The days of the locusts

By albertobor on March 17, 2023 • ( 0 )

What would be the counterpart of the wolf warrior, the modern Beijing diplomat?

China Daily, the tabloid of the Communist Party of China, has given us the answer. The wolf warrior, just, good and generous, must fight against a group of hyenas who want to silence him and lead China to starvation.

The notation appears in the editorial ‘Wolf warriors’ needed to fight Western ‘hyenas’ by Chen Wiehua, published last March 9 at the end of the last weeks of Beijing’s traditional foreign policy.

We started with the peace plan for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, without anyone being able to consider it as such, because it did not suggest a road map, but a list of general principles that could be good for any country in conflict. Subsequently we listened to the statements of the new foreign minister Quin Gang, who reminded the Americans how dangerous it is to exclude China far from the global value creation processes and denying it markets means leading to a conflict.

Up to the statements of the supreme leader Xi Jinping, who putting aside his traditional prudence, said that the United States is implementing a violent campaign of “containment, encirclement and all-round repression” of Chinese aspirations.

Xi Jinping then reiterated the mantra of overcoming the technological gap of the Chinese army compared to the US one, which must be remedied by 2027 and increased the military budget by more than 7%.

The Economist notes that a possible military confrontation between the Chinese, Taiwanese and Americans in the South China Sea is no longer taboo, but an option. So much aggression conceals anger and concern for the performance of the economy.

China has thought of the internal market as a substitute for the global one, but not everything went smoothly during the days of Covid, the level of growth in 2022 is lower than that declared, consumer confidence is low and the nightmare of the real estate bubble.

In recent months, Beijing has contained the inflationary effects of the post-pandemic and interest rates are lower than elsewhere, it has reopened its doors to foreign investments, but is unable to reverse the outflow of capital and skills.

The past years have opened our eyes to the dragon who eats it all, and we don’t remember a foreign company that has emerged unscathed from the last quarter century in China, made up of unfair competition, dumping of companies under state control and failure to respect intellectual property such as trademarks and patents.

“Modernization does not mean Westernization” says Qin Gang, but it seems that the exit from China of Apple, Samsung Nike, Adidas and many other corporations is the most indignant offense to Beijing because it slows down its growth.

Statements of principle and harsh reality, not so far from the wrath and war of Putin’s “gas station nation” against the green turn of the West when over 40% of the Russian GDP is oil & gas (2018 data). Prophetic John McCain: ”

Look, Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country. It’s kleptocracy. It’s corruption. It’s a nation that’s really only dependent upon oil and gas for their economy, and so economic sanctions are important.”

It’s the fault of the hyenas the Chinese wolves thunder, we remember the awakening of the insect season in perfect coincidence with the third Chinese season of the traditional lunar calendar (Chinese: 惊蛰), which falls on March 5th and ends on March 20th.

I was raised a Roman Catholic and God-fearing, so much so that I remember St. John the Evangelist, who wrote his Apocalypse in the shade of the acacias of Patmos, dedicating a part of it to the invasion of locusts.

7 These locusts looked like horses ready for war. On their heads they had crowns that looked like gold, and their appearance was like that of men. 8 They had hair, like the hair of women, but their teeth were like those of lions. 9

Their bellies were like breastplates of iron, and the roar of their wings like the roar of chariots drawn by many horses rushing forward. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and spines. In their tails the power to make men suffer for five months. 11 Their king was the angel of the Abyss, which in Hebrew is called Perdition, in Greek Exterminator.

Revelation 9.7/1

The suggestion deserved the mention in a slightly macabre game, however the appointment of Li Shangfu as defense minister, sanctioned by the American authorities for trafficking in military material between China and Russia, reminds us that these are the days of the locusts and in these hours Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow has been announced.

This article was previously published in Italian language on the site http://www.altriorienti.com