge was the result of previous leadership management. It took Xi years to dismantle that system.

This kind of thing often happens inbthe US. It takes at least a couple of years for 5he new President's policies to have discernable effect.

China is already on a strong downward slope, they passed their peak quite a while ago. Even MSM is now picking up on the obvious.

[ralfy]

According to one source, they lifted 800 million out of poverty due to a 7-pct ave. economic growth rate across decades, using a variation of the East Asian Miracle started by Japan. Other countries have been doing similar, and they now include VIP: Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Some say similar has been taking place among the Global South, as seen in Next 11, EAGLE, MINT, and so on.

The U.S. cannot accept this because it's dependent on the dollar used as a global reserve currency, which in turn allows it to take on incredible levels of debt, such as almost $8 trillion in addition to public debt from Trump and almost $5 trillion from Biden, not to mention around $12 trillion in unaudited bailouts to the rich via Dubya and Obama. Much of that debt is used to pay for a very expensive military needed to ensure that dependence, among others.

That's why the U.S. media, 90 pct of which is owned by six corporations, needs to keep up the attacks on China and Russia plus cheerlead each conflict involving the U.S. and its NATO allies.

[Shaved Monkey]

Their fast trains are a technological miracle and the scale of roll out is nothing short of outstanding
The speed at which they can go from no aircraft carrier to having one is pretty impressive they will have more soon
Then highways airports and cities

The efficiency of a Communist System utilised, were plans are drawn and target are met in short periods of times with no change of plan every few years,that democracy and the free market brings.

Sparta would be worried what happens in the next few decades

Only a war can stop this progress

[Newfie]

Let's bookmark this and come back in 10 years.

[Shaved Monkey]

Let's bookmark this and come back in 10 years.

For the hot war ?

China will eventually make their own chips and then its game over.
The only way to slow them down is to get them to waste money defending themselves and close down their markets and try and shift Western manufacturing to India and destabilise all the Stans their rail lines run through and stir up some troubles with their Pacific Neighbours and stir up their middle class with a bit of economic contraction.

Need to have a stable Sparta to do this though
When the choice is Trump or Biden it suggest democracy isnt in a great place

[ralfy]

From last September:

"Huawei’s chip breakthrough poses new threat to Apple in China — and questions for Washington"

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/19/huaweis ... china.html

Also, in Sparta, the weak were enslaved or killed.

[Newfie]

What would happen if China invaded Taiwian? One mans opinion.

https://substack.com/app-link/post?publ ... g_ovavKzhk

[ralfy]

Invading its own province....

[theluckycountry]

Invading its own province....

Have you noticed how the propaganda is moderating though?
Fortress Taiwan: Why a Chinese Invasion is Unlikely, but not Impossible
A couple of years ago it would have been
Fortress Taiwan: Why a Chinese Invasion is highly Unlikely.

It's probably what's behind the push to get the semiconductor tech rolling again.

[evilgenius]

What about China slipping into an economic nightmare? Xi is always keeping ahead of the revolution. There could be one. More possible may be that the economy could take down Xi. The people's collective suffering being enough to organize them.

China could be left beheaded and looking to Taiwan for leadership.

[Newfie]

Good one Evil.

I had not thought of that but possible I suppose.

If you think about leadership for a moment....

China has one man rule, supposed he has cut out anyone with leads hip quality to threaten him.

Putin in Russia has done something very similar.

The USA has a clear leadership vacum.. Trump has demonstrated his ability to pass off or fire anyone with an original thought. Biden has selected Harris for VP.

While unlikely it is possible you could see China and Russia loose their leaders and the USA end up with Harris or Trump, 2 different forms of disfunction. All at the same time. Good grief Batman.

[ralfy]

China is facing economic crisis together with various industrialized countries. In many ways, what it's going through is similar to that of Japan across more than two decades. The U.S. is exceptional because it can borrow and spend heavily (which is what it has been doing since the early 1980s), but that's dependent on the dollar used as global reserve currency. Meanwhile, BRICS and the Global South are slowing moving away from that and creating a multipolar global economy.

What about Taiwan? It was under a dictatorship for four decades and industrialized because of that. The same dictatorship was doing business with China while accepting outsourcing from the U.S. and others that were moving to service industries.

Recently, the U.S. declared that it would not recognize Taiwanese sovereignty in order to continue appeasing China. Meanwhile, the latter is moving towards more manufacture of semiconductors but outsourcing (which according to sources like the Economist started almost two decades ago, as around 50 pct of its manufacturing is assembly) to the Global South while buying or investing in South Asia, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and so on.

[theluckycountry]

China Expanding New Outpost In Antigua & Barbuda, Alarming The Pentagon

US officials are deeply alarmed at new reports that China is greatly expanding its economic, diplomatic, and possibly even military presence in the island paradise region of the Caribbean, just off America's doorstep.

Newsweek says it has in its possession leaked documents which show China has established a sprawling economic zone and outpost on Antigua and Barbuda, and has "secured privileges that resemble those of a small state."

This means that from this location lying just 220 miles from the US Virgin Islands, Beijing could expand its espionage capabilities, akin to what is already happening in nearby Cuba, where China is in negotiations with the Cuban government to establish a new joint military training facility on the island.

United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which is based in Doral, Florida (near Miami) and oversees US operations and security in Central and South America and the Caribbean, says that China is likely using its state-owned enterprises to conduct intelligence-gathering, just as in other parts of the world.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ ... g-pentagon

It's ok though, the military has General Laura Richardson in command of Southcom. She'll keep the yellow peril at bay. Though she's never pulled a trigger in the face of an enemy she did fly a helicopter and strategically married a General on her way up the ladder. Her ability to command troops in the field is unquestioned, because, she is a woman, and they can do Anything.

[Tanada]

China Expanding New Outpost In Antigua & Barbuda, Alarming The Pentagon

US officials are deeply alarmed at new reports that China is greatly expanding its economic, diplomatic, and possibly even military presence in the island paradise region of the Caribbean, just off America's doorstep.

Newsweek says it has in its possession leaked documents which show China has established a sprawling economic zone and outpost on Antigua and Barbuda, and has "secured privileges that resemble those of a small state."

This means that from this location lying just 220 miles from the US Virgin Islands, Beijing could expand its espionage capabilities, akin to what is already happening in nearby Cuba, where China is in negotiations with the Cuban government to establish a new joint military training facility on the island.

United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which is based in Doral, Florida (near Miami) and oversees US operations and security in Central and South America and the Caribbean, says that China is likely using its state-owned enterprises to conduct intelligence-gathering, just as in other parts of the world.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ ... g-pentagon

It's ok though, the military has General Laura Richardson in command of Southcom. She'll keep the yellow peril at bay. Though she's never pulled a trigger in the face of an enemy she did fly a helicopter and strategically married a General on her way up the ladder. Her ability to command troops in the field is unquestioned, because, she is a woman, and they can do Anything.

I grew up in the Cold War and have many family members who have served in the military. However I find these scare stories to be really over the top, like China needs to make economic deals with nearby countries to support spying on the continental USA. Really? There are hundreds or probably thousands of Chinese exchange students living here which doesn't even touch on the much higher number of guest workers here on VISA's at companies of every shape and size. On top of that they have top notch satellite surveillance and we keep allowing them spy balloon overflights. How or why would I consider a deal with Barbados or Cuba a threat compared to all of that?

[ralfy]

China Expanding New Outpost In Antigua & Barbuda, Alarming The Pentagon

US officials are deeply alarmed at new reports that China is greatly expanding its economic, diplomatic, and possibly even military presence in the island paradise region of the Caribbean, just off America's doorstep.

Newsweek says it has in its possession leaked documents which show China has established a sprawling economic zone and outpost on Antigua and Barbuda, and has "secured privileges that resemble those of a small state."

This means that from this location lying just 220 miles from the US Virgin Islands, Beijing could expand its espionage capabilities, akin to what is already happening in nearby Cuba, where China is in negotiations with the Cuban government to establish a new joint military training facility on the island.

United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which is based in Doral, Florida (near Miami) and oversees US operations and security in Central and South America and the Caribbean, says that China is likely using its state-owned enterprises to conduct intelligence-gathering, just as in other parts of the world.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ ... g-pentagon

It's ok though, the military has General Laura Richardson in command of Southcom. She'll keep the yellow peril at bay. Though she's never pulled a trigger in the face of an enemy she did fly a helicopter and strategically married a General on her way up the ladder. Her ability to command troops in the field is unquestioned, because, she is a woman, and they can do Anything.

I grew up in the Cold War and have many family members who have served in the military. However I find these scare stories to be really over the top, like China needs to make economic deals with nearby countries to support spying on the continental USA. Really? There are hundreds or probably thousands of Chinese exchange students living here which doesn't even touch on the much higher number of guest workers here on VISA's at companies of every shape and size. On top of that they have top notch satellite surveillance and we keep allowing them spy balloon overflights. How or why would I consider a deal with Barbados or Cuba a threat compared to all of that?

Similar was taking place even during the Cold War, with the belief that the Soviets would invade the West. See _Rogue State_ by William Blum and other books for details.

[theluckycountry]

I grew up in the Cold War and have many family members who have served in the military. However I find these scare stories to be really over the top... On top of that they have top notch satellite surveillance and we keep allowing them spy balloon overflights. How or why would I consider a deal with Barbados or Cuba a threat compared to all of that?

Oh I agree, totally ridiculous and obviously a red herring. But it begs the question, Why is China down there in Cuba and the other islands? That is the real story isn't it. It's not like the Cuban missile crises era, if China wanted it could sneak dozens of nuclear tipped hyper-sonic missiles onto those islands without anyone being the wiser. The real estate is worthless, why are they there...