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 Unrelated A.I. placeholder image of Pope Leo XIV (Source: rte.ie) The first American Pope in history, as promised, Lion and King!
Since there appears to remain major confusion over what's going on, here's additional supplementary material before moving on to the strategic analysis proper; again, please note that my sole concern is about pure accuracy in describing the situation, without which precise predictions are not possible. 如果你要我的人头，是可以的 - 但至少等到我说的话被证明是不准确的，否则也太不像话了! By the way, since I should be using Mandarin more often in my new job, please allow me to mix in some statements in that language, for this post - the gist should still be graspable from the English text, but interested readers may wish to confer with Google Translate/DeepL or similar for a full rendering. Following on last weekend's post on Respect, China has since doubled down on Korean War and A.I. memes (N.B. The One Ring - Samsung smartphones ring - geddit?) and sent soldiers to Vietnam's Fall of Saigon celebration, even as the U.S. Army prepares a yuge military parade for GEOTUS for his upcoming birthday, as befits the Number One God of War; 这也不过是第一武神应有的权利. Notably, the latest Chinese propaganda on Tiktok includes a jingle stating that "The King has come up with new tariffs", which is pertinent to the first point to be made: The Rectification of Titles 言不顺则事不成。 《论语 . 子路》 As stated in the Analects, disorder stems from the failure to call things by their proper names, or in other words, to perceive, understand, and deal with reality (which happens to have been a huge issue with so-called "social progressives" these days). One believes this to have caused the near-complete inability of the mainstream media to correctly explain the true meaning behind the Liberation Day tariffs, despite the passage of a full month. Given this, here's our paltry contribution towards fostering a truer understanding. We begin with Proposition One: TRUMP is a King.  A loyal subject demonstrates proper kneeling technique, before the Divine King, GOD-EMPEROR TRUMP; 这是臣与皇帝之间的礼仪 [N.B. Not really joking about the whole apotheosis thing either.] (Source: france24.com) Very little of what follows would make sense, without acknowledging this simple fact. Fortunately, as mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this realisation is slowly seeping into the public consciousness, despite the best efforts of the FAKE NEWS to disguise the obvious. While some of it has been self-promotion (e.g. the "LONG LIVE THE KING" tweet with a mock-up TIME cover of The Donald crowned... though note that it had been done long before back in 2018), and much of it has not exactly been salutary (e.g. The Atlantic referring to him as a Mad King), it remains that adjectives merely modify nouns, and do not alter their essential identity; ipso facto, TRUMP is a King, Mad or No (although, as we have seen, that perhaps applies better to his Genius). Nor is this acceptance limited to the West (i.e. Team Blue) - note the Chinese Internet popularly lauding His Trumpness as 懂王, or the All-Knowing King. With this established, misconceptions about a previous post - where TRUMP was compared to King from One Punch Man - should be cleared up. The takeaway appears to be that he was "just bluffing" his way through challenges, which while not entirely unsubstantiated, is an extremely shallow (and mostly inaccurate) interpretation of the analogy. For those not familiar with the One Punch Man manga universe, it is one where ridiculously overpowered superhumans and monsters abound. It is one with titans that dwarf entire cities, lava-born galactic raiders, genetically-modified eldritch abominations, flawless ascended martial artists with unlimited potential, hyperdimensional do-gooder warriors, sassy lost children who turn mountains inside-out on a whim, and of course the One Punch Man Saitama himself, who can in theory defeat any of the above with a single mighty punch. And, far above them all, yet stands the King.  King & King, Great monarchs both! (Original sources: cbr.com, r/Daredevil) The incredible discrepancy in power between King and the rest, is perhaps best demonstrated by his record against Saitama. Despite Saitama regularly challenging King, he has never defeated - or even come anywhere close to defeating - the latter. King's feat of splitting an apple (or the globe) without perceptible movement, should then be understood in this context; had Atomic Samurai pressed his assault regardless in that storyline, there was never any doubt that the King would still win, one way or another. For those more acquainted with Western comics (i.e. Marvel and DC), King (both in One Punch Man and the U.S.A.) is probably best understood as a reality warper. Yes, there are many imposing superheroes in the continuity: fan favourites who go "Hey Bub" and julienne foes with their adamantium claws, romantic rivals who emit optic blasts, overgrown boy scouts who bathe in suns, spandex-clad goof-offs who run at the speed of light, and guys cosplaying in bat costumes who somehow manage to outwit all of the above as the plot demands. But what are any of them to do, against those that can just reject their very reality at will? This is an ability that TRUMP has often demonstrated, by the way. To take a recent example, he has repeatedly claimed that Amerika has been actively discussing tariffs with China, to which the Chinese side has continually maintained is false; however, being the reality warper that he is, the statement has been accepted as essentially true, by his believers. Tariffs, Explained  Only the content matters, between Kings and Nations [N.B. In linguistics, this is the subfield of pragmatics.] (Source: Sandman #22) With the Essential Kingship of TRUMP justified, we can move on to the true intent behind the Liberation Day tariffs. As befits the nigh-unprecedented impact of the tariff measures, certainly unrivalled in world history by absolute scope, various news portals, learned magazines and online commentators have striven to provide an explanation. The Economist has weaved theirs around Council of Economic Advisers chair Stephen Miran's prospective Mar-a-Lago Accord for burden sharing, and The New York Times has been unexpectedly receptive in admitting that the tariffs could work, while again raising the correction of trade imbalances as the goal. Redditors have, uh, come up with a lot of unproductive rubbish, alongside bemoaning the supposed stupidity of applying the tariffs to everybody at once (they are, of course, mistaken) All the above is, however, just discussing the "message". This is the actual underlying content; 这是懂王神帝四月二日解放日全球关税公告背后真正的含义:  Translation: Frankly, none of you have what it takes to duel me one-on-one; if you lot want a fight, then come all at once! 有懂王这等胸怀，视野，魅力，智慧及一切一切的男人， 当今世上绝无仅有！ [Embiggen!] (Original source: manhuagui.com) The content of the Liberation Day tariffs, is a challenge to the entire world. The imposition of the tariffs on everybody is the whole point; it is a feature, not a bug. It is TRUMP, the Lion of America, roaring that they remain the Indispensable Nation, and that as GOD-EMPEROR of the United States, he is The One standing at the Peak of All That Is, Unrivalled Under Heaven. It is no coincidence that, while delivering his edict, the King held up a list of names that began with China and the European Union, and went on through Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, India and South Korea, all the way through to the Heard and McDonald Islands. Consider now: was this necessary? Could TRUMP not have just mentioned these minor details at the podium, or compressed the list into broad categories, or at a minimum omitted the many countries lucky enough to have just the baseline tariff imposed? No, the content follows: The King sees you, each of you - and the King accepts all challengers. With this understanding, one hopes it evident as to why the specific tariff percentages - and silly whinging over how the formula used doesn't make sense, isn't fair, and won't balance out the trade deficit - are largely immaterial. The numbers literally don't matter in the context of the content. The content is that I am The King, My Word is Law, Those That Deny It Stand Against Me, And I Will Have Their Heads. Indeed, one suspects that the "economic" formula was reverse-engineered from figures intended to reflect Amerika's attitude towards the various countries, whether as friend or foe. What's important about the numbers, especially for would-be foes, is that they are large enough to topple governments. That is all.  Translation: You have three months (90 days) to submit to the tariffs, and thereby the existing international order (Source: manhuagui.com) Expanding on the content, TRUMP's (probably preplanned) 90-day (i.e. three-month) pause is then for all countries to consider their positions. Will they bend the knee, and hail the One King? Or will they challenge Him? At this point, the continuing tussle in the news on whether President Xi will call TRUMP (i.e. as a petitioner), is hopefully easily understood. Content is, refreshingly, generally much more succinct than messages... and it is a sorrow that so few were able to recognize it for what it was.  Ah, there are so few real men left in this world! 世上血气方刚的男子汉，实在是太少太少了! (Source: tvtropes.com) 国与国的争端， 一势二实力三谋策，最后才轮到机关报上那些无聊的论文。而论 “势” 而言， 暂且不提卑职站在哪一方，红队的确是敗给了一代神帝，懂王川普！这是 “奉陪到底，谁和我一起上” 和 “随时奉陪，你们给我全部一起上” 的差距， 不及就是不及，是无法争议的！邓主席的 “韬光养晦” 也许成功让西方资本主义者忽略了中国的发展；但中方也不是一样低估了懂王的爌世奇才？这，也是 “主动” 和 “被动” 的不同。 但所谓知耻近乎勇，反击的机会和方法也多的是，相信中方国师清楚不过，轮不到卑职多说，暂且买个关子吧！
This was supposed to be part of a longer post, but given the prevalence of (silly) posts on Reddit and other forums on why TRUMP started by tariffing/attacking everybody at once, let us attempt another brief comic-based answer:  Reddit NPC: Even assuming that tariffs are a valid tool of diplomacy, why not just threaten them on one or a few countries at a time? Why did you have to tariff the whole world at a go? Would not this just make it more difficult?  TRUMP: Hmm. TRUMP: Indeed, that could definitely have been done.  TRUMP: But I did not do that. Do you want to know the reason why? Reddit NPC: ... (yes?) TRUMP: Then let me first ask you: what is my status? Reddit NPC: The Donald sir... you are the foremost military power* on Earth, First without Equals. [*A direct literal translation would be closer to "God of War", which works too - but for this let us apply the metaphor more towards Amerika, the nation.]  TRUMP: That is exactly it. As the one standing at the pinnacle of the world, if I were to use those methods to handle my lessers, it would only reduce my level!  TRUMP: This is the simplest of principles... NPC, do you understand? Reddit NPC: Yes... yes, I understand.  TRUMP: No!! You absolutely do not understand! If you had understood, you would not have asked me such a foolish question to begin with!  懂王, 不愧懂王道之精髓! TRUMP: If you had understood the truth behind strong men, you would have become President of the United States twice like me, instead of wasting your life shitposting on Reddit! Reddit NPC: Yes... Mr. TRUMP sir... actually, I do not understand.  (but because TRUMP is deep down a nice guy) TRUMP: NPC, do not be discouraged.  TRUMP: They might yet make you a subreddit mod someday.
Seeing as the previous post has sparked either this blog's largest burst in popularity - or biggest DDoS attack - yet, here's the second part of the threefer, on Respect. But before that, a quick recap on current happenings - it's election season once again in sunny/rainy Singapore, but to be extremely frank, one figures that the real action is occurring elsewhere at the moment, what with not too many surprises expected in the local polls come what may. Our local politicos and leaders have actually been fairly clear-eyed and even-keeled on this, with our Senior Minister alluding to arm wrestling (ref. our Feburary 2 post) in his recent dissection of the U.S.-China situation. Our former effectively-First Lady has meanwhile reposted an article likening China's President to a mafia boss, but then this appears to be the new fashion (and honestly quite effective) at the highest levels of global diplomacy these days, so... Getting back on theme, "respect" has taken centre stage in the international arena ever since tariffs came back in vogue, beginning at least from TRUMP's admonition of Zelensky for disrespect in the White House in March. Then, following U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent's clear warning for countries not to retaliate after the Liberation Day tariffs, national reactions could be broadly be divided into three camps: firstly, those who indeed heeded the warning and did not retaliate, though with much grumbling and (not very convincing) snide remarks about "regional groups" and "international norms" (i.e. many smaller countries, the ring-kissers*); secondly, those who lashed out with their own tariffs or other measures and loud(er) demands for mutual respect, most notably the European Union and India (the secondary players). These have however largely been suspended, after GEOTUS declared his 90-day pause. [*Hey, it could have been worse.] And then there is China. China was, of course, the primary target of this Game, and this was pretty obvious right from the get-go even when GEOTUS declared universal tariffs on everyone. China would continually vow to "fight to the end" and refuse to bow, but as again explained in early February, it was not as if they would be allowed to bow this early, even if they wanted to. Given this, China would signal that they would not talk if the U.S. would not show proper respect, while curbing Hollywood film imports towards a possible ban. Said requested respect was not exactly forthcoming with Bessent then declaring that China's escalation was a big mistake and that they were playing with a losing hand, which brought us to this whole escalation spiral.  If you want to say that this is purely a coincidence... I guess I have nothing to say [N.B. If you want to read further into this, note the direction in which the [N.N.B. Traditional Chinese seal designs would show the critter in profile.] (Source: ainvest.com) As an aside on Hollywood and American media, their soft power advantage has clearly been dwindling overseas, with some of the downfall being self-inflicted. Much of the rest is simply due to other powers catching up on Oh, and about the penguins - they've just crashed an helicopter in South Africa. Never trust the penguins, folks, especially if they approach in groups of four, the innocent look's a front. GEOTUS knew well what he was doing with the tariffs, after all - and when his bid for Greenland gets accepted, those birds can apply for their Golden Visas if they aren't happy about it! Vice-President Vance (who has gotten into the memespace with his impressive face-changing skills) had in the meantime kept temperatures rising with his reference to "Chinese peasants" in an interview, which was instantly slammed as "a slur", "arrogance" and of course "disrespect" by the Chinese end, and possibly inspired a local restaurant's short-lived stunt of a 104% surcharge on American diners. That said, one does wonder as to whether being called "peasants" should be taken as a negative by good Communists - aren't they the core revolutionary class against the bourgeois elements, and moreover relatively high on the social status ladder going further back? Ah, does one sense resentment at this un-socialist leaning, as they tried with the whole (Greater) co-prosperity thing? And remember when it was projected last February, that Hollywood would be under threat in ten years? I give it five now. [N.B. Excellent warning against modern mainstream FAKE NEWS, btw.] [N.N.B. This is DEI done right, unlike what Hollywood is trying.] [N.N.N.B. Do I hear a tong-ji for 同志 (Comrade) there?] (video generated by Kuaishou's KlingAI 2.0) Anyway, do forgive me if I'm unable to track exactly how the entire tariff slap-fight panned out, but after it reached 245%, the incalculable GOD-EMPEROR TRUMP would praise his Chinese counterpart as the "world's smartest" and hinted at softening tariffs... while also asserting that Xi was trying to screw the U.S. in cooperation with Vietnam, and upping tariffs on solar imports to 3521% (by the way, recall the 50000% tariffs on DeepSeek suggested back in February? Surely not that far away now!) The point of it all appears to only have been fully realized about a week ago, though, as China suddenly came out, all guns blazing, vowing retaliation against any countries that heeded U.S. calls to isolate them (actually long telegraphed with Canada for example offering to match U.S. tariffs on China in March, before being whacked by China's retaliatory tariffs too). My clever readers may have figured out what is likely to come (hint: return to the Liar Game arc), but since that's firmly in the realm of strategy, let's leave it to the third and final installment of this SRS series, coming soon! To conclude this post, one of the countermeasures from the American side has been the banning of U.S. personnel in China from having any romantic relationships with the locals, which while perhaps justified by a deluge of reports on possible Chinese espionage (as supposedly mandated by domestic law), substantially detracts from the perks of such postings. One imagines longtime U.S. "embassy staff" being terribly unhappy at this infringement on their legitimate entitlements (a necessary component of respect, by the way), which were previously limited to complaints about the quality of the honeypots on offer. Let's be frank here, everybody spies - but the exchange of substandard goods for secrets? Surely there should be some honour amongst thieves here?
 Note specific usage of The Godemprah language ("scum"), alongside explicit alignment in naming Chinese citizens fighting against Ukraine, and accusing China of supplying Russia with arms (Source: msn.com) ...and not only because retail prices are likely gonna rise. With GEOTUS imposing tariffs totalling some 245%* on China following the latter retaliating like-for-like with 34% reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods despite being explicitly warned not to do so, China has now doubled down with their own 84% tariffs beginning April 10th, before calling it quits on the "numbers game" at 125%. Seeing as tariffs are collected by governments from largely-private importers, one supposes a number of big countries having an easier time balancing budgets this year! However, it really isn't about the money at this point, and doubly so for Great America - if one thinks about it, if they want more U.S. dollars, they can just print it. Sure, we have noted in a previous exposition on Modern Monetary Theory that (rampant) money creation risks misallocation of resources and accompanying inflation, but one supposes the U.S. does not have either as their primary concern right now. As hinted in recent posts on Don TRUMP, it's not just about "how much shall I pay you", but about Strength, Respect and Strategy (srs). [*Originally just 104% when I started drafting this post; I generally prefer just whacking out the copy in a single sitting.] Strength "Strength" has always played a central role in The Greatest Game - Zelensky has, for example, often referred to America and TRUMP as being possessed of it, whether in the raw sense, or as applied to leadership (very true). Contrarily, China has repeatedly warned the U.S. off from a strength-based approach, while also lauding their own strength of confidence, the collective strength of their society and the "strength through unity" of the Global South, among less-gentle demonstrations. But, what is strength? With the understanding that the previous posts leaning on Liar Game manga have adequately explained recent geopolitical happenings before the fact (or, at any rate, not any less accurately than the mainstream media), let's borrow another manga to illustrate what's happening - because explaining is easier with nice pictures to look at:  The challenge is made! [Embiggen!] (Source: mangadex.org) In the One Punch Man webcomic original, a coincidentally-Asian (Cold) warrior calls out the blonde and (Red, Made-in-China) baseball cap-wearing King**, popularly recognized as "The Strongest Man on Earth" - is he truly strong? That this should come into question is, admittedly, understandable - beset by internal crises within, and the rise of other heroes without, is the King really still the premier superpower of the world? After initial reluctance, the twain have a showdown:  If only they could understand! 懂王妙计, 你懂么? [Embiggen!] (Source: mangadex.org) His challenger's disciples, being expert duelists themselves, understand the terror before them far more acutely than common bystanders (i.e. your average Redditor or newspaper columnist) would have - what the lesser-skilled mocked as inconstancy, they acknowledged as an infinitely-complex attainment, that pinnacle of the martial arts, "the stance that is no stance". Additionally, on top of that maximal (policy) flexibility, the King Engine was able to generate countless micromovements (i.e. a barrage of Truth Social posts), to lure and bedazzle the unwary; so-called "weaknesses" as identified by the rabble, were something other than they appeared. Given this, the Great King's opponent could only accept a standoff. And... before it happens...  Before we blow up the world (more exposition follows)! [Embiggen!] (Source: mangadex.org) After some persuading, the bulk of King's opponents admit their defeat (i.e. with some 75 countries reportedly willing to negotiate improved terms for America)  Saying sorry is the hardest thing to do (Source: mangadex.org) But this, of course, but scratches the merest veneer of The Genius That Is The King:  Truly, the [N.B. Not forgetting the movements specific to words...] [N.N.B. The manga adaptation, for the interested.] [Embiggen!] (Source: mangadex.org) Pretty fitting, given how far a few That's a strength too, one has to admit! And as for the globe being silently divided... I guess we'll witness more on that quite soon... [**Of course, in reality, despite the FAKE NEWS grudgingly bestowing upon TRUMP that royal title in past weeks, we have to respectfully correct this mistake; firstly, the memelord has been known in the deeper cybersphere as the (GOD-)EMPEROR, since his initial ascension back in 2016, notwithstanding his recent resurrection. Moreover, this is also a matter of propriety and proper precedence - given that Japan, their junior partner by any accounting, is headed by an Emperor, the leader of their nominal overlords should be of no lesser rank, even if denied out of misplaced modesty. One can understand if the deification part is held off for the moment, since apotheosis occurs only after the mortal term in the Roman tradition, but in any case recognition has already been done by various worshippers.]
An Economic Revolution for the (Golden) ages is now well underway, with the Global Reciprocal Tariffs of GEOTUS now in place and being collected by U.S. customs agents.  And in that very order! (Sources: That Mad Genius! from Feb 5, fulcrum.sg) It might be apropos to check on this blog's projections on the affair from February - which appear to be spot-on, thus far. China and the European Union headed a very long list of countries and territories now very kindly charged a discounted tariff rate by Great America, as apparently determined by the experts over at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Online tinkerers have since reverse-engineered the formula used as more or less half the U.S. goods trade deficit divided by the total goods imported from a country, which is a... somewhat novel definition, to say the least. Well, we did repeatedly emphasize that all would be tariffed, which turned out to be even more comprehensive than expected; Singapore for one had a 10% tariff imposed despite our (goods) trade deficit with the U.S., to which our Ministry of Trade and Industry has (probably wisely) decided not to retaliate, given that it's already the baseline minimum being imposed. To this, our new Prime Minister has voiced concern that "we cannot expect that the rules which protected small states will still hold", which may be something of an understatement given recent changed circumstances. While online sentiment amidst an (expectedly) crashing stock market has not been very positive towards the tariffs, the rationale behind them has not been covered well - or fairly - by the mainstream media either. As again noted in early February here, the U.S. national debt and aggregate trade deficit is one thing, but the loss of their industrial base is another; this was echoed by GEOTUS in his official announcement on Liberation Day, in which reclaiming jobs and factories, supercharging the domestic industrial base and increasing production were declared to be the main drivers of the sweeping measure. And as to what end the returned industry will be put towards... odds are it would be the twilight struggle of Cold War II!  They're onto us too, dang it! (Sources: abc.net.au)
There has been less blogging with some pretty big life changes coming up (including a new [but not so new] job), so here's a quick post to get back into the swing. It's been some time since I have done a movie review (e.g. for Gods of Egypt in 2016, and Aladdin et al. in 2019, so here's one on Nezha 2, viewed in IMAX at Shaw Theatres Lido. I went for this without having watched the first instalment in what looks destined to be a drawn-out series (I'm holding out for the Nezha vs. Wukong crossover), and to be honest, I was pretty impressed - less by the CGI effects, though they were certainly grand and polished, but by the pacing and humour. Such cultural power by "soft persuasion" has been a department in which China has... not covered themselves in glory previously (a consequence of having a captive audience that's not exactly gonna be able to disagree with whatever messaging is being put out, under a one-party state), but they're getting a lot better, if box-office sales are any indication. It's already the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and fifth overall (above all the Star Wars flicks, to put this accomplishment in some perspective) The above could be slightly discounted by the fact that nearly all of its earnings (i.e. over US$2 billion of... US$2.1 billion) have been from the domestic market thus far, but let's not take too much away from this eminently-watchable action-comedy. It documents the bipolar hero (with accompanying sleep and dissociative disorders) struggle between the conflicting identities of demon and dragon, which is not resolved by his initial whole-body plastic surgery makeover. The story begins proper when his icy buddy literally perishes on the operating table (fine, a lotus-shaped table) after the unaccredited surgeon doesn't go heavy enough on the anesthesia, and after said buddy's dad threatens to escalate the matter up the chain of command, Nezha decides to enable a redo by winning the McGuffin, which involves passing three tests (the first trope of many). The first test involves Nezha beating up a bunch of adorable marmots, and after the next test has him chop the hand off an elderly kindergarten teacher in front of his horrified young students, Nezha begins to have serious doubts about whether he is the good guy after all. The anti-hero turn comes with a "Hello, my name is Nezha/Shen Gongbao/Ao Guang. You killed my father/master/son, prepare to die" triple combo special, in which miscellaneous family members are offed in quick succession to build up the stakes (one supposes possible CCP influence in emphasizing traditional familial ties and filial piety here, rather than the casual romances so prevalent in Western offerings). Enraged, Nezha goes on to kick the (admittedly large) behind of a lady of leisure minding her own business in her mountain retreat (hey, we never said that Nezha was a positive role model), concurrent with a Seafood Lives Matter uprising under the ocean. There's a heartwarming moment as the rehabilitated Red Dragon Army (more possible symbolism) troops exchange tako karaage and shark fin soup between themselves, before beating off the conniving White hegemons - or is that reading too much into it? While it has been said that Nezha 2 is best enjoyed with a deep understanding of its Chinese underpinnings, it takes care to throw in (and up) some universal fart and pee jokes; local Sichuan pride aside, there are numerous references (or maybe even rip-offs, if more uncharitably put) to global popular culture. For example, how can one miss the spin on the Evil Queen's famous scene in Snow White (or is it Fashionably Light Mocha nowadays?), where she questions her faithful magic mirror as to whether she is the "fairest of them all" (or, in these wokeist DEIs, the most fabulously tanned of all)? Telling the truth doesn't pay... And, in these trying times of rising unemployment and anti-immigrant sentiment, it's nice to see fellas reinvent themselves:  Guardians will be minions... (Sources: youtube.com, buddha3bodhi.com)
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