Is Pressure on Indo-Pacific Allies Working?
Trump’s careless policies toward countries in the Indo-Pacific will make it harder for future administrations to cooperate with these countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3rPY695Roc
Tag: Asia
Is America Ceding Ground to China in the Pacific?
U.S. tariffing and ending aid to Pacific countries in such a way that makes the U.S. look like an erratic and bad partner, and makes China look relatively better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B77a8o3RSUw
Japan warns of China’s military moves as biggest strategic challenge
Japan warns of China’s military moves as biggest strategic challenge
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/14/japan-warns-of-chinas-military-moves-as-biggest-strategic-challenge-00452924?fbclid=IwY2xjawLkrDZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHoQXCbzOTHpflr60WAQdKd_4HluiG-N_Y_HGE-AXzCBfxgPMTDg9sgOrMDKm_aem_T4XFQAUSSikBC104n2OOCQ
Trump sends tariff letters to Japan, South Korea, 5 other countries, extending deadline to Aug. 1
“Trump said the tariffs on Japan and South Korea would be separate from any “sectoral” tariffs that he imposes. That appears to refer to the duties that he has already imposed on autos, auto parts, steel and aluminum under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which gives the president broad authority to restrict imports to protect national security.”
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“Trump said he was imposing the duties to help reduce the “very persistent” trade deficits with the two countries — meaning they export more goods to the U.S. than they buy from the U.S. — which the president blamed on Japan and South Korea’s tariffs and other trade barriers.
However, most economists disagree with that analysis, saying that macroeconomic factors like relative savings rates play more of a role in driving the overall U.S. trade deficit.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/07/trump-threatens-japan-south-korea-new-tariffs-00441302
China’s got the world in a rare earth choke hold
“China has a virtual monopoly in the sector, dominating the entire supply chain from the extraction of rare earths to their processing and the manufacture of permanent magnets.
According to the International Energy Agency, the country accounts for some 61 percent of rare earths extraction and 92 percent of refining. Moreover, it provides nearly 99 percent of the EU’s supply of the 17 rare earths, as well as about 98 percent of its rare earth permanent magnets. Global demand for these minerals is expected to increase by 50 to 60 percent by 2040.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/china-rare-earth-materials-donald-trump-west-magnets-cars/
How Recon is the Secret Weapon Against China
How Recon is the Secret Weapon Against China
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bp_-JlmFEg
A quiet Tiananmen Square anniversary shows China’s ability to suppress history
“Tiananmen Square is a vast space in the center of Beijing with monumental, communist-era buildings along two sides and the mausoleum of Mao Zedong, who founded the communist era in 1949, on the south end.
University students occupied this symbolically important site in the spring of 1989. Their calls for freedoms divided the party leadership. The decision to send in troops marked a decisive turning point in the evolution of modern China, keeping the party firmly in control as it loosened economic restrictions.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/05/a-quiet-tiananmen-square-anniversary-shows-chinas-ability-to-suppress-history-00388845
China helps Russia pull ahead in lethal drone war race with Ukraine
“Russia is catching up to Ukraine in drone production thanks to greater financial resources, production lines far from the front lines and especially help from China, a senior Ukrainian official told POLITICO.
“Chinese manufacturers provide them with hardware, electronics, navigation, optical and telemetry systems, engines, microcircuits, processor modules, antenna field systems, control boards, navigation. They use so-called shell companies, change names, do everything to avoid being subject to export control and avoid sanctions for their activities,” said Oleh Aleksandrov, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service. “Yet officially, China sticks to all the rules. Yet only officially.”
Beijing has repeatedly denied supplying any drones or weapons components to Russia, calling Ukrainian protests “baseless accusations and political manipulation.” But Aleksandrov said Russia has a critical dependency on the supply of Chinese spare parts for both tactical and long-range drones.”
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“Pavlo Palisa, a former top military commander and now deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said in a statement that so far this year, 80 percent of the damage to Russia’s equipment and personnel has been done with drones. In May alone, Ukrainian drones destroyed 89,000 Russian targets.”
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“Kyiv says that its access to new drones has been curtailed by China, while Beijing has placed no such restrictions on Russia.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/china-russia-lethal-drone-war-race-ukraine-war-invasion-manufacture-putin-tech/
India-Pakistan, Building Back Military Power, and Immigration
The U.S. may not be able to beat China in a war because China can quickly rebuild their weapons and the United States cannot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wter9VmCPvI
Fireside Chat With Stephen Kotkin & US House Select Committee on China | Hoover Institution
Asking what Xi wants is the wrong question because the appetite grows in the eating. Even if Xi just wants to dominate East and Southeast Asia right now, once China has gained that, their appetite will grow and they will want more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQfzDs7RzI