China’s Conundrum |
Taking out Maduro, Operation Epic Fury shattering China's influence in those regions in a way Xi Jinping never saw coming. Now, China’s stuck somewhere it never thought it’d be… On Defense;
Douglas V. Gibbs ——Bio and Archives--March 8, 2026
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The Chinese Communists are a tough bunch of tyrants. It takes a lot to make them sweat. Like Islamist radicals, they play the long game—patiently plotting their victory not on some battlefield, but through infiltration, waiting out the turbulence, and letting the West hang itself with its own declining culture.
And then Donald J. Trump showed up.
Liberation Day Tariffs and the End of Cheap Oil
On "Liberation Day," Trump hit Beijing where it hurts, slapping tariffs on their cheap exports that gutted American manufacturing and sent a river of cash straight to the CCP. The leverage was massive. Nearly 20% of China’s GDP depends on exports, and they’re the world’s top exporter, with almost a fifth of their workforce in manufacturing. But their obsession with production over consumption left Xi Jinping boxed in, unable to pivot when Trump’s tariffs landed.
After hammering China with tariffs, Trump went for their energy jugular. Past presidents? They’d sanction China’s allies, and all that did was let........