How China's Military Views the United States

An interesting article on how the War in Ukraine is making China's financial crisis worse. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been a disaster worldwide, with countries with debt crises in the program going from 5% in 2010 to 60% in 2023. Russia has 113 BRI projects valued at $291 billion, with nearly all the loans declared non-performing and the projects stalled. A large percentage of the grain that Russia has been holding up in the Black Sea is destined for China--so much for cooperation.

China Faces a Familiar Economic Downturn. But Its Crisis Is Worsened by the War in Ukraine

The failure of the BRI projects has resulted in a shortage of income, and that is added to all of the debt from the Covid lockdowns.

 

China's government is turning on itself as their economic situation gets worse. High-level military leaders are being arrested for corruption. They have certainly known about (and possibly encouraged) the corruption for decades, but waited until now to do anything about it, hoping it will distract the Chinese people from their own problems and keep them from blaming Chairman Xi.

When difficult times arrive, it is important to know who to throw under the bus to make sure the people don't turn on you. It's called leadership (at least, in China it is). As long as no one mentions the Chairman's corruption, everything will be fine.

After replacing 2 senior military commanders in charge of its nukes, China is now investigating its defense minister, US officials say

 

Why would we need them, when the Patriot system (not our latest and greatest SAM system BTW) can easily shoot them down?

 

Just because the Patriot system was damaged for a couple days by one Kinzhal missile, does not mean that it has not been shooting down Kinzhal missiles. Both sides are exaggerating claims of missile and drone shootdowns around the two capitals, and minimizing claims of damage, or claiming that missile wreckage fell and caused minor damage. It's fairly clear that Russia does a lot more of this than Ukraine does, so it looks fairly hypocritical to pretend that this is something that only Ukraine does. Ukraine does admit when apartments, schools, and hospitals get hit by missiles, so they at least have some credibility. Russia has none--they never admit any direct damage from a missile or drone.

U.S. military experts are in agreement after looking at the wreckage that Ukraine has been able to shoot down numerous Kinzhal missiles using the Patriot system. End of story.

 

China's invasion of Taiwan may depend on a country in West Africa called Guinea. China needs to develop an alternate supplier to Australia for its hematite, which is a high-grade source of iron (easier to extract). If they invade Taiwan, Australia will almost certainly stop shipments of hematite to China. The mines in Guinea will take time to develop, as will the relationship with the country and the infrastructure (they need about 365 miles of railroad from the mountains to the sea). Guinea recently shook up the political situation with a military coup in 2021. They are projecting to get the railroad running by the end of 2024, but experts say that 2028 is more reasonable for a quality railroad construction job (the railroad won't run very long if they finish it next year).

When will China invade Taiwan? The answer lies in West Africa

 

We didn't start that war, either. Hitler refused to be appeased. Allied countries did not choose to participate in that war. Hitler chose for them, for the most part. Not unlike Putin choosing for Ukraine.

 

The Philippines has removed a floating barrier in the South China Sea that China installed to prevent the Philippines from fishing in an area fraudulently claimed by China.

South China Sea: Philippines removes Chinese barrier in contested area