China: He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best

Note:? This article is an update to a dispatch from July 2023, about China.? This material is updated and current, reflecting the growing role of China in world affairs, and its role in solving the seemingly intractable problem of Ukraine.

Until about 4 years ago I played pick-up basketball twice weekly with a group of fellow former aging hoopsters.? Twice weekly, we met at the American College in Thessaloniki at an appointed hour, trying valiantly to mask our age with feats of serendipity on the court.? Sometimes it worked, but more often we realized our playing days were coming to an end.

Over the years—about 25 altogether--our group of guys got to know one another’s trademark moves on offense and defense.? Driving to the basket, then twist, changing hands to surprise the opponent, before scaling the baseline under the basket for a reverse layup.

My moves were mainly on defense, and I was aggressive.? I butted heads with opponents and enjoyed the exchange with one particular player. A right handed madman, older than me and unable to control his movements, he would drive down the lane at high speeds and a body to match, daring anyone to stop him. James Taylor had a song about this kind of guy, "Steamroller Blues."

Eventually, I learned to play with his mind.? This is what you do when you know your opponent.? Before he could take flight from the ground with intent to soar toward the basket, I moved my body in front of his right hand, the one with the ball, and forced him toward the middle of the lane interrupting his flow toward the basket.? ?As he could dribble only with his right hand, I was forcing him to shift in the other direction, before he took leave of the earth and flew toward the basket.

On more than one occasion he was bewildered and stopped dribbling altogether, looking to his teammates for moral support while he held the ball in the air, growing inconsolable, angrier than a drunken sailor. ?The lesson? ?I knew his signature move, and could stop him cold in his tracks, while he looked to others to validate him.? I had done the unexpected, flustering him to the point of immobility.

Flash forward to Ukraine, and the grand effort by the West to dismantle Russia, its military, its people and its history.? Russia and Ukraine have a deep history together, and Russia knows the moves of its opponent. In the news we hear about NATO,the UK, the USA and the Wagner Group.? We read about body counts, weapons introduced and destroyed.

But let's not underestimate the role of China., something we don’t hear about much in the news. Surprising, as China is a singular player in world affairs these days.? The silence is strange, but perhaps understandable, given China’s outsized and growing role throughout the world. That notion in political science—the Thucydides Trap—pits the USA and China against one another in a classic stand-off of power politics, with China looking to eclipse the USA on the world stage. Click on the definition to learn more. It’s quite interesting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides_Trap

Moveover, it’s happening now.? China, the world’s growing superpower, is challenging the world’s leader and is steadily stealing wind from America’s sails.? China is doing this without much fanfare, a quiet giant lingering in the background, away from the news. And it is playing this game against the USA like a maestro directing a world class orchestra. In the case of the Ukrainian crisis, we would expect to hear more about China, but no.? Only silence and cryptic messages from Bejing.? But this could change as things get closer to the endgame for NATO and the USA.

Consider this possibility.? As the USA and NATO and the UK and Europe are increasingly unwilling to sit down with Mr. Putin for peace talks, to discuss the cessation of carnage, China may pick up the ball and force their defense and diffuse the carnage.? China is biding (Biden?) its time, waiting for more shoes to fall, before stepping in to orchestrate the final movement. And like that aforementioned basketball player standing alone with the ball in his hand, looking for moral support from allies in the West, China is playing great defense, forcing the West to choose its next move.

In all of this, there’s another element worth considering:? Mr. Zelensky knows where the bodies are buried. Recall, Mr. Trump was impeached for a telephone call asking Zelensky to check on corruption within his government as it related to US parties (Congress and former politicians) looking to capitalize on the Ukrainian orgy of money laundering.? Donald Trump was looking for transparency, and they impeached him to stop the big reveal.

What might happen if China stepped in and became the peacemaker, yet again, leaving the US, NATO and Europe on the sidelines with their tongues in their laps and holding their collective manhood.

China stepping forth as a peacemaker dovetails so well with the interests of Ukraine, with Russia and Europe.? The only losers are NATO, the UK and the USA. It wouldn't surprise us if Ukraine suddenly turned tail from the West and embraced Russia and with China as mediator, to salvage what's left to be decided.

Consider the following:

1) Zelensky is ready to lose the entire game.? Yet, he has one powerful card to play, a bomb more powerful than an intermediate nuclear weapon:? He has the paper trail of all financial transactions between his government and Washington DC, Brussels and London.?? Moreover, he knows how the US has played the world with those bio-weapons factories, and the re-transfer of weapons throughout the world.? And he knows the paymasters. ?Yes, it includes him, but nobody expects perfection from Zelensky, just as we don’t expect it from Harvey Weinstein or Mr. Epstein.? Everyone knows 'Mr. Panama Papers' has been on the radar screen for decades.

2) China is intent in developing its Road and Belt Initiative.? A large part of this is continuing the gravy train into Europe proper.? Ukraine is the only missing link to this road to Europe from Eurasia.? And post-war, Ukraine will be dirt cheap for factory owners, with slave salaries for workers.? Ukraine is the perfect complement to Chinese labor camps, allowing cheaper products to flow into Europe, further destroying human rights within the continent.

3) Endless Cheap Russian Energy: With Nordstream gone, energy continues to flow through the main country that still carries oil and gas into Europe…Ukraine. ?Russia can continue to provide oil and gas through a Chinese policed Ukraine, while Europe is stuck begging the US for its oil and gas at greatly inflated prices. As Ukraine becomes the new kid on the block for China, Europe's industrial strength evaporates.

4) The only odd-man out of this picture is the Collective West.

There’s no way Zelensky--and the USA--hasn’t woken up to this reality.? We should be in for a lot of fun in this Autumn, as Western Intelligence produces an Afghanistan 2.0, and the world jumps aboard a different train, realizing its future lies in the 80% of the world that doesn’t include North America and Europe.? Ok, throw in Australia and New Zealand for good measure. But these former penal colonies don't really count for much.

Zelensky is a dead man walking, and he knows it.? The only leaders who can protect him now are Messrs. Xi and Putin, working together with BRICs countries--the majority of the world the West has dumped into a garbage bin. Who says Colonialism is a thing of the past? NATO, Europe and the USA have kept it alive and well. But this could change soon, and for good.

For evidence, consider Ukraine.