Taiwan taken by China? Why Dinesh D'Souza is wrong.

Taiwan are the good guys, but not if China can help it.  Dinesh D'Souza thinks an invasion is imminent. I respect him, although I disagree in this case. While I hope he's wrong, there's a good chance he's right.  Here's his case:

Here's why this analysis could be wrong.  While they are clearly able to do so at this point, and the current American administration, whom I still refuse to call by name, is weak.  They are in many ways beholden to China.  BUT even though there is no Pacific version of NATO, South Korea, Japan, Australia and a number of other regional nations would not be happy and call upon the United States to engage militarily. 

Geopolitically it may be unavoidable to engage militarily.  China is not blind to this possibility. I'm sure they've wargamed it all out. China's philosophy is to play the long game.  Their most recent foray into domination of Hong Kong is a win for them.  They will likely be willing to consolidate that win and play the long game against America.  It's in their best interest to avoid a war since they are winning without actually fighting one.

It makes sense for them to keep a feckless oaf as their adversary rather than to risk alienating even more voter from him and potentially facing another Trumpian president after 2024 who is willing to stand up to China and embolden allies to do so as well.  Would they rather face that or have an extra four years of a know-nothing, do-nothing administration?  Especially when all of the levers in America are pulled in the support-the-feckless position (big tech, the mainstream media primary among them). 

No, I don't see a war.  I see China using the threat of a war where it might suit them politically, but that's all.  If there is going to be a war, the earliest opportunity would be 2025. 

China's Communist Party tightens it's grip

 In an effort to choke liberty into non-existence, the CCP continues to strangle freedom of the press, such as it is, in Hong Kong.

Want to see authoritarianism in action?

Stop saying it's Trump, look at the Chinese Communist Party.  This is the type of government ANTIFA types want in America:

So many people do not understand the garbage they are supporting - that means not only leftist progressives who excuse anything that happens in countries like China but also people who unwittingly support unfettered globalism and have, through their own ignorance, allowed China to usurp every other country's production and industrial base.

Don't be blind to it or else you are part of the problem.  You are an enabler, both at home and internationally.  Do not allow this to continue.  Buy American.  Support local business.  Stand up for your country and your flag and the beliefs of the country's founders.  They are not evil beliefs, they are right.  Don't keep that notion to yourself.  Share it with those who doubt.  Explain it to them, or guide them to others who can do so if you do not feel qualified for the task.  And if you feel unqualified, educate yourself so that it becomes easier next time.

America is facing an existential threat to its existence and its guiding principles.  If you do not defend it, you do not deserve it.  Then maybe if we, as humanity, are luckily it will be born again someplace else in the future.  But don't count on it.

What happens when globalists and greedy idiots unite?

In 1997 Hong Kong was returned from British control to China, granting the communist nation a powerful trading opportunity.  The in 2001 China was granted normalized trading relations with the United States (in fact, grotesquely granted Most Favored Nation status) and also entered the World Trade Organization. What happens when Communist China petitions a greedy western cabal of globalists looking for cheap labor and a massive potential market for their products?  Massive problems.

In the spring of 2000, China was trying to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The U.S. House of Representatives had just approved normalizing trade relations with China. The vote was effectively a U.S. endorsement of China’s accession, and President Bill Clinton, a major proponent of China’s bid, voiced his economic and strategic hopes for the U.S.-China relationship....

China did not conform to democracy in the way the United States had hoped. In fact, its vast economic gains have only legitimized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which President Xi Jinping believes is central to maintaining economic stability and enabling China to dominate technology-driven industries.

China’s tight government controls extend to the internet, which was supposed to be a gateway to reform and innovation. China regulates internet use, limiting access to commerce and social media. China has blocked political organizing by threatening—and sometimes jailing—those who post critical comments online. The Chinese government also uses the internet to identify and track dissidents.

China's internal issues are not the worst of the outcome though.  China has become an expansionist nation, economically digging its tentacles into every nation it can.  And every other economy has suffered economically, as this graphic shows:

There are countless examples of why the admission of China into the WTO and America's good graces for trade were really really bad.  I encourage you to read the examples below.

How Clinton and American Financiers Armed China

Clinton to blame for current fight with China, not Trump

Bill Clinton Shoehorns China Into the WTO

The WTO and the China Challenge

Countries have become dependent on Chinese production for most everything.  Even leftist publications like The Atlantic can recognize that.  During the Obama administration in the U.S., China's economic and military muscle flex truly catapulted  into high gear.  It's been left unchecked for far too long until president Trump finally decided to do something about it, and other countries have started to follow suit.  While it has been left far too long to allow this predatory and evil regime to run amok, hopefully it is not to late to put the communist genie back in the bottle.

President Trump 1 - W.H.O. 0

President Trump terminates the U.S.A.'s relationship with the World Health Organization over China.  Deservedly so.  But while this is a good step, the real issue is China and their mobster tactics on the world stage.  Hopefully there is more to come.

Hong Kong is just China now

Hong Kong is no longer recognized as autonomous by America.  That will have a dramatic impact on US-China trade, and unfortunately also on the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.  Hopefully China sees that and backs off, but it's not likely.  The underpinning of the Chinese communist government is the ability to take advantage of easy trade terms with the rest of the world and cheap Chinese labor to continue it's totalitarian regime.

The only way out for the world, and the people of China, particularly Hong Kong at this moment, is to remove that underpinning that is enabling China.  It's tough but necessary.  This would have been easier for everyone if it had been done 5, 10 or 15 years ago. Doing business with China, is enabling a repressive and yes brutal, communist regime.

China is a goon state

Communists are thugs.  They use violence - the are thugs.  They are goons. Don't believe me?

Karl Marx himself wrote:

there is only one way in which the murderous death agonies of the old society and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified and concentrated, and that way is revolutionary terror.

It's clearly just a tool they employ.  Communist China is no different.  They are passing new laws intended to allow for brutal suppression in Hing Kong.  It's coming, and likely this year. It's coming because a one-country, two systems approach to Hong Kong has been a thorn in communist China's side ever since the British mistakenly terminate their lease of the city from China in July 1997.  They want one country, one system - and that system is communism.  The new laws foreshadow a coming dark period for the city.

Brutal suppression is as much a standard tool for communists as it is for mobsters.  History shows us this if you are willing to look at the unvarnished truth of Stalin, Mao, Castro, Guevara, and even modern day equivalents like Maduro or Xi Jinping.

Why American business make excuses for the Chinese government is baffling.  Yes there are short term profits but the Chinese government is not only exploiting it's own people, if they had their way, they would ultimately eradicate the businesses that seek to do business in China, after they have ceased to be useful tools for the state.

Hong Kong pro-democracy voter turnout in context

An explainer on how dramatically the pro-democracy movement changed the election results from the previous election:

Hong Kong democratic reformers win historic victory

Democracy scored a victory in Hong Kong over the weekend.  Via CNBC:

Hong Kong’s democrats scored a landslide majority in district council elections, which saw a record turnout after six months of anti-government protests, increasing pressure on the Chinese-ruled city’s leader on Monday to listen to calls for democracy.

Sunday’s elections marked a rare weekend lull in the sometimes violent unrest, with democratic candidates securing nearly 90% of the 452 district council seats, broadcaster RTHK reported, despite a strongly resourced and mobilized pro-establishment opposition.

So now what?  China is not going to pleased with this. The communist party did not want a result like this: high turnout and a thrashing of their preferred candidates.  This is as much a threat to democracy in Hong Kong as it is an opportunity.  It's too early to tell what China will do but my suspicion is that they will attempt under-the-radar ways to sabotage the fledgling democratic reform government, at least initially.  If that fails to accomplish their goals of re-totalitarianizing (I made up that word) the city, perhaps harsher methods might follow.

It's important for the city to get it right, and it's important at this point for president Trump to vocalize support for the winners.  Yes there are trade implications for doing so but it really is important because China has become used to steamrolling their way to getting their way.

NBA team kicks out pro Hong Kong fans from game.

Is this the NBA trying to avoid getting into politics the way the NFL was sucked into it by Colin Kaepernick? Maybe they see it that way but most people see it as the NBA capitulating to communist China.

They have a lot of financial interest in China, and businesses like the NBA have been playing by the rules that were set out for them.  After pro Hong Kong tweets by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, the NBA commissioner grovelled to China in apology before partially walking that back after a flood of criticism.

The NBA finds themselves in the spotlight and trying to balance their financial interests in China with free speech.  Here's the problem.,  The NBA is trying to avoid committing to anything and hoping it will all go away.  The non-committal is de facto capitulation.  They need to come down either way - as pro-China or as the American way; pro freedom (ergo pro Hong Kong).

American values have not spread to China due to ridiculously pro-China trade liberalization.  Liberals argued for doing that with the Soviet Union to liberalize that system.  That's not what happened.  Ronald Reagan spent the U.S.S.R. into dust.  Peace, through strength.  President Trump is doing the same thing now - making the fight economic.

Yes, there is disruption to companies like the NBA.  But so too others like Apple.  Adapt or die.  Americans will not, or at least should not tolerate any company that is willing to get into bed with a totalitarian, oppressive regime like communist China.  If they won't do it on their own, maybe the rules governing trade with China need to be made more punitive.  Dealing with China is an existential necessity.

Boycott those companies who are bowing to China over Hong Kong

I'm not a supporter of boycotts per se, but I will not support Blizzard or the NBA because they are caving to communist China instead of supporting those desiring freedom in Hong Kong.  I'm not suggesting that you do the same...per se.

Dictator Watch - China vs. Hong Kong

Yes, China is a dictatorship.  Hong Kong was supposed to be different when it was returned to China from Great Britain.  Except China wants it to be like the rest of the communist country.

Here's some background on what's happened if you have been living under a rock.

And here's why people in Hong Kong are fearful of extradition to China:



Hong Kong is a blight on China's image of itself.

Despite the recent decision to scrap the controversial law, protesters had 5 demands, and the protests are not going to stop.  This is likely to get even uglier and it is a potential global powder keg.

Is Hong Kong setting itself up for an invasion?

The one part of China that remembers democracy could be in really big trouble.

Trump should be even harder on China

You know, I'm thinking that maybe this would be a good time for president Trump to up his demands on China regarding the trade dispute.  With Hong Kong residents in the streets over China trying to tighten the reigns on the free market zone, and China buckling under the tariff situation, this might be the best time to wring more concessions out of the communist regime.

With this in play:

As well as this:

The important thing to remember is that president Trump is tackling an existential issue that no one else prior, and many still now have deliberately ignored. Leaving China free to continue under the status quo will ensure both China's ascendance and America's decline.

Hong Kong flummoxed by Kangaroo Court

If you are simply going to overrule election results that you don't like, why bother with the pretense of even having elections?  I'm looking at you communist China.  Hong Kong recently held local elections and the results were simply dismissed.

Activists accused Beijing of crippling Hong Kong's parliament Friday after four pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified.

More than 1,000 people protested near the government offices Friday night in response to the decision.

The High Court judgement came as a massive blow for the democracy movement as it means the balance of power in the partially elected legislature swings further to the pro-China camp because opponents do not have enough seats to veto bills.

Former Umbrella Movement protest leader Nathan Law was among those barred in a case brought by the semi-autonomous city's Beijing-friendly government after the four changed their oaths of office to reflect frustrations with Chinese authorities.

Law was one of several rebel lawmakers to secure a foothold in parliament at citywide elections in September.

But that triumph was soon jeopardised [sic] after Beijing issued a special interpretation of Hong Kong's mini-constitution in November to insist oaths be taken in a "sincere and solemn" manner.

That's one way to run a kangaroo court; just be obvious about it.

Chinese mocking U.S.: right observation, wrong conclusion

In an interesting article in the Washington Times about the Chinese mocking the United States, there's some interesting validity in what they are saying about America, just as there are some incorrect conclusions in what they say.