Viva la revolution!!

There needs to be introspection. American foreign policy is failing. Decided to voice one man’s opinion.

All of the Strum und Drang after last week’s debate will go into overdrive next week. Remember when Newsom traveled to China last year. It was obvious why he did at the time. Now it’s obvious to everyone.

Big meeting taking place in Kazakhstan. SCO and Xi + Putin attending. Not seeing any traditional media coverage though.

Things have remained too quite globally after last week's debate. It is fairly expected that leaders across the globe, allies and adversaries alike, are in the process of adjusting political calculations. First, there is a far higher likelihood that all world leaders will now view the Biden administration as a "lame duck". This then means foreign policy will be at a stand still on all issues. Second, engagement with America will now shift towards the increased expectation of a second Trump presidency. Not entirely clear what that will mean at a more detailed level. Finally, and the only point I feel very confident in sharing is the fact that far greater overall uncertainty will now be the daily norm. Stay safe out there people.

Then again, Xi is headed to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference in Kazakhstan this week. Now that should be an interesting meeting of various heads of state from the Global South.

Well, starting the week here in Shanghai with no mention in local Chinese media about the Biden-Trump debate. Not that I was expecting any commentary from the folks in Beijing. Then again, silence can - at times - be deafening.

Here I was preparing for another day of the #China grind and then this just hit the news wires. Strategy matters, but tactics can matter even more. It needs to be said; America’s policy towards China is thoroughly misguided. There is no apparent cohesion on how it is that the United States seeks to counter/compete with China. There just seems to be a single page in the playbook, and it is only a defensive playbook. You might be a hammer, but viewing everything as a nail will not change the trajectory towards a new multipolar global reality. China’s greatest asset is that of being the world’s dominate base of manufacturing. If America truly wishes to compete, then it should take whatever measures are necessary to begin cutting into that advantage. And “friend-shoring” isn’t the answer. There have been some attempts made, primarily the billions granted through the CHIPs Act. This example, however, only demonstrates just how ill-equipped America is when it comes to reindustrializing the country. Delay after delay and regulatory red tape. Blaming China or taking a solely defensive stance through the targeting Chinese companies, be that TikTok, DJI Technologies or now the Chinese telecom industry, is nothing but an exercise in signaling. None of these actions gets to the heart of the geopolitical issue. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-25/us-probing-cloud-arms-of-china-s-big-three-telcos-reuters-says?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google&sref=lgMFFI0d

I wonder if all of the war mongering over China has anything to do with the Pentagon looking for more funding? Not that America is already bankrupt. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-05-28/america-needs-more-attack-submarines-to-stop-china?sref=lgMFFI0d

Here we go again. The Beijing playbook remains the same. When politics in Taiwan go against the "wishes" of the Mainland the next step is to conduct train exercises that center on surrounding the island. Suspect that there will be a ton of bloviating out of Washington in the next 24 hours. Rinse. Repeat.