From the Telegraph: Less than four decades later, some believe China is now poised to become not just the world’s number one economy but also its most numerous Christian nation. “By my calculations China is destined to become the largest … Continue reading →
Retired Spook writes in: Your Czarishness; Apropos our previous discussion on the pending financial disaster coming from Beijing, a recent Telegraph article contains a number of amusing (for given values of “amusing”) observations. It appears that Professor Reynolds is correct, … Continue reading →
In Moscow and Beijing, they still believe foreign policy is about military and economic power, “spheres of influence,” formal alliances, and political control. In Western Europe (and much of this administration), it’s about moral authority, international norms, and other kinds … Continue reading →
Or more broadly construed, oikophobia, the opposite of xenophobia, the distaste and hatred of the familiar, the home, the hearth, one’s own land. It’s a topic I’ve touched on before (here, for example; or dig around in this tag). But … Continue reading →
Yesterday you learned that in space, no one can hear you scream, unless you’re Hello Kitty. Today, or friends at NPR, YES OUR FRIENDS AT NPR posted this at their blog. Hermiting is really working out for the Hermit Kingdom … Continue reading →
The Retired Spook writes in to follow up on some recent items: Please convey my thanks to Operative BJ for his insightful analysis of the Gates memoir. Although we disagree on a few particulars, he covers the same ground that … Continue reading →
Awesome question from Island Dweller, and one the Czar expects will generate a little bit of mail and, better still, commentary from other brooders within the Castle: Most illustrious majesty, Thanks to the Democrats, the yuan has gone up in … Continue reading →
The following essay is a guest post from Island Dweller. We remind our readers that you are welcome to submit your thoughts either as an email or as a complete essay. A certain well-known radio talk show host this afternoon … Continue reading →
These came up while the Czar was washing blood off his hands in the men’s room. First up is JAB, who pops up from the Doublewide to tell an awesome story: Dear Mr. Mandarin and Your Czarness: Reading your “Literal … Continue reading →
In other good news, China is massing troops and having air and naval craft patrol their border with North Korea. One Chinese restaurant owner (one wonders what’s on the menu there) in a nearby border town expressed amazement over the … Continue reading →
There has been some fair criticism recently that Americans are not taking the North Korean situation seriously. Understandably, Americans kind of tune out the raving idiocy that pops out of that country on borrowed Japanese social media. Additionally, many South … Continue reading →
Dr. J. would like to follow up on The Czar’s outstanding commentaries about Europe and Syria. Regarding Europe, the ‘One World Government Utopians’ would be the first to tell you that we are destined to be a united world with … Continue reading →
The Czar is still so irate and humorless with the electorate that he is perfectly willing to yield the floor. Todays essay has been contributed by long-time minion Island Dweller. The Czar always expected Japan would need to expand beyond … Continue reading →
Alert and poised-for-instant-Kung Fu-action operative MS writes in: Your most illustrious majesty: I watched only the first 10 minutes or so of last night’s debate before I was able to discern its rough course: Dear Leader: “This nation/me (priority frequently … Continue reading →
In what may be a first, ‘Puter agrees with the Washington Post’s resident Obama fluffer E.J. Dionne, at least as to his central premise. Mr. Dionne states that President Obama’s agenda for a second term is not as hidden as … Continue reading →
What? Did you expect pictures of badminton players or the dude from Algeria? Walsh-Jennings and May-Treanor are the role models here! This may sound like Dr. J. coming to the subject late, but Dr. J. has been pondering this issue … Continue reading →
Dr. J. has a touch of the insomnia, so he went to the London 2012 results page and ran the numbers on the Ye/Lochte controversy. This graph represents Ye and Lochte’s split times for each pool length. This is where … Continue reading →
Citius, Altius, Fortius, unless you put in the third best performance on your team. Clan J. gathered around the holoscreen last night to watch the women’s gymnastics qualification round. NBC’s coverage was only trivially problematic, because the United States were … Continue reading →
Your Gormogons, being the global puppetmasters we are, like to give you the heads up on events or items of interest before they become interesting to the main-stream media or even much of the conservative blogosphere. Indeed The Czar likened … Continue reading →
The latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine had a lengthy piece by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding the United States’s shift in attention from the Middle East to the Pacific Rim: that China, and not only China but a … Continue reading →
Starting at some point after 2003, China began constructing some odd things in the Gobi desert. Gizmodo has a post that details a number of them. Most are in the same general area. Most appear to be surface level, as … Continue reading →
With the 10th anniversary of the War in Afghanistan upon us, you have already started to see a lot of media hand-wringing introspection on whether the war was worth it, whether we should remain in Afghanistan, and what the historical … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin read a very interesting article today by James Delingpole regarding the fact that there has been no global warming since 1998. Well if you are one of the millions of people around the globe that have moved 1,000 … Continue reading →
Liberal suckers all over the US have been really, truly impressed with China for many disturbing reasons. One such example is China’s surprising and laudable move to being a green country. Why, don’t you know, China is leading the US … Continue reading →
Yes, GorT is well aware that China is banning time travel….at least in Radio, TV and Film. Of course, the paradox this implies makes me laugh. The Gormogons are on it, and I’ve asked the 孔夫子 (the Œcumenical Volgi) and … Continue reading →
As the situation worsens in Egypt, you continue to hear references to The Domino Theory. First Tunisia, now Egypt, and protests (or attempts at protests) are taking place in Jordan, Yemen, and Syria. The success of one protest emboldens the … Continue reading →
The Volgi and the Czar will in the next couple of weeks have a lot more to say on the present and future of China, but let us take a moment to talk about another rising superpower that most of … Continue reading →
(You’d know that that means, had you clicked through on my last post…) Pictures! Pictures! And a little bit on the less-sexy but maybe more-important DF-21D. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →China’s military: “Paper tiger or real?” You know what Confucius thinks… Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →ERC responds to DT’s letter about California. Your link to Dr. Hanson’s article was a real downer. I’m a second generation Californian in my mid sixties. “I’ve seen California destroyed by Progress.“ I’m one of those 20-to-100-acre orchardists: used to … Continue reading →
Crap, the Czar has a lot of email to respond to. He got some really good ones over the last two days, and he promises he will answer. But what about this North Korean thing? To catch you up, because … Continue reading →
What comes out of this massive and detailed dossier is a tale of horror in which Chairman Mao emerges as one of the greatest mass murderers in human history, responsible for the premature deaths of at least 45 million people … Continue reading →
So the President is maintaining his foreign policy status quo. By that, he will enrage 1.14 billion people in order to attempt to appease 167 million people. Actually a 7:1 enraged-to-unimpressed ratio is better than he does on most days. … Continue reading →
So, the New York Times has noticed the resurgent Chinese military that’s been weaned on nationalist paranoia: The Pentagon is worried that its increasingly tense relationship with the Chinese military owes itself in part to the rising leaders of Mr. … Continue reading →
So, after having made the Nobel Peace Prize a laughingstock by awarding it to the barely-inaugurated President Obama because he, um, was, er, so, uh, I mean such a great…peace-making-potential guy, the Norwegians decided to actually make a morally serious … Continue reading →
Mario Loyola has an excellent essay on the state of North Korea. Therein, he writes that American foreign policy really fails to understand China and her attitudes to North Korea. When the George W. Bush administration first came into office, … Continue reading →
So, over at Contentions, J.E. Dyer puts up a bunch of links showing Russian attempts to bully Japan over the Kuril Islands, concluding: Its significance cannot be overemphasized. In approaching this confrontation, Russia is effectively treating Japan — a G-8 … Continue reading →
Volgi, Your post on China’s naval buildup merely confirms what you predicted back in April. Once again, you were right. What bothers the Czar about this story is the comment that a Chinese fishing vessel somehow collided with not one … Continue reading →
Well, it’s no surprise to you Gormogons operatives. Maybe others are starting to pay attention. The greatest geopolitical development that has occurred largely beneath the radar of our Middle East-focused media over the past decade has been the rise of … Continue reading →
Here’s the thing about this—we used to be able to build some impressive stuff quickly as well. Empire State Building: 410 days. Rockefeller Center (14 buildings): nine years—of which Radio City Music Hall was done in the first two years … Continue reading →
Because this retiring Air Force general’s presentation to the Air Force Association makes it clear that our this-generation aircraft are increasingly vulnerable to both Russian and Chinese SAMs and fighters, and our heretofore unchallengeable air superiority is becoming, well, challengeable, … Continue reading →
The Pentagon today is increasing planning for smaller-scale conflicts in which the need for global, conventional warhead launchers will be particularly acute. But New Start, with its myopic focus on Russian arms levels, will severely limit our small-war capabilities. Since … Continue reading →
Now Frank Dikötter, a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and at Hong Kong University, has laid out the vast horror in detail, drawing on local and provincial archives that have only recently become available … Continue reading →
Lurking about the presidency in the guise of secretary of state, America’s chief diplomat has embarked upon a mistake that someday may rival Dean Acheson’s exclusion of Korea from the Pacific defense area, or April Glaspie’s muddled words to Saddam … Continue reading →
Here’s a couple tiny excerpts, but you need to read Arthur Herman’s piece in the upcoming Commentary. Twice. Not just because it jibes extensively with Confucius’s* thoughts on the American military. Seriously. Make time. Print it out. Whatever it takes. … Continue reading →
Nations don’t change their naval postures because they are content with the status quo. Nor are the world’s other navies focused on building smaller, less-capable warships for low-lethality tasks like combating piracy. The U.S. Navy’s retreat from the high seas … Continue reading →
Like Confucius*, John Bolton is worried, though he’s not quite as blunt, as befits a diplomat. For years, foreign policy optimists have predicted that China’s rise to superpower status would be peaceful and responsible. But recent Chinese offensives, both domestic … Continue reading →
Hmm. That doesn’t scan as well as it should. Still, hey, what’s keeping the Œcumenical Volgi up at night, playing insomnia chess with དགའ་པོ his Yeti assistant? War with China. You’ve heard this song before, but these days, it’s the … Continue reading →
Andrei Sakharov, Nelson Mandela, Václav Havel, Lech Walesa: in the 1980s, these men were household names, winners of extraordinary victories against bestial tyrannies. Western politicians and intellectuals supported and encouraged them, and our solidarity contributed to the liberation of hundreds … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin is pleased to report that one of the most iconic films of the 1980’s is being remade. And what film would that be you may ask. Go ahead, ask me. Oh, hell I can’t wait all day, I’ll … Continue reading →
…is your read of the week. I’m not even excerpting it, it’s so good. Read it entire and savor in the brutal, brilliant destruction of some useful idiot, fellow-traveller moron journalists’ fatuous, ignorant sucking up to the fascist Chinese regime. … Continue reading →
These attacks, orchestrated by Japan’s infamous Unit 731 between 1932 and 1945, are the only documented mass use of germ weapons in modern times. Scholars say that we will never know exactly how many were killed. Sheldon H. Harris, the … Continue reading →
The parallelism, excellent! We’ll pull out of Iraq, soon and responsibly (is there any other way?); also, we’ll close our eyes and click our heels together three times and wish upon a star over and over again until Israelis and … Continue reading →
Let me just add that part of Russia’s pique is due to the fact that Iran has been distancing themselves a bit from their former patron, due to having found a newer, deeper-pocketed partner in crime who hasn’t historically occupied … Continue reading →
Oh, goody. J.E. Dyer over at Commentary notes, in a post puckishly called “Game On” that China’s successfully tested an anti-ballistic-missile system. This is interesting, because as your Volgi has been writing for some time, China’s military strategy seems to … Continue reading →
And to return to an unpleasant point, Confucius must mention again that, in our insular egotism, Americans of goodwill tend to assume everyone is as anti-racist as we are. When nothing of the sort is the case. Not least in … Continue reading →
They apparently took down Copenhagen singlehandedly (about which I’m not displeased); but as FotG David Frum notes: And not only wrecked the talks, but did so with a conscious display of disdain toward the West generally and President Obama personally. … Continue reading →
So big the Chinese are making CGI simulations of different theories of his car accident. Don’t let people tell you being a celebrity is fun. Also, CGI Tiger apparently drives a pretty beat minivan instead of a (doubtless comped) 2009 … Continue reading →
That’s just over a hundred million pennies. That’s 10⁸. 100,000,000. Three hundred tons of pennies. Two blue-whale’s-weight worth. And you know, if you had a hundred million pennies, you wouldn’t have enough for a pair for the eyes of each … Continue reading →
At first, the Czar thought he missed the sarcastic image of a middle finger or a dead body. But no, the dude is serious. Ranjit Goswami, of the Blogger News Network, writes an editorial titled “Saluting China”. In it, he … Continue reading →
You may remember that your Mandarin commented back on September 10th that “the Chinese flag was going to fly over the Ellipse in D.C.” to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Communist Chinese regime. Now it turns out that according … Continue reading →
Germany is usually touted as among the greenest of the green European countries. Yet, election victor Angela Merkel intends to keep Germany’s nuclear plants operating longer than their required phase-outs. Why? Nuclear plants provide low cost electricity with no environmental … Continue reading →
China has made no secret of their desire to knock us out of their rightful sphere of influence. Read this outstanding article by Dan Blumenthal — China’s staggering boost in military hardware and technology isn’t gear that’s limited to a … Continue reading →
Tom Jocelyn at the Standard writes a good post today on the fact that “Obama’s Popularity Abroad Does Not Equal Gains for America.” In short: his personal popularity has not changed any of the complexes of problems with which President … Continue reading →
How badly can the current administration screw things up? Only 10 months after becoming the radically pro-environmental green-the-world carbon crediting, cap’n’trade president, Barack Obama has reduced the United States to environmental moron status, and China is the country we all … Continue reading →
Russia and China are both developing “fifth generation” fighters that will be widely exported at prices that will undercut the F-35 price tag. Both nations will thus acquire “near F-22 performance… while attempting to proliferate the [aircraft] to perhaps near … Continue reading →
Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times really wants President Obama to make him czar of something. Anything. He is well qualified. For one thing, he likes “pragmatism,” and he thinks national socialism is a good idea. In an … Continue reading →
The web site WorldNetDaily (www.wnd.com) has this headline on their web site today – Chinese flag to flutter over Ellipse in D.C. The flag will be flown on September 20th to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Communist Chinese regime. … Continue reading →
You’d think someone would write a book. Not that there’s a word of truth in Jonah Goldberg’s tragically best-selling compendium of scurrilous rumors and accounts of idiosyncratic, marginal cranks like Woodrow Wilson, George Creel, Mitchell Palmer, Herbert Croly, Fr. Coughlin, … Continue reading →
Sometimes I read an article or editorial and I almost find myself saying out loud, “see, this guy gets it, why can’t the rest of them?” Bret Stephens has a great opinion piece in today’s WSJ about Global Warming and … Continue reading →
I couldn’t make this up if I really tried. According to this article, bad breath or a disapproving wife is all it takes to derail your chances of gaining a spot in the Chinese space program. My wife doesn’t even … Continue reading →
Our friends the Chinese have finally figured out a way to deal with the ethnic tensions between Han (Chinese) and Uyghur (Turkic) which caused riots in Ürümchi earlier in the month: demolish more of the old city of Kashgar (pictured) … Continue reading →
Regardless of the vote in the Senate, “ The F-22 funding termination this week doesn’t change a thing [about the tactical advantages offered by the stealth fighter’s advanced systems] and I think history will bear out the F-22 advocates’ position … Continue reading →
The Czar is right. The nuclear genie’s long out of the bottle and is far less fetching than Barbara Eden. The Czar politely mentions the past difficulties between Burma and the DPRK. If the Volgi’s memory serves, these include the … Continue reading →
Off the front page, of course, but check this out: When the hard-liners gave the traditional chant of “death to America,” Mousavi supporters countered with “death to Russia” and “death to China.” It was a reference to Ahmadinejad’s alliance with … Continue reading →
Sunday’s editorial begins: IF THE reports of deadly riots and repression in a far-off region of China sounded familiar last week, it’s because you have heard them — or something much like them — before. The uprising by ethnic Uighurs … Continue reading →
In case you need persuading that the Volgi isn’t ranting out of his hat with regard to the Uyghurs. (Full WaPo column.) Unrest in China’s far western region, known as Xinjiang, should not come as a surprise. The communist authorities … Continue reading →
The Volgi says “OOY-ghur,” but that’s because he knows Turkic languages. The Volgi has a lot of respect for Andrew McCarthy on a whole range of issues, but he paints with far too broad a brush here. He’s tarring an … Continue reading →
A video and some articles for clicking through if work is slow, or if you find yourself belangoured on the weekend. On Pajamas TV, FotG David Frum continues his argument for the GOP’s forming “new majority” by presenting itself differently … Continue reading →
Iran’s charging families three grand for the bullet that killed their kid. (The family doesn’t get the bullet—they get the body.) Back in the old days, the Chinese bullet fee (子弹费) was only $38. The Chinese must be kicking themselves. … Continue reading →
Rico Suave Lowry makes a very good point: 2) It may be that what we are witnessing here is a devilishly shrewd and effective crackdown, featuring a technological clampdown, targeted arrests at night, and brutality that falls shorts (for now) … Continue reading →
FoxNews just went with this story, which the Czar does not see on other news feeds yet, that the dramatically-named USS John McCain is closing in on a North Korean ship believed to be moving weapon material around. The destroyer, … Continue reading →
My Man(darin), spectacular avionics porn. Let’s just hope it’s not one of the things the Chinese stole a couple months back. If you look at the stuff the F-22* can do, and the F-35 is supposed to be able to … Continue reading →
The younger readers may not remember, but the Czar does. It was 1989, which was by most accounts a remarkably great year for many reasons. Politically, it was a momentous year as we hard-partying 20-somethings stopped in our drunken tracks … Continue reading →
After the Obama administration shredded bondholder rights in the Chrysler and General Motors bankruptcies, the rule of law in the United States now is on par with China’s. So what’s the over-under on how long it takes us to dig … Continue reading →
So hypothesizes Anne Applebaum. Read the whole thing, but: Perhaps the North Koreans have stepped up their war rhetoric, and their war preparations, because China wants them to do so. China is the one country that actually has influence over … Continue reading →
…and lots of ’em: China Faces a Grad Glut After Boom at Colleges. This can’t end badly. I mean, disaffected intelligentsi have been an unalloyed blessing to, e.g., Russia, Italy, Germany, and the Arab world. Remember, there’s a reason that … Continue reading →
Couldn’t be any more upfront. We’ve told you so. And the U.S. Navy continues to shrink. Anchors away? Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →It’s almost as if the UN is on a personal mission to infuriate the Czar. Evidently, UN General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann—continuing the fine UN tradition of awarding key positions to people with bizarrely exotic names—has declared the recent … Continue reading →
The Czar agrees that North Korea is of interest to China, if nothing more than to put into play a major distraction for the US, Japan, and South Korea. Gosh, if North Korea fell, those 3 economic engines might start … Continue reading →
So, as in your scenario, North Korea falls apart. Obviously, South Korea is willing, on some level (on a spectrum of enthusiastically to grudgingly), to welcome its co-Hanguks back into the fold and to unify the peninsula under a democratic … Continue reading →
‘Puter raises an interesting notion, wondering what the net effects would be of China assuming control over North Korea. The Czar is not certain if this would be a permanent or temporary solution; China, of course, is not known for … Continue reading →
Actually, ’Puter, your Volgi would have very little problem in turning North Korea over to China—though why China would want them is another question altogether. Even if it is an encouragement of Chinese imperialism, I think it’s hard to argue … Continue reading →
Here’s a fantasy foreign policy heresy for general Gormogon discussion. ‘Puter’s certain Volgi will politely point out the myriad errors herein. And Czar and GorT will pile on. Why would it be such a bad thing for the United States … Continue reading →
North Korea’s Unha-2 missile…er, communcations satellite…was successfully launched, flew right over Japan, and put, evidently, an iPod into space that—if you listen to 470 MHz—you can hear endlessly looped recordings of “Song of General Kim Il-sung” and “Song of General … Continue reading →
As the North Korean missile crisis continues, POTUS Obama has received assurances from Hu Jintao that not only would China consider a North Korean missile launch provocative, but gave signals that China would not oppose interception should the missile deviate … Continue reading →
And now a Chinese beer is the most popular beer in the world, replacing Bud Light (the Thing of Beers). The Chinese beer is apparently named Snow, possibly from the melamine flakes floating in it, and the Czar does not … Continue reading →
Seriously, do you have any idea how cheap drywall is? Does one really need to save money by using Chinese imported gypsum wallboard? Evidently, it contains mystical abilities to destroy copper wiring from a distance, smells like sulfuric dioxide, and … Continue reading →
While heartily endorsing the Czar’s point here that technocratic methods lose wars, your Volgi will respectfully disagree with the Czar’s account of the Vietnam War, in that his readings seem to indicate that not only was the war winnable—Gen. Creighton … Continue reading →
