China Is Priming Its People and the World for a New Pressure Campaign on Taiwan

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1. Mao Zedong once said that China must wield both the pen and the gun against its adversaries. It is a strategy China is now intensifying for Taiwan.

   With its so-called pen, China’s state television is preparing the domestic Chinese population for a new phase of pressure against Taiwan.

   Read more (unpaywalled link): [https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-is-priming-its-people-and-the-world-for-a-new-pressure-campaign-on-taiwan-1608e4d6?st=YV7uhR&mod=wsjreddit](https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-is-priming-its-people-and-the-world-for-a-new-pressure-campaign-on-taiwan-1608e4d6?st=YV7uhR&mod=wsjreddit)

2. Looks like it worked for Russia with Ukraine so…

3. China is playing it smart by allowing the United States and Russia to sabotage themselves. It has not yet repeated the mistakes made by the Soviet Union and continues to operate within a market–based economic system, unlike the USSR. It also has not invaded another country since Tibet.

   Conversely, the United States’ occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq destabilized much of the Middle East. Its inconsistent support for the Kurds (including Trump’s abandonment of them in Syria), its relationship with the Baathist regime in Iraq (supporting Saddam during his worst crimes and then reversing course), its withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal, and its intervention in Libya despite Gaddafi’s compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty all contribute to a pattern of inconsistent and often counterproductive foreign policy. These actions accumulate over time and set a negative precedent.

   Now, its relationship with the European Union is increasingly strained, particularly as Trump appears to be giving Russia much of what it wants. At this point, I am not confident that the United States will remain the leading superpower for the entirety of my lifetime at this rate.

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