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Friday, Jan 09, 2026 - 23:40 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

Some National Resolutions (Part II)

Turning attention to Team Red now...


Reunification Is Unstoppabel

围台救躁，指日可待!


East is East and West is West, so Taiwan is ours!
[N.B. Full text of message, speech in Mandarin]
(Source: theguardian.com)


Over in Beijing, China's message was a retread of the usual upbeat recountings of achievements and aspirations (compare 2024), that predictably included a statement towards the return of Taiwan to the fold. This (quite consistent) stance has gained additional significance with the new Japanese Prime Minister claiming that Japan might intervene militarily if Taiwan encountered a "survival-threatening situation", which has reignited the on-off feud between the two East Asian giants; China's retaliation has included a call for domestic travel agencies to reduce Japan-bound tourism by 40%, and extended to a just-announced ban on exporting dual-use goods.

All this indicates that Taiwan remains a true "red line" for China where any concrete move towards independence (including the [planned] acquisition of nukes, or establishment of permanent foreign bases) would very likely trigger an invasion or at least a blockade, which might be one of China's greatest strategic weaknesses at present; America's CIA very smart people agency has just reminded the world of their capabilities with the stunningly-successful Operation Absolute (New Year's) Resolve in which they secured Maduro with zero casualties (and somehow led to an old pop song getting banned in China), and selected his successor (the previous Vice President) - whom they might have liaised with in the first place.

While China has of course denounced the abduction of a friendly leader (while their envoys were in the midst of official talks no less) and demanded his release (unlikely), their conspicuous impotence in directly addressing the snatching of their "younger brother"* has starkly illustrated their biggest disadvantage relative to America at present: in the military arena. Although China has certainly made great strides in recent years - with their J-10s reportedly downing French-made Rafales last May in an Indian-Pakistani clash, alongside teased sixth-generation fighter jets - there remains little indication that they could have pulled off the operational and logistical coordination, to replicate what happened in Caracas... which also demonstrated the complete ineffectiveness of China's anti-stealth radar against the full might of the U.S. God of War (as recently stated)



Then again, the standard CIA playbook (i.e. colour revolutions, capital manipulation etc.) was foreseen in comics even 20 years ago
[N.B. The Chinese are a quick study.]
(Source: manhuagui.com)


The most-immediate consequence, then, would be America being able to upend just about any and all Team Red allies and partners in Central and South America by force if they so choose, with the only limiting factor being international opprobrium - which is not having all that great an impact at present. The far more significant consequence, at least from China's perspective, would be the potential for the same very smart people to indulge in similar operations in Taiwan, to force Beijing's hand at an inopportune moment. If that ever happens... life may get extremely exciting indeed!

It should be understood that the raid came right after China's declaration that they "won't give an inch to the U.S. in Latin America", itself following the destruction of a monument to China's contributions to the Panama canal, but the ugly reality remains that they probably cannot contest American military dominance in the region, wargames or not. This strategic victory by GEOTUS TRUMP in possibly cutting off a Team Red partner would be tempered by their growing self-assurance in other respects... as will be discussed in the next section. Indeed, sentiment behind the Chinese Great Firewall appears to be that the U.S. smash-and-grab was really funny, and maybe the PLA might pick up some tips from the post-mortem.

[*The status of Venezuela as one of only six Chinese "all-weather strategic partners" has been commented upon by several news outlets; it appears that they were on the lowest tier of the "all-weather" title, though, warranting only nine characters (全天候战略伙伴关系) alongside Ethiopia, with Hungary and Uzbekistan qualifying for 14 characters. Similarities with posthumous names for Chinese Emperors and other dignitaries might be noted, where the overall length generally indicates prestige (if also subject to inflation over time). Unfortunately, what's "all-weather" to one who swallows the skies (吞天)?]


Advantage, Economics



Net perception score, 2025 Democracy Perception Index
(Source: r/MapPorn)


Once we veer away from military hard power, China's strategic position begins to look rather brighter; the usual shade has been thrown on their GDP growth rates (5+% claimed) and potential by Team Blue propaganda outlets, with their ongoing price deflation - particularly in the property market - being seized upon as evidence of economic stagnation. However, it remains that China has maintained a very healthy (for them, at least) annual trade surplus of about a trillion U.S. dollars, or basically the inverse of America's debt hole - that has finally been recognized as a problem (against conventional Reddit wisdom), by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen.

This surplus has enabled China to (mostly legitimately) invest in other countries, and it has to be said that commercial transactions tend to be more welcome than the "shock, awe and muh democracy" campaigns that have characterized American international interactions - and by the way, this definitely didn't begin with TRUMP. The injection of funds together with other initiatives has led to China's global popularity rising steadily, with basically the whole of Africa, most of Southeast Asia and Europe (who may soon be realizing the implications of The Chickencoop Principle with application to deficits), and even Canada and Mexico already preferring them over Great America.

And why shouldn't they? For many countries, especially the developing ones, America simply doesn't - or can't - offer what they need, in any quantity comparable to China. China has (strategically?) flipped the usual script by retaining much of their lower-tier manufacturing even as they move up the value chain, for example making (and selling) close to ten million drones a year, to both Russia and Ukraine. Perhaps iPhones retain their cachet, but Tecno claiming half the African market speaks for Chinese influence there. High-level wheeling and dealing in semiconductors, petrochemicals, electric vehicles and precious metals aside, China possesses a key diplomatic resource that America is unable to match: its people.


And if advances in robotics are anything to go by, they can just manufacture more humanoids to make up for low birth rates
[N.B. Note coincidental anti-imperialism message at 0:27]


While hardly a guaranteed plus, there's nothing quite like rubbing shoulders on the ground, and in this there's simply no comparison between a few thousand Peace Corps volunteers from the U.S., and the hundreds of thousands of workers that China can deploy towards infrastructure projects on a whim... which is again before considering that they have been able to actually complete projects. Here, we have to admit a slight inaccuracy in the California High-Speed Rail discussion from a week or so ago: it was mentioned that 35km of a total planned 1250km of track had been laid after 17 years. Upon rechecking, this statement is false. While the civil construction for that 35km stretch is complete, the track has yet to be procured. The state has evidently committed US$1 billion annually through 2045, but frankly, this looks like throwing good money after bad.

Team Blue influence operations (through Reddit and related avenues) appear to have been comparatively competent, with most English-language forums retaining some anti-China bias - probably helped by compliant (and invisible) moderation. An example would be the frequent rants against the proliferation of Chinese restaurants and other establishments, which may however be justified where an insistence on conversing in Mandarin is involved. It should be noted that no such objections had been raised with previous waves of foreign Team Blue-affiliated (i.e. Western, Japanese, Korean etc.) cuisine, and that service standards appear generally higher with Chinese F&B outlets, as compared to local ones.

Another oft-raised complaint against China has been their supposed penchant for hacking our government's computer systems, as covered last August. The latest reported development has been the sentencing of three Henanese in November, for coming to Singapore in 2023 to hack various private companies, including gambling and SMS service firms - for which they were eventually paid S$3 million in crypto. Well, to begin with, one has to question why they had to rent a Mount Sinai bungalow for their work, and not simply set up some terminals in the back of a warehouse somewhere, and tunnel in through multiple encrypted proxies like the professionals do...



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