Escobar on China

I have not been paying much attention to AsiaTimes for the last 10 years or so. There are the pro-China puppets who get a platform over at UR, and then there are the leftists like Nicky Reid, whose "The New New Cold War Is Pretty Much The Old New Cold War" was just published. Reid isn't completely wrong regarding the American Empire, but Reid doesn't really care about the abuses by the CCP.

AsiaTimes: China: one country, two sessions, three threats by Pepe Escobar
Getting back to domestic business quickly is essential for a renewed push on the grand chessboard

Wang Gungwu stresses how the Chinese think quite differently from the “universalist” trajectory of the West, and thus reaches the heart of the matter: “Should the PRC succeed in providing an alternative route to prosperity and independence, the US (and elsewhere in the West) would see that as a fundamental threat to its (and Western European) dominance in the world. Those who feel threatened would then do everything they can to stop China. I think this is what most Chinese believe is what American leaders are prepared to do.”

No US Deep State assessment can possibly stand when ignoring the wealth of Chinese history: “The nature of China’s politics, whether under emperors, warlords, nationalists or communists, was so rooted in Chinese history that no individual or group of intellectuals could offer a new vision that could appeal to the majority of the Chinese people. In the end, that majority seemed to have accepted the legitimacy of PRC’s victory on the battlefield coupled with the capacity to bring order and renewed purpose to a rejuvenated China.”

Is the economic alliance and political cooperation between Russia and China a threat to American military and economic dominance? Sure. I don't think that being right about that means one has a correct evaluation about China or its culture. Are the Han very much motivated by having some sort of nationalist identity that is rooted in a central government over all Han? It's in their history and culture, and that sort of subservient mindset is hard to eradicate. Are those pushing for HK or Taiwan independence necessarily provocateurs being paid by foreign governments? Is it possible for a people who have tasted a measure of freedom to want to preserve it? Yes. Hong Kong, and maybe not even Taiwan, has a realistic chance to achieve independence from China. But such a cultural shift is possible; the intellect and will are not determined towards Han nationalism or any other sort of state-indoctrinated nationalism.