Last edited Tue Mar 26, 2024, 08:53 PM - Edit history (1)

The US is putting pressure on China in other ways.
Sanctioning or prohibiting business with Chinese companies who are hacking,
doing espionage, etc.

China is imploding financially due to its own devastating financial policies.
Scandals, corruption, very poor planning and ineptitude are all taking a big toll.
The Chinese economy is in bad shape.
The Chinese are no longer purchasing goods at a pace to boost the economy.
China is relying more on exports, but foreign businesses are backing away from China fast.
They see the handwriting on the wall.

And China keeps beating the war drums against Taiwan and others in the South China Sea.
Building up its military.

Russia and China seem very short sighted. They desire world dominance and ownership
of Europe and the Pacific. But it is costing them dearly. They can't see it yet.
And they are forcing the rest of the world to ramp up their military.

Russia is a bit of different story but both benefit from being able to steer their economies much more forcefully than the West. And unlike the West, allowing economic pain for their own investors and citizens is not of as much concern for them. To your point though, that all only gets them so far in a global economic environment. And the masses may be slow and reticent to react but they could and that has to be an ongoing concern.

They have subsidized to the tune of trillions of dollars into their economy but it is all failing spectacularly.
To the point the Chinese people won't spend any more money.
They have lost trust in their government.
And foreign businesses no longer trust them either.

Russia also has problems. They have a huge amount of oil, but have been shutting down production, due to the sanctions. And now damage to the refineries.

Yes before they didn't care about the pain to citizens and foreign investors.
They do now.

Iran is the other one where majority supposedly do not support the theocracy, economy is in a shambles and they are walking backwards into the dark ages as a nation. And there have been some pretty significant protests mainly focused on inflation and the economy, yet they are tamped down with interior ministry troops and water cannon and little changes. I all cases a general strike that stops public transport and interrupts the supply chain and maybe more is not beyond their means, yet we don't see it.

It is something hardly describable to Americans who just cannot wrap their heads around it.

The control is an iron grip on everyone, everywhere.

Police everywhere. Forbidding you to walk on certain parts of the sidewalk
or sit on certain benches. People being dragged away by policemen in public places.
Those people looking terrified. Emails and phones under surveillance.
Co-workers at work observing and reporting infractions.

Punishments are severe for minor rule violations.
Loss of job, housing.
Or more serious rule violations: Jail, prison, death.

The crushing poverty, people starving, hungry, thin, gray looking.
No one makes eye contact, people scurry around, not looking at anything.
Survival is the name of the game. Nothing else matters.

I visited China after the economic boom.
It was miraculous. People were being fed, the gray look was gone.

Uniformed police much less evident, but were still there in
civilian clothes. The rules were less harsh, but still there.
Everyone being careful about what they say and do.
Everyone knows resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.

...interesting. And it seems to be fading pretty fast for many.

All the government promises have faded.

The people refuse to spend money now which means the Chinese economy is not
sustainable. Foreign investment is running away and even if the foreign
money was there, it is not enough to keep the Chinese economy going.

People are still afraid. I have a Chinese friend, moved here to the US
recently. He is afraid to return to China, he knows he will be "detained." He has
spoken out against Chinese repression. He left China with the clothes on his back.

With the recent fall of the economy due to government mismanagement, the Chinese
people have lost their savings, are quite insecure and uncertain. The government could
help boost confidence with more secure employment, benefits, retirement.
But the government doesn't want to do that. Instead it pumps $billions into
worthless projects.

One of the things the government is doing to tamp down dissent is to make the US
its sworn enemy. Causing fear among the Chinese that western democracies want to destroy them.
This is to boost Chinese nationalism and reliance on the government for protection.
It is to the point that Americans living in China are leaving. Students are not
going there to study.

So the autocratic governments find a way to curb dissent and re-focus the people.

The Chinese government has always been afraid of having a 1.4 billion population who might
rebel. That is why they had to start feeding the people. And why they now have the world's
largest military. They want to be a superpower of course so need the military power.
But also they have the military resources now to stop a rebellion.