Summary

U.S.-China tensions are escalating as Trump imposes tariffs on all Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to retaliate and vow to fight “any type” of war.

China is boosting defense spending by 7.2% while portraying itself as a stable global partner.

The fentanyl issue adds to disputes, with Beijing dismissing it as a pretext for tariffs.

China faces economic struggles but is injecting billions to stabilize growth.

If Trump continues escalating tariffs, the trade war could intensify, worsening global economic and geopolitical instability.

  • Freefall@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Economic, trade, soft power, cyber…sure, hell they stand a chance in those. Combat? Not even close, they would be leveled. The tricky part is using the advantage they have in the first few without receiving the kneejerk usage of the last one against them.

    In actuality, the CCP influencing anything outside China (and arguably inside China) is a worst case outcome. The US doing so is very quickly moving up the ranks to the second worst. The world is going to need the EU, and allies, to step up and keep both in check.

  • riodoro1@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    China faces economic struggles but is injecting billions to stabilize growth.

    The sole manufacturer of everything we buy faces economic struggles. We better fucking hope they don’t because all they have to do is increase prices and we’ll bring them the money on our knees. Good planning on behalf of our capitalist oberlords.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    I just caught myself almost rooting for China for a moment there. It has been a wild month.

      • stardust@lemmy.ca
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        21 hours ago

        For a brief moment thought crossed mind but then when news came out they are considering sending in military to get experience in Ukraine and threatening Taiwan was a reminder that US and China are both enemies.

        Would rather both countries destroy each other.

        • psx_crab@lemmy.zip
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          16 hours ago

          Also claiming the part of South China Sea that’s not theirs. And land dispute with india.

        • LadyAutumn@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          8 hours ago

          To your last part, that would likely end hundreds of millions if not billions of lives. The world population is several times larger than it was during the second world war. A conflict at scale between the United States and China would absolutely be a global conflict.

          For no reason other than to illustrate how many lives another world war would take, World War 2 resulted in the loss of life of at least 3% of the world population. That figure in 1946 was somewhere in the range of 70 to 80 million. 3% of the global population today would be 246 million people.

          I don’t point this out to be snide, just to say that it is absolutely a worst possible case scenario if the United States and China go to war against each other. It would affect the lives of every human being on earth. Those nations do not share land borders. It would mean widespread invasion and destruction of other nations in both hemispheres.

  • soyboy77@fedia.io
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    16 hours ago

    These world leaders desperately want to be seen as tough guys but they’re merely overcompensating for their micropenises.

  • stopdropandprole@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    the Cold War was a free printing money machine for 50 years. creating a new one against China makes sense if you’re an oligarch whose wealth rides upon govt contracts and endless military industrial expansionism.

    and it kinda explains why Putin is manipulating Trump to make him believe they’ll choose the US over China in a game of saber rattling. Russia is positioning itself to be the tie-breaker so it can play both sides against one another in lucrative energy/arms deals. maybe they’ll even get some real estate out of it.

  • aleq@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” China’s embassy said on X, reposting a line from a government statement on Tuesday.

    Maybe something is lost in translation, but this sounds like they’re primarily talking about economic wars. My reading is that they’re just saying that they won’t accept US bullying, which is good.

    • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      China is just as jingoistic as America for domestic consumption. Both countries believe their own propaganda. It’s like pre-WW1 Russian Empire and Austria-Hungry all over again. Complete ignorance that any actual conflict would rip them to pieces.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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      19 hours ago

      lol yeah their navy has “army” in its name. Their blue-water capability is simply not in the same league as the USN.

      But also, if they wait a few years, I’m sure our military will start to fracture and esprit de corps and morale will largely evaporate because they’re all sick of shooting at other Americans.

    • Albbi@lemmy.ca
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      22 hours ago

      I was hoping for a pog war. I hear the pog of war makes things very tricky.