I am not surprised Xi and Joe Biden are not getting very far in agreements when they speak. It is important they keep speaking, but, I am not surprised. China and Russia have itchy trigger fingers since the Trump administration. They must have learned a great deal from Trump. So, they feel more confident today they could go to war with the USA and end democracy.
Communists don't like democracy. They think it is dangerous. I guess to some extent they are correct when free elections result in a bozo in the White House. But, communism is highly oppressive. The communists don't think so, but, the issue with Taiwan is a great example of oppression vs. democracy.
The Taiwan economy is strong and it is famous for it's computer chips. Why would any leader want to oppress that? The same goes for Hong Kong. There are decades upon decades of people who have lived within democratic principles and have learned and accumulated knowledge. Why oppress that? Makes no sense. Communists don't see that, BUT, all China has to do is realize most if not all it's accomplishments since Nixon visited is due to spying on the USA.
China will not reflect on it's gross weaknesses and Russia just runs around the planet pretending to be a real country. It is highly speculative as to whether Russia is still a sovereign nation with so many in decent of it's leadership and very corrupt elections. No different than Belarus. That is what makes Russia so dangerous right now. Putin has his submarines off both coasts of the USA and he is firing rockets into space to destroy old Soviet satellites. There was a major incident because Russia is getting very reckless. It is taking it's cosmonauts out of the ISS. So, before it does it is going to show the world what Putin wants to do to the ISS after Russia is gone.
By Kylie Atwood, Jim Sciutto, Kristin Fisher and Nicole Gaouette
The US strongly condemned a Russian anti-satellite test (click here) on Monday that forced crew members on the International Space Station to scramble into their spacecraft for safety, calling it "a reckless and dangerous act" and saying that it "won't tolerate" behavior that puts international interests at risk.
US Space Command said Russia tested a direct-ascent anti-satellite, or DA-ASAT missile, striking a Russian satellite and creating a debris field in low-Earth orbit of more than 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris that is also likely to generate hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris.
US officials emphasized the long-term dangers and potential global economic fallout from the Russian test, which has created hazards for satellites that provide people around the world with phone and broadband service, weather forecasting, GPS systems which underpin aspects of the financial system, including bank machines, as well in-flight entertainment and satellite radio and television....
November 17, 2021
The communists don't have really great conventiional forces. That is why they are a real nuclear threat. The USA, to the dismay of the public in general, has a really great conventional force and look to that aspect of our military and not nuclear components. But, since the Trump admiistration there has been a growing enbolded status by China and Russia. China doesn't see that talking with The West is worthwhile so much as just preparing for war. They really want to end the democracy in Europe, Australia and the USA. They really do.
The USA has a very vibrant military. It has many branches of expertise and people make the miltiary a career move. The Congress is always looking for ways to make the military personnel and their families happier. HOUSING is still a problem in some instances. But, for the most part I think Congress doesn't want military families to be on social welfare programs as they have in the past. The public complains if they preceive the military abusing it's people and even neglecting them to some extent. The Iraq War changed the profile of a USA soldier in many good ways. Our sons and daughters are safer as soldiers today, but, in realizing that also realize they are more of a threat as well.
Russia and China are isolating. Russia began that about four years ago. It began to require Russians to declare dual citizenship, called home it's diasphora and closed off the internet from The West. I don't know if Chinese citizens and Russians communicate, but, doubt that. The languages are too diverse. If it is done it isn't on a large scale. But, all that is moving into isolation. Since Russians had to register if they have dual citizenship, there have been more constraints in expressing loyalty to Russia.
Russian submarines have always played with USA borders and so have their jets. The USA primarily monitors what is going on and is ready to pounce if it has to, but, those scenarios never manifest. Yet.
I find it oddly interesting that Putin, the illegitimate president of Russia, is flexing muscles along the USA borders and in space.
Both China and Russia are barking up the wrong communist tree.
Ya know, when Nixon went to China it was to open it's doors to the possibility of joining the rest of the world. Now. With Xi. It seems as though China came out to play and has decided it doesn't like it much. Leaders before Xi weren't so foolish. I remember the pride in China at the first Olympic Games. This mess that has resulted after Trump is a fools game.
By Yen Nee Lee
The U.S. and China (click here) have just emerged from a high-profile meeting between their two leaders, with both sides striking a positive tone about their relationship going forward — but one big question remains unanswered, said an analyst.
“The open question for the broader relationship is whether the US and China can constructively manage the slow-motion collision that is now unfolding between their very different worldviews,” said Stephen Olson, senior research fellow at Hinrich Foundation, in Tuesday note after the virtual summit.
The U.S. and China still face “hard-edged, irreconcilable differences” that are deeply entrenched — and it remains to be seen whether the fallout between them will ease after the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said Olson....
