Tag: China

“Deal With China Is Done”

More tariff news….

For awhile now the US and China have been in negotiations , trade talks, on the supply of rare earth minerals…..now there is word of a possible deal….

President Trump on Wednesday said the US and China have struck a deal to ease the trade war between them, reports CNBC. China will supply critical rare earths and magnets “up front,” the president wrote in all-caps post on Truth Social. In return, the US “will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!).” Trump said the deal—which was born out of two days of negotiations by economic officials from the respective countries—is still subject to his and President Xi’s final approval. “We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, (and) China is getting 10%,” Trump wrote, adding that the “relationship is excellent” between the two countries.

  • London talks: His confirmation came after senior US and Chinese negotiators signaled they had reached the framework of a deal on mineral and tech exports after the talks in London, per the AP. The outlet adds, however, that it was “not clear whether any progress was made on the more fundamental differences over China’s sizeable trade surplus with the United States.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick put it this way after the talks on Tuesday: “First we had to get sort of the negativity out and now we can go forward.”
  • Context: The new deal essentially gets the US and China back to where they were in early May after an agreement was struck in Switzerland, per the New York Times. The Swiss deal subsequently fell apart as China held back shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets.

Now how did Donny’s ‘yo-yo economics’ play with the markets?

Not as well as Donny may have wanted.

Wall Street’s rally stalled Wednesday after stocks climbed back within 2% of their all-time high.

  • The S&P 500 fell 16.57 points, or 0.3%, to 6,022.24, marking its first drop in four days.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.10 points, or less than 0.1%, to 42,865.77.
  • The Nasdaq composite fell 99.11 points, or 0.5%, to 19,615.88.

The action was stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields eased after a report showed inflation ticked up by less last month than economists expected, the AP reports. That raised expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this year. Markets didn’t react much to the conclusion of two days of trade talks between the US and China.

On Wall Street, a 1.9% drop for Apple was the heaviest weight on the market. It’s been listless this week after unveiling several modest upcoming changes to the software that runs its devices. Chewy dropped 11% after the seller of pet supplies reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts had forecast. Tesla swung between gains and losses before finishing with a rise of 0.1% to continue its shaky run. It’s been recovering much of its big losses taken last week after Elon Musk’s relationship with Trump imploded, which in turn raised fears about a loss of business for the electric-vehicle company. Musk on Wednesday backed away from some of his earlier comments and said they went “too far.”

Trump said Wednesday that China will supply rare-earth minerals and magnets to the United States, while his government will allow Chinese students into US universities in a deal that still needs an agreement by him and by China’s leader. Trump also said that “President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade. This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!” Investors are still hoping for a more sweeping trade deal that would ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

This will do little to help struggling families buy the goods that they need….but not to worry Donny got a ‘deal’ he can brag about.

+++Off I go for yet another round of doctors and stuff….hopefully I will make it home early enough to get back to doing what I do best+++

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Long And Winding Road

For decades the rhetoric around China has been swirling and the ‘intel’ says that they are gearing up for something big…..why else would they want to build a base in the South China Sea?

In the past decade the rhetoric has gotten more intense and the money has been flying out of the treasury and into the hands of the defense industry so that the US can thwart any attempts by China to do the damage we have been warned about.

This back and forth has been brewing since about 2001….at that time each saw themselves as peace loving and the other as aggressor.

SecDef, Hogsbreath, is ramping up the rhetoric in preparation (it seems)….

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday slammed US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for a “Cold War mentality” in response to his remarks about China at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which included him warning that the US is ready to “fight and win” a war over Taiwan.

During his speech on Saturday, Hegseth took aim at China over a range of issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. “China seeks to become a hegemonic power in Asia. No doubt. It hopes to dominate and control too many parts of this vibrant and vital region,” he said.

Hegseth accused China of wanting to “fundamentally alter the region’s status quo” and said Beijing’s “behavior towards its neighbors and the world is a wake-up call.”

Regarding Taiwan, Hegseth claimed that it was “public” that Chinese President Xi Jinping had ordered his forces to be prepared for an invasion by 2027. However, that claim is based on comments from US officials and has never been confirmed by Beijing.

Hegseth Says US Ready to ‘Fight and Win’ a War With China Over Taiwan

China wants to be the hegemonic power in Asia?   Is that not what the US is doing?

So fast forward to today and the mash-up over Formosa (Taiwan to the youngsters out there)….the US is pouring money into the island nation by the truckload…..

The late journalist and documentarian John Pilger in 2016 commented on evolving U.S. strategies:

“When the United States, the world’s biggest military power, decided that China, the second largest economic power, was a threat to its imperial dominance, two-thirds of US naval forces were transferred to Asia and the Pacific. This was the ‘pivot to Asia’, announced by President Barack Obama in 2011. China, which in the space of a generation had risen from the chaos of Mao Zedong’s ‘Cultural Revolution’ to an economic prosperity that has seen more than 500 million people lifted out of poverty, was suddenly the United States’s new enemy…. [Presently] 400 American bases surround China with ships, missiles and troops.”

Analyst Ben Norton pointed out recently that, “the U.S. military is setting the stage for war on China. … The Pentagon is concentrating its resources in the Asia-Pacific region as it anticipates fighting China in an attempt to exert U.S. control over Taiwan.” Norton was reacting to a leaked Pentagon memo indicating, according to Washington Post, that “potential invasion of Taiwan” would be the “exclusive animating scenario” taking precedence over other potential threats elsewhere, including in Europe.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/13/u-s-war-on-china-a-long-time-coming/

“China is the strongest it’s ever been,” said Brigadier General Doug Wickert, the 412th Test Wing commander in the United States air force. “It has fairly aggressively built a very large force that’s been specifically developed to counter our strengths.”

Today, the PLA boasts almost a million more troops than the United States and over a thousand more tanks. It has built its navy into the largest in the world with approximately 400 warships and stacked its air force with nearly 2,000 fighter jets.

Beijing has also drastically expanded its intelligence capabilities to the point where deputy CIA Director Michael Ellis claimed earlier this week that China has become an “existential threat to American security in a way we really have never confronted before”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/25/china-military-capability-missiles-peoples-liberation-army/

This is war waiting to happen….the rhetoric keeps it in the forefront of conversations….but let us say that some incident pushes the US and Chiona into a real war not just a war of words….

A report to Congress last July examining the risk of simultaneous conflict with Russia, China, North Korea and potentially Iran reached a similar conclusion, warning that the U.S. population was not sufficiently prepared for the disruptions in supplies and services such a conflict might produce, through cyber attacks and interruption of supply chains.
Keeping supplies coming would almost certainly a challenge for both sides. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command has talked repeatedly about using smaller and larger drones, including robot submarines, to create a “Hellscape” in the Taiwan Strait to block Chinese forces.
Still, U.S. commanders acknowledge China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) now has its own hefty ability to target U.S. planes and ships, rendering it vital to forward locate equipment and weapons stocks early in advance – particularly as China’s missile range improves.
This month, head of U.S. Indo Pacific command Admiral Sam Paparo said the “depth and range” of China’s military drills were now increasing fast, including exercises to invade and blockade Taiwan while also striking port and energy facilities.
Beijing is also publicly highlighting its ability to conduct such actions, presenting them as a key part of seizing the island. “If Taiwan loses its maritime supply lines, its domestic resources will quickly be depleted, social order will fall into chaos and people’s livelihoods will be severely impacted,” said a Chinese military official in one video released by the PLA.
“I remain confident in our deterrence posture, but the trajectory must change,” Paparo told congressional officials in April, warning that while his forces currently retained enough superiority to deter a Taiwan invasion, that advantage was being rapidly eroded as China built up forces.
I believe the whole scenario of money and rhetoric is not making us safer….no matter who ‘wins or loses’ any actions of conflict there will be no winner…..just a planet that suffered from too much arrogance and stupidity.
This is not a fight that we should be forcing onto the world.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”

Those China Negotiations

If you will recall the prez slapped a tariff of 125% or was it 145%….any way he recently slacked off to a 80% tariff on goods coming in from China.

All the while we are told that there is massive negotiations going on to try and moderate these trade limitations.

News came out over the weekend that some progress in those negotiations is being made…..

“I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Sunday in Switzerland. He didn’t go so far as to say an agreement was reached, though the White House did, putting the headline “US Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva” on a transcript of Bessent’s remarks on its website. No one provided information in support of that conclusion, but Bessent said details would be released Monday, NBC News reports.

Signs of a truce in the trade war sparked by President Trump’s tariffs would pump up the financial markets, per the New York Times, and reassure those fearing it will bring the global economy down. Later Sunday, per the AP, the Chinese delegation held a news conference in Geneva in which it described the weekend talks as “candid, in-depth and constructive dialogue.” The two sides agreed to “establishing a consultation mechanism” for more discussion on trade and economic issues, said Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Before Sunday’s round of talks began, Trump posted online that “great progress” was being made toward what he said could be a “total reset” on his tariffs, per the AP. Trump said Friday that the US might lower the tariffs on China from 145% to 80%, per the Washington Post. China has maintained it won’t make trade concessions in reaction to the tariffs. The two sides have not agreed on whose idea the negotiations were. Chinese officials say the US asked them to participate. American officials disputed that.

That is good news indeed….but is it?

This administration is noted for a whole bunch of misinformation…..is this to try and placate the markets or is it just wishful thinking?

As I was working on this post at 5 am news that the markets, the futures, jump almost a 1000 points….so I guess my previous questioned was answered.

I am hoping that some sort of deal can be made because without one Christmas is going to be really expensive this year.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How Big Of A Threat Is China?

This is a companion post to my previous post on Hogsbreath (Hegseth) statement about the Panama Canal and the news of troops being sent to Panama for ‘training’.

All this threatening talk got me to thinking and I wanted some info on just how big is the world threat from China.

I mean we hear all about their influence in Panama and their desire for Taiwan and the whole of the South China Sea and we already have heard about the punishment of tariffs of 145%….but really just how big is the China problem?

I decided that I would look beyond the MSM and its echo chamber and past the rhetoric of the politicians and especially the Donny Show and go to some academics that actually look at the world around us.

Which country is the greatest threat to the United States? The answer, according to a large proportion of Americans, is clear: China.

Half of all Americans responding to a mid-2023 survey from the Pew Research Center cited China as the biggest risk to the U.S., with Russia trailing in second with 17%. Other surveys, such as from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, show similar findings.

Senior figures in recent U.S. administrations appear to agree with this assessment. In 2020, John Ratcliffe, director of national intelligence under President Donald Trump, wrote that Beijing “intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically.”

The White House’s current National Defense Strategy is not so alarmist, referring to China as the U.S.’s “pacing challenge” – a reference that, in the words of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, apparently means China has “the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the power to do so.”

As someone who has followed China for over a quarter century, I believe that many observers have overestimated the country’s apparent power. Recent challenges to China’s economy have led some people to reevaluate just how powerful China is. But hurdles to the growth of Chinese power extend far beyond the economic sector – and failing to acknowledge this reality may distort how policymakers and the public view the shift of geopolitical gravity in what was once called “the Chinese century.”

https://theconversation.com/is-the-united-states-overestimating-chinas-power-220014

Then there is this from the Foreign Policy website…..

It has become a cottage industry in Washington and in parts of Europe these days to highlight all the many ways in which China threatens U.S., Western, and Asian interests. Politicians, military officers, and pundits take turns describing the dangers posed by Beijing’s “expansionist” and “aggressive” military, “implacably hostile” ideology, “predatory” economic and tech policies, and “insidious” overseas influence operations.

Despite shunning the Trump administration’s habitual use of most of these inflammatory adjectives, U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken nonetheless depict Beijing as challenging the entire “rules-based order that maintains global stability” and as the major focal point of a global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, which is now, according to Biden, at an “inflection point.”

Such language echoes the premise of various strategy documents of the Trump administration and the speeches of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: that the United States is now locked in a strategic, great-power rivalry with China that overshadows any other foreign (or even domestic) threats or concerns facing the country.

China Doesn’t Pose an Existential Threat for America

Without depending on the opinions in a MSM site and by looking at what professionals, not a pack of overpaid amateurs that have no idea what is happening, have to report I ask again….Is China really the threat that is promoted?

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Panama Next?

We have all heard the lame ass rhetoric from Little Donny about the Panama Canal, right?  well this clueless POS, the amateur, at the War Department has jumped on the bandwagon and made a bold statement.

“China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. [A]nd China will not weaponize this canal. Together, we will take back the Panama Canal from China’s influence.” Those were Pete Hegseth’s fighting words on Tuesday during his visit to Panama—the first by a US defense secretary in more than 20 years—in which Hegseth met with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino. During his visit, Hegseth warned about the “ongoing threats” from China regarding the Panama Canal, which President Trump has hinted about “reclaiming,” reports Axios. More on Hegseth’s trip and its implications:

  • Making nice: Per Politico, despite Hegseth’s harsh words regarding China, he played “carrot, not stick” when it came to how he talked about the Central American nation. “Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective, and most lethal fighting force in the world,” Hegseth said Tuesday in a presser.
  • More hints of partnership: He added, per Axios: “The United States and Panama have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades.” Bloomberg looks at the interaction similarly, calling Hegseth’s tone toward Panama a “cooperative” one.
  • A discrepancy: Despite the seemingly conciliatory stance in terms of Panama, there was one important variation in two versions of a joint statement put out by the US and Panamanian governments after Hegseth and Mulino conferred. The Daily Beast notes that in the Spanish version, the following line appears: “Secretary Hegseth recognized the leadership and inalienable sovereignty of Panama over the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas.” That line is omitted from the US version.
  • Mulino’s take: His government’s statement after the Hegseth meeting aside, the Panamanian leader has issued past denials that China holds any sway over the canal. “We aren’t going to speak about what is not reality, but rather those issues that interest both countries,” he said in February, per the AP. Mulino has agreed, however, to allow for an audit that would be shared with the US of Beijing-operated ports at the canal, which the US fears may be being used for surveillance purposes.

Just how much control does China actually have in Panama?

And now US Troops are headed to Panama….

U.S. troops are now set to deploy near the Panama canal for military training, exercises and “other activities,” as per a new joint deal with the Panamanian government.

The deal, seen by AFP on Thursday, comes as an apparent concession to President Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to retake the major global trade route from Panama if it failed to reduce or axe fees it charged to American vessels passing through there.

“We’re going to take [the canal] back, or something very powerful is going to happen,” Trump alleged in early February.

Notably, the deal walks back previous assertions by Hegseth, who posited on Wednesday that the U.S. could, “by invitation,” even “revive” military bases previously used in Panama to “secure [its] sovereignty.” Instead, American troops will be deployed to Panama-controlled facilities — though some of these facilities will be American built-ones, erected in Panama decades ago when it still occupied the canal zone.

“Panama made clear, through President Mulino, that we cannot accept military bases or defense sites,” Panama’s security minister, Frank Abrego, explained in a Wednesday appearance with Hegseth.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/troops-panama/

In true bullying form….Donny and his butt boyz are threatening the world (damn near) to get6 what they want.

Now just how much does China control in Panama or is this just using a very convenient ‘enemy’ to try and get their way?

This pathetic!

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

China Response In Kind

Just a few days ago I wrote about the US master plan of prepping for conflict with China….here is that post….

WHOLLY SH*T! More War Prep?

Then there is the massive build-up of the US war machine in the South China Sea region….

A significant amount of US military power has been on the move over this past week, including several B-2 strategic bombers which have landed at the US military base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean just over 2,000 miles southeast of Iran. According to press reports this is the most significant B-2 presence on the Island in nearly half a decade. In addition flight trackers are showing increased activity by at least nine KC-135R refueling aircraft in the region. Several C-17 cargo planes have also been spotted by satellites on the Island.

(antiwar.com)

Now with all the threatening rhetoric China has reciprocated….with more threatening rhetoric….

The People’s Liberation Army will respond to any “dangerous provocations” by the US military in the waters and airspace near China, Beijing said on Thursday after a bilateral maritime security meeting in Shanghai.
“The reconnaissance, survey, and high-intensity drills conducted by US warships and aircraft in the sea and airspace near China are highly likely to cause misjudgment, jeopardising China’s sovereignty and military security,” the PLA Navy said.
This situation is getting close to being out-of-hand…..everyday the possibility of an incident occurring in the South China Sea area more and more possible.
This has the stench of war all around these plans…..
So is the US president elected with the promise to end wars rather than start them ready to launch a war against the modern, technologically-advanced nation of 90 million with an extremely complicated terrain, advanced military capabilities, and a newly-signed strategic partnership treaty with Russia?
Looks like yet another lameass promise of Little Donny was a LIE!
It is time for someone to pull the US from the brink of war that we are approaching….maybe Little Marco at State ….hahahaha he does not have the nuts to get into this debate he must wait for Little Donny to tell him what he is to do.
“When we ever learn”?
In closing song from Pete Seeger…..please listen closely….very informative.
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”

Prepping For War?

Those amateurs in the War Department are getting serious about a possible war with China…

Is the war that most fear getting closer?

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth distributed a memo in mid-March ordering the Pentagon to put its focus on preparing for a war with China, a nuclear-armed power, by “assuming risk” in Europe and other parts of the world, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

The Post didn’t publish the full memo, known as the Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance, but said it “outlines, in broad and sometimes partisan detail, the execution of President Donald Trump’s vision to prepare for and win a potential war against Beijing and defend the United States from threats in the ‘near abroad,’ including Greenland and the Panama Canal.”

The Pentagon has considered China the top “threat” facing the US since the first Trump administration, but the Post report said the memo is “extraordinary in its description of the potential invasion of Taiwan as the exclusive animating scenario that must be prioritized over other potential dangers — reorienting the vast US military architecture toward the Indo-Pacific region beyond its homeland defense mission.”

The report said that the guidance from Hegseth says the Pentagon’s force planning construct “will consider conflict only with Beijing when planning contingencies for a major power war” and leave the “threat from Moscow largely attended by European allies.”

Hegseth wrote that China “is the Department’s sole pacing threat, and denial of a Chinese fait accompli seizure of Taiwan — while simultaneously defending the US homeland is the Department’s sole pacing scenario.”

The memo also calls for the US to pressure Taiwan to increase military spending “significantly.”

For years now, the US military has been openly preparing for war with China despite the risk of nuclear escalation. It has done this by expanding military bases in the Asia Pacific, building alliances, and increasing support for Taiwan. While being done in the name of deterrence, these steps have only increased tensions in the region, making conflict more likely.

The Post report says that Hegseth’s plans to prepare a “denial defense” of Taiwan include “increasing the troop presence through submarines, bombers, unmanned ships, and specialty units from the Army and Marine Corps, as well as a greater focus on bombs that destroy reinforced and subterranean targets.” His memo also calls for increasing the defenses of US troop positions in the region and establishing more weapons stockpiles.

(antiwar.com)

We have troops stationed in the South China Sea patrolling for any abnormalities….and now the Chinese with all the news around the US designs has reacted….

Beijing started another series of joint military and coastguard drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, as experts said the exercises – which include the Shandong aircraft carrier – were intended to squeeze Taipei’s space to respond in the event of an attack.
According to a statement issued by the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command, the patrols and exercises included simulated air and land strikes, as well as control of key passages to test the joint combat readiness of its troops.
“This is a stern warning and a strong deterrent to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence, and is a legitimate and necessary action to defend national sovereignty and safeguard national unity,” spokesman Colonel Shi Yi said.
Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunited, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as independent. But Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to supplying weapons for its defence.
According to Shi, army, navy, air and rocket forces have been deployed on the multidirectional naval and aerial manoeuvres.

Some of these plans scare the crap out of me…..I can smell that old thinking from Vietnam creeping into the scenario.

Hopefully Americans can remember what a debacle Vietnam was 50 years ago….if you will recall it was a minor naval engagement that lead to the debacle of the Vietnam War.

Is there any memory of that huge mistake left?

If not we are doomed to repeat our mistakes and at the cost of American lives.

Will we do it again?

The present group of amateurs are headed in that direction.

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

War, Trade Or Otherwise

WE know that Donny is a one trick pony when it comes to global trade, tariffs and more tariffs….we are all well aware of the tariffs on Mexico and Canada which can be disastrous especially on food prices….but what about those tariffs against our ‘big’ enemy, China?

Donny the Man has doubled his tariffs on products from China (forget Temu)….and now China is firing back….

Some tough talk from China in response to President Trump’s tariffs: “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday night after Trump doubled the 10% tariff he imposed last month on most Chinese imports. The remark—which was shared in a post on X by China’s embassy in Washington, DC—came as leaders gathered in Beijing for the annual National People’s Congress, the BBC reports. “Intimidation does not scare us,” Lin said. “Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China.” More:

  • Fentanyl: Lin rejected White House claims that China is responsible for fentanyl flooding into the US. “The US, not anyone else, is responsible for the fentanyl crisis inside the US,” he said. “In the spirit of humanity and goodwill towards the American people, we have taken robust steps to assist the US in dealing with the issue.” But instead of recognizing China’s efforts, he said, the US “has sought to vilify and shift the blame to China, and is seeking to pressure and blackmail China with tariff hikes.”
  • Retaliatory tariffs: China announced new tariffs of up to 15% on a range of American food and farm imports Tuesday. The retaliatory tariffs are “very specific and directly targeted at American farmers, who are mostly in red states and mostly voted for Trump,” Neil Thomas at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis tells ABC News. “So China is trying to create pain where it matters for Trump, and it’s hoping to get Trump to the negotiating table.”
  • Growth target unchanged: On Wednesday, leaders at the National People’s Congress announced a growth target of around 5%, the same as the previous two years, despite a slowing economy and the looming trade war, AP reports. Officials said military spending would rise 7.2%. The legislature’s meeting will run for several days. The BBC describes it as a “rubber-stamp parliament, which passes decisions already made behind closed doors.”

Slowly those morons in DC are destroying what is left of the world trade network….tit for tat tariffs will provide the engine for a global recession or worse, a depression.

We can only hope that idiots come to their senses and find a way to work together and keep a vivant world trade intact.

But will they?

Side note–I see that Donny has paused auto tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days….maybe someone should make up his mind for him.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What’s Up With Taiwan?

We are told these days that China has designs on Taiwan in their expansion desires and because of that tale we are throwing lots of taxpayer cash at the tiny island.

But what do we know about Taiwan other than it is the ‘other China’?

With that question it opens up for the Old Professor to inject some history….and I thank you.

While several closer islands, such as the Penghu (or the Pescadores as they are now known), were incorporated into the Chinese polity during the period of Ming blue water exploration in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Formosa (or Taiwan as it came to be known) never was.

After shuttering its large scale naval activities in the mid-fifteenth century, the Ming were thereafter largely content to let the rival trading companies of the Portuguese and Dutch quarrel for influence on Formosa, where trade revolved around tea and camphor.

In an odd bit of history repeating itself, the island first became a central focus of a ruling mainland Chinese regime as a result of a civil war that needed concluding: displaced by the invading Manchurian forces (the eventual Qing), in 1661 what remained of the Han, Ming ruling clique retreated to Formosa. It was following their ultimate defeat in 1683 that Formosa started to become ethically and administratively integrated into China (a process completed around a century later).

Despite its import as a trading hub in the centuries thereafter, when the Japanese took possession of Formosa at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), per the terms of the Treaty Shimonoseki (1885), the island’s new rulers found a society, economy, and polity virtually untouched by modernity.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/how-taiwan-became-an-issue/

There is a darker history than Washington would like for you to know….

Taiwan is today lauded for its vibrant democracy, open economy, and progressive society. However, behind this shining exterior is a dark and brutal history that is frequently overlooked; or in the case of Washington and its loyal corporate mouthpieces, purposefully ignored.

For before its democratization in the 1990s, Taiwan was a harsh authoritarian police state under the rule of Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo. This period, marked by severe repression and systemic terror, is an essential chapter in Taiwan’s history that Americans should know, particularly given the enduring resentment Washington’s vital support for the regime engendered and the purported reasons for the necessity of the island’s defense.

The roots of Taiwan’s authoritarianism can be traced back to the retreat of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government (Kuomintang, or KMT) to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists in 1949. The local population had already received more than an inkling of what awaited, the KMT authorities having already in 1947 brutally suppressed a popular protest against KMT corruption, mistreatment, and misrule on the island. Facing a precarious situation and the ever-looming threat of a Communist invasion, once arrived on the island Chiang established a regime that relied heavily on surveillance, repression, and brutality to maintain control.

Central to this regime was the role of Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek’s son, who was instrumental in the creation and operation of Taiwan’s police state. Having spent formative years in Stalin’s Moscow, Chiang Ching-kuo learned from the Soviet Union’s tactics of surveillance, infiltration, and terror. Upon his return, he applied these methods to serve his father’s regime, becoming a formidable spy chief whose skills ensured the perpetuation of KMT rule in Taiwan.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-taiwan-problem-you-probably-dont-know/

It might be a good idea to learn a few things since DC is pushing us toward confrontation with mainland China.

Taxpayer money is being used to keep this pot stirred….for it is damn profitable for some.

Just an idea of how much is being passed…..

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has announced plans to procure an additional 1,985 Stinger missiles from the US amid rising tensions with China.

The ministry told lawmakers in its latest budget report that it is eyeing a fivefold increase in its Stinger stockpile, from 500 missiles to 2,485.

It also plans to purchase 549 launch systems and 549 identification friend-or-foe (IFF) transponders.

To fund the potential procurement, the ministry is reportedly requesting 69 billion New Taiwan dollars ($2.2 billion) — a significant increase over the 13 billion New Taiwan dollars ($405 million) previously sought.

(thedefensepost.com)

After all war is big business.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What Is The Problem With The China/Taiwan Thing?

I know that the Gaza thing has every little person concerned with what is happening and all the while Ukraine continues and then there is this thing that has popped up in the last couple of years…..South China Sea.

The US has mobilized in protection of the island nation of Taiwan and the war drums are slowly beating out a scenario that could be disastrous for all parties involved in this mash-up.  (There are other problems in this region but this is the one that is getting the grease in the form of taxpayer dollars)

Have you ever asked yourself….What is this all about?

China has launched major military drills around Taiwan, simulating a full-scale attack on the island – just days after the new president William Lai was sworn in.

The exercises reinforce what is at the heart of the issue: China’s claim over self-governed Taiwan.

Beijing sees the island as a breakaway province that will, eventually, be part of the country, and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.

But many Taiwanese consider themselves to be part of a separate nation – although most are in favour of maintaining the status quo where Taiwan neither declares independence from China nor unites with it.

Taiwan’s first known settlers were Austronesian tribal people, believed to have come from modern day southern China.

Chinese records appear to first mention the island in AD239, when an emperor dispatched an expeditionary force to it – a fact Beijing uses to back its territorial claim.

After a relatively brief spell as a Dutch colony, Taiwan was administered by China’s Qing dynasty, before it was ceded to Tokyo after Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War.

After World War Two, Japan surrendered and relinquished control of territory it had taken from China. Afterwards, Taiwan was officially considered occupied by the Republic of China (ROC), which began ruling with the consent of its allies, the US and UK.

But in the next few years a civil war broke out in China, and then-leader Chiang Kai-shek’s troops were defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist army.

Chiang, the remnants of his Kuomintang (KMT) government and their supporters – about 1.5m people – fled to Taiwan in 1949.

Chiang established a dictatorship that ruled Taiwan until the 1980s. Following his death, Taiwan began a transition to democracy and held its first elections in 1996.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538

All this was possible because the nationalists ran from the communists and the world got another domino in the theory that was ever so popular back in the day.

Now the US is once again pouring money into the island to confront China.

Taiwan’s recent election could spell a major escalation.

A Taiwan led by the newly inaugurated William Lai Ching-te will bring new challenges to the cross-strait relationship, as well as Beijing’s global articulation of its policies towards the self-governed island, according to observers on either side.
Joanna Lei Chien, a former Taiwanese lawmaker from the opposition party Kuomintang, said many assumptions on the cross-strait situation “should be thrown out of the window because things have changed at an exceedingly surprising speed” since Lai took over on Monday.
“Lai’s persona. It’s something that we really need to be very careful about,” Lei told a digital seminar hosted by the think tank Centre for Globalisation Hong Kong on Thursday.

If you must worry about something then I suggest that you keep an eye on Taiwan for it could be bursting into flames and sooner rather than later.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”