I confess that I worry China’s strategy is to get a hot conflict with us over with before the population bomb. The worry is that they’ll want to lock in their foreign policy goals, which essentially means avoiding feeling hemmed in and encircled, before their economy inevitably weakens (which is happening before our eyes). China historians warn that worry about encirclement is an ancient obsession. Their view of the world shows South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines essentially surrounding them and controlling their access to the world. Taking Taiwan and much of the disputed S China Sea punches a whole through the ring.

So, imo, the next 5 yrs or so are crucial.
[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 05/03/2024 08:57AM]