Posted on 01/17/2022 12:42:15 PM PST by RomanSoldier19
Many are alarmed by China's growing military ambitions, with heated tensions in places like the East China Sea, South China Sea, near Taiwan and the Indian border. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has benefitted greatly from a deluge of cash and copious amounts of cutting-edge equipment being added to its inventory. Last year was full of disconcerting surprises, including the discovery of massive silo fields for intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the testing of a fractional orbital bombardment system. However, more surprises await in 2022.
Kurt Campbell, the US National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, warned last week of a "strategic surprise" in the region. He told the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC: "If you look and if you ask me, where are the places where we are most likely to see certain kinds of strategic surprise - basing or certain kinds of agreements or arrangements - it may well be in the Pacific."
The American official said the issue was the one he was "most concerned about over the next year or two". Expressing urgency, Campbell said, "And we have a very short amount of time, working with partners like Australia, like New Zealand, like Japan, like France, who have an interest in the Pacific, to step up our game across the board."
Campbell did not elaborate on what he meant by "strategic surprise", but in context his comments hint that China may be brewing up a significant basing agreement somewhere in the region. It could be that he was hinting at a specific development of which he is aware, or perhaps that he expects Beijing to throw its economic and military weight round in genuinely unexpected ways.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.webindia123.com ...
I see lots of stories about China and its “expansionist” military.
But, that is not how China gets resources. They don’t need expensive military adventures to go into the resource heavy places in the world—they just buy them. They are doing this in Central Asia. They are doing this in Africa. For goodness sake, they are doing this in the US; buying farmland and meat producers.
No one has been able to explain why they would risk having their gravy train shut off by marching into Taiwan or India.
I am not fan of the CCP, but the last thing they need is a military adventure.
Biden is dying for something like that to happen.
China? What do they know about military adventures? Nothing.
Intimidation perhaps, but putting the hurt down? Don’t believe it.
I find it hard to believe that China would risk collapsing their economy for an overt military action. Any action that they take will be via proxy.
Besides, though it is true that they have a huge military and “copious amounts of cutting-edge equipment”, neither have been battle tested in actual combat.
China’s military expenditure as %GDP has actually dropped and leveled off in the last 30 years:
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=CN
and is still significantly below the US:
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=US
(though the US military spending is significantly down as well.)
Yes, your guns would be useless against it.
Keeping the fear sweat flowing ...
How China is preparing its economy for a future where the U.S. isn’t the center of global demand
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/01/dual-circulation-how-china-is-preparing-for-a-new-role-in-international-trade.html
They are just using stolen research from MIT:
https://qz.com/377809/scientists-at-mit-are-designing-bulletproof-armor-modeled-on-fish-scales/
Weakness invites aggression.
Xi says “They make very nice shoes in Vietnam! They are ripe for the taking. China soon make very nice shoes!”
While it could be optics, the US seems to be sliding downhill militarily and China rising. At some point who is strongest could flip. Some can have the bigger stick and not use it. China seems to see it differently.
Chinas population decline seemingly puts them on a time line.
While they’re busy buying friends they’re certainly not making them.
Countries shopping for benefits may not be as loyal as China thinks.
Throughout history wars have been fought for Nationalism and / or economic dominance. Seems our corrupt politicians and Wall St should be working to cripple / transfer manufacturing away from China and make other moves to slow their economic therefor military progress.
IMHO
In 1941 Hitler wasted certain victory in Europe to invade the endless vastness of Russia. He could have held off the treachery of Stalin, and consolidated Fortress Europa for a generation or more. Why did he launch the suicidal Operation Barbarossa?
“How China is preparing its economy for a future where the U.S. isn’t the center of global demand”
Japan was the big economic threat in the 80s. We got over it:
https://www.marketplace.org/2018/11/29/how-us-outgrew-1980s-anxiety-over-japan/
Xi would like nothing more than to reincorporate Taiwan into China. If he did, he would enter the pantheon ofChinese leaders. However it is highly unlikely that he will risk a war and its aftermath.
1) while it is true that China has a huge army and has invested mightily into ships, jets , missiles and drones, there is absolutely no guarentee that an invasion of Taiwan would be successful if the people of Taiwan are willing to fight hard to defend their freedoms and way of life.
2) While the Chines army and navy are huge and seemingly well equipped with modern, locally produced ships, planes missiles and drones, neither the soldiers, their mid-level and senior officers have very limited if any experience actually fighting a combined arms strategic war.The ships and planes or their personnel have not been combat tested. Attacking across 90 miles of open ocean is not a simple task. The invasion may fail and the PLA could experience politically unacceptable large causalities among its “one child” recruits.
3) The Chinese economy which is currently facing significant difficulties could not support or tolerate a large war effort that is likely to be condemned by the West. Chines exports, foreign investment and the influx of hard currency would be constrained. The West would probably impose sanctions but at the least business confidence among investors and customers would decrease for a very long time.
4) Xi knows that if such an invasion is a failure, the political ramifications would be immense. At the least he himself, his family and his acolytes would be harshly deposed. The military would be so bitter, that a military coup against the “corrupt” communist party itself may occur.
In the final analysis , it s doubtful that Xi would take the risk and allow the hawks to attack Taiwan
“US seems to be sliding downhill militarily”
This may be true, but at least it is battle proven. China’s biggest military conflict recently has been against some Somali pirates.
Hd Institute Chairman at Joe Biden’s Inauguration on January 20, 2021. Source: Dr. Al Khalafalla
PHOTO: Chinese Military-Linked HDI Chairman Attended Joe Biden’s Inauguration
By Andrew White, December 27, 2021 at 7:50am
The Chinese military-linked Chairman Dr. Al Khalafalla attended the exclusive inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. National File has learned that Dr. Al Khalafalla, Chairman of the Epstein and Chinese military-linked Humpty Dumpty Institute, attended the highly exclusive inauguration of Joe Biden, as revealed in a tweet posted by Khalafalla four days after the event with the caption “New era …”
Traditionally, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) would distribute 200,000 tickets for the official ceremonies at the Capitol and provide ticket bundles to members of Congress to distribute out to others. For the 59th Inaugural Ceremonies, invitations members of Congress were limited to themselves and one guest.
The excuse for such a limited attendance was partially blamed on COVID-19, as well as the January 6 riot that resulted in extremely heightened security at and around the Capitol.
Trending: In Vermont, COVID Positive But Symptom-Free Patients Are Overwhelming Emergency Rooms
With the Biden administration being ushered in through tens of thousands of National Guard troops, officials at the time urged Americans to stay away from Washington D.C. and watch the ceremony remotely.
Pic..National Guard troops look on during the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on the West Front of the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
To substitute for the lack of hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic American voters, nearly 200,000 little American flags were placed in the National Mall instead.
As National File previously reported, members of Congress are now distancing themselves from the organization currently chaired by Khalafalla after National File had reported on the HDI’s ties to the Communist Chinese back in November.
Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis claimed to have submitted his resignation from the HDI after learning of their links to the CCP and Chinese military. “I agreed to work with your organization to educate people on religious persecutions taking place throughout the world and to be an advocate for freedom,” Bilirakis wrote in a letter the HDI. “So, you can imagine my alarm and distress when I learned about recent revelations of HDI’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party.”
“It is particularly abhorrent to me to be associated with an organization that has ties to a government widely known to actively support infanticide, engage in forced sterilization, exploit slave labor, and persecute religious minorities and political dissidents,” Bilirakis added.
The HDI is proudly partnered with the Taihe Institute, a Beijing headquartered “think tank” headed by several high-level party members and Chinese military officials. The obscure and suspicious organization claims to have “research centers” in the United States.
Members of Congress and Trump’s former Chief of Staff have distanced themselves from the Humpty Dumpty Institute – SEE WHY
One could find it particularly alarming that the Chairman of an organization so deeply involved with global elites, Chinese military officials, and CCP members, had attended the exclusive and limited inauguration of the President of the United States, given that he had previously attended a Chinese military-styled ceremony that involved him, along with other HDI and CCP members, bestowing a decorative basket of flowers before a tall statue of Mao Zedong at what appears to be the birthplace of communist Chinese dictator in the Shaoshan, Hunan Province of China.
In the video, HDI Chairman Khalafalla can be observed with Taihe Institute Chairman Binge Ping, former HDI Director and current Taihe Fellow Ruby ‘Yuyun’ Wang, HDI Director Joseph Merante, and several CCP and PLA members. The same HDI and Taihe Institute leaders have also been photographed in a closed door meeting alongside Congressional Democrat Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hank Johnson.
Democrat members of Congress, HDI and Taihe Institute leadership during a closed door meeting. Source: HDI Director Al Khalafalla (Twitter)
To add, HDI worked with the Taihe Institute on their first annual Taihe Civilizations Forum held in August 2017. HDI leadership was present for all of Taihe Institute’s forums, except the one held in 2021. The forums appear to host discussions surrounding United Nations-style typical global elite talking points, transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
In 2018 the Taihe Institute released a bizarre promotional video for their forum that year which talked questions like: “What kind of individual rights can we grant to human-like robots in the future?,” “Will artificial intelligence replace human labor?,” “Will human thought be captured in the future?,” “What does it mean to be human in the future?,” and “Can I live forever?”
Biden’s inauguration was notoriously limited in size and scope. National File is unable to confirm how the HDI Chairman was provided with a ticket to the ceremony. However, Khalafalla has frequently boasted what appears to be his tightly knit relationship with Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, the current chair of the sham January 6 Committee and House Homeland Security Committee in recent months.
Readers can learn more about Rep. Thompson and Khalafalla at National file.
He was a Democrat. They ARE NOT RATIONAL.
Wars are generally fought for monetary or resources gain. Chinese are some of the best businessmen in the world.
Y’all think it through.
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