Absolute crickets from the western countries, leaders, news media on this Venezuelan kidnapping.
Say what you want about America, but it's willing to use the military power in its hands to achieve goals. And the precision shown in this operation must be applauded. Now, a foreign president has to face US charges in a US court in a US city, American press is in full manufacturing consent mode, and Trump has truly "killed the chicken to scare the monkey".
Whereas China can only issue strongly worded statements or conduct "naval exercises" in face of enemy countries, even neighbouring ones, that provoke it at every opportunity.
All these talks about "globalized economic order" and "measured approach" are absolutely useless. Where are the sanctions against US? Boycotts? Who's confiscating US assets?
That is the game of ascension from challenging superpower to dominant superpower. Military capabilities lag behind technological prowess which lags behind economic vitality. Lots of people see China's economic power and technological growth that has surpassed the US in many crucial domains, then they foolishly think that that means China can just run the US over all over the world. But no, because China's military power, more precisely, the ability to project military power outside of Asia is not yet up to the point where we can challenge the US military around the globe. So these foolish people who want to jump the gun will just have to complain for longer until China's military power catches up to its technological overmatch against the US.
China will continue "bidding its time" for another decade plus while watching S.Korea and Japan re-arm and further encircle its island chains. In contrast, America will take down Cuba, Greenland, and secure the entirety of the North and South Americas.
Young lion vs old lion. Old lion is all about using its tools, politics, positioning while the young lion is all about growth. I know you are depressed because the emotional victory from invading an enemy country is more gratifying than making progress in a lab so it feels like China's victories aren't as visible but the reason the US is acting like this is because the old lion is desperate and frustrated at being outgrown.
Japanese nuclearization is absolutely the worst thing that can happen to China. It removes the military option of hitting Japanese mainland off the table. It makes it so the "Japanese issue" will never be solved.
I would consider it a bigger failure of the CCP than Taiwan successfully declaring independence.
How did you think the Japanese issue was going to be solved, by invading and occupying Japan? Beat the US out of Asia, become the world's most powerful nation, and the Japanese issue will be solved. And if not, a few Japanese nukes don't make them invulnerable. The is surprise saturation strike and missile interception. Nukes don't make everything equal; a small country with nukes is still at a disadvantage compared to a large nation with many more nukes.
Another 10,000 sqkm of those mountains wouldn't move the needle strategically. This victory is "quiet" because everyone knows its meaningless.
Capturing the Venezuelan president doesn't move the needle strategically. All the things that move the needle are done every year in Chinese labs, military and civilian but you think they're not flashy enough. Then when China captures territory, you complain it's meaningless. This is exactly what people mean by white worship because US actions right now are what everyone knows is meaningless, except to give the MAGA crowd something to get drunk to.
I'm referring to all these world organizations that were gung-ho over Russia/Ukraine. The issue isn't China not sanctioning US over this, it's that the entire world will not take any action, besides some UN statements. It shows that we're past the point of "rules based order" and fully in the era of power politics. And the Chinese leadership, relying on measured approaches and developing quietly, is being caught off guard.
The world is useless. Only China's slow grind to overtake the US economically, then technologically, then militarily will be the final say in how the future of the world is shaped.
