China's Rogue Regime

It is commonly accepted now that China is using its trade with the United States and other OECD countries to increase the size of its economy, which in turn will allow it to build its military to the point where it can attack the United States and other countries and hope to win. At its simplest, every Chinese container landed at the Port of Los Angeles contributes to a U.S. combat death at some point in time of China’s choosing. Every item of injection-moulded plastic from China picked off the toy shelves at Walmart contributes to a future U.S. combat death.

Some of our leaders seem to comprehend this but speak in a kind of code. Thus, Vice President Mike Pence told the West Point graduating class last month, “You will lead soldiers in combat. It will happen.” General James Mattis has made similar remarks. How can they be so certain that the size of the U.S. military won’t be enough to discourage a belligerent from disturbing the peace of the world?

Because that belligerent country is China and their intentions are as plain as day. Would a peaceful country continually bait Japan as China does?  This graph from the Japanese Foreign Ministry shows Chinese incursions into Japanese waters.

The sudden leap in incidents in 2012 was due to the rise of Xi Jinping as Supreme Leader, later uprated to Core Leader. All these incursions by Chinese fishing vessels are funded by the Chinese Government; it seems the budget is for 12 per month. This is the steady heartbeat of Chinese hate and enmity while they wait for the moment when they can attack.

All this is known, but still Chinese goods and people enter the country. There is a certain amount of inertia in the system while Trump’s tariffs reach their full effect. But each day’s delay in bringing in those tariffs likely will result in more U.S. combat deaths.