XPost: soc.culture.china, soc.culture.taiwan, talk.politics.misc
XPost: soc.culture.japan
"borie" AKA "stormi" AKA "shapey" AKA "rorro" AKA "nono" AKA "bernoff" AKA "bach" AKA "roove" AKA "grille" AKA AKA "spacer" AKA "starlet" AKA "kawaga
AKA "hotei" AKA "tom"AKA "golden" AKA "lobo" AKA "kool" AKA "moses" AKA "dubenski" AKA "bobo" AKA "vonnie" AKA "starlet" AKA "dean" wrote in message news:si02on$hpo$
1@dont-email.me...
Make no mistake, 3 dog fights at China is not going to change China at it.
4 dog fights at China will not change China decision to it.
You might find these interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHA5pCy02wE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBV4GmK4kO4
I've been reading James Dunnigan's books for nearly forty years and he is rarely wrong about these things... ------------------------------------------------------------------------
China: Intimidation Escalation
September 17, 2021
Chinese media claim recent American actions make it clear that China is now dominant in East Asia and that its power is spreading worldwide. China is openly dismissive of the ability of foreign governments, especially the Americans, to defy Chinese demands. China is flaunting its power in places
like Afghanistan where everyone is discovering that China has the final say over who does what there now that the Americans have withdrawn. This
disrupts an ancient rivalry between Persians and Indians over who gets what inside Afghanistan. The economic basis of that rivalry was control over portions of the Silk Road trade routes between China and points west. The
Silk Road was replaced by more efficient European ships, and their
firepower, six centuries ago. In the 21st century China is reviving the Silk Road as an overland and maritime network through nations friendly towards
trade with and investments from China. Iran and India see this as a threat while Pakistan sees it as an economic lifeline as well as an obligation to
do what China wants. In Afghanistan China is willing to do business with whoever can provide a safe environment for Chinese investments and trade.
There are doubts that anyone can do that and China is waiting to see what
Iran and Pakistan can do about it. India and Russia are also cautious about doing business in Afghanistan. Because of Pakistani control of the Taliban, India is now banned from Afghanistan but still has valuable trade
relationships with Iran that Iran does not want to lose. China and India are currently archenemies of each other. Finally, there are the Afghan-based
drug cartels that supply most of the heroin to the entire planet. While universally hated throughout the region, cartel money is a major source of income for the Taliban and the Pakistan military, which is currently running the government in Pakistan.
Iran is an example of how an outlaw state can survive with Chinese
patronage. China can command Iran to do things that benefit China more than Iran but the Chinese have not called in that debt yet. They may have to
because the new (since May) Iranian government has made it clear that it
wants all sanctions lifted before any serious (and probably unsuccessful) negotiations over ending the Iranian nuclear weapons program can take place. China does not see Iranian nukes as a problem because Iran understands that China has no qualms about using extreme (even nuclear) violence against any threats from a nuclear armed Iran. China is telling Iran that China can be their best friend or worst enemy. So far Iran is playing nice towards China because that makes it easier to pressure European countries into lifting sanctions despite Iran continuing with its nuclear problem. The Americans
are still a problem but are not beyond some creative deception and intimidation. China is leading the way there as well.
The Foreign Enemies Within
The Chinese government has also become obsessed with eliminating foreign cultural influences from China. This has been difficult because it includes many popular foreign entertainers, food, religion and customs in general.
The current primary target is South Korean popular music, widely known as
K-Pop and a dominating influence on the Chinese popular music market. One aspect of K-Pop that particularly offends the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) arbiters of what is acceptable is its influence on Chinese youth. The CCP believes it should decide what foreign customs and inventions are acceptable for its glorious New China and which are poisonous. This now includes K-Pop
and its use of boy bands, full of cute young men that dance and sing in a
way that creates fans world-wide. The CCP considers the boy band members sissies (calling them “sissy boys”) and the reason why so many Chinese young
men are imitating the look and behavior of these K-Pop stars. The CCP
ignores the fact that Sissy Boys are a part of Chinese history that was not given much publicity but did a lot of business with the upper class and acquired a number nicknames over the centuries, including the current slang term “sissy boy”.
The CCP is believed to be using all these headline worthy assaults on
foreign culture to distract Chinese from growing economic problems. Chinese consumers have not responded to calls for more consumer spending to help maintain economic growth. Too many Chinese do not believe the economy has really recovered from the covid19 recession, especially since entire cities
are still being locked down to eliminate new outbreaks. Each of these brief halts in business activity ripples throughout the country, triggering a lot
of unexpected shortages. The CCP propagandists may be ignoring this but most Chinese do not and are hoarding their resources, preferably nothing
associated with the Chinese currency (the yuan).
Another bit of bad news to escape CCP news regulators was the growing number
of yuan-denominated bonds that are rapidly losing their value because international credit rating agencies are lowering ratings on such bonds
because the ability of the issuer to pay interest and eventually the face
value of the bond is declining. Many large Chinese banks and financial institutions are going bankrupt because of all the bad debt, usually yuan-denominated, they are carrying. In many cases the government ordered
that these questionable bonds be issued to hide massive corruption in the financial system. The government thought that with enough time they could
fix things. Then came a real estate bubble that was much larger and
dangerous than thought. At the same time the Americans began a trade war to force China to stop using illegal trade practices. Finally, there was the worldwide covid19 recession, which put more pressure on the fragile Chinese financial system. Chinese economic reports, especially the quarterly ones,
are now awaited with dread rather than just anticipation. Bad news is taken
for granted and the only question is how bad things get. This puts the sissy suppression campaign into context.
https://www.strategypage.com/qnd/china/articles/20210917.aspx
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