Author: Political Commissar Studio Xiao Zhang
According to images from the European Sentinel Earth Observation Satellite, the US Navy's USS Carl Vincent aircraft carrier battle group recently appeared in the waters east of Taiwan Province of China to maneuver in the waters between Okinawa and the Bashi Strait. This move by the United States is widely regarded by the outside world as cooperating with the so-called "Han Guang Military Exercise" being carried out by the Taiwan military, and to put it bluntly, it is specially designed to support the Taiwan authorities.
In the final analysis, the main reason why the Taiwan authorities have gone black on the road of no return for "Taiwan independence" is that the United States is the main initiator. It can be said that if the United States had not frantically intervened in the Taiwan Strait issue, there would have been no dilemma that Chinese mainland on the Taiwan Strait issue today. Therefore, as far as the mainland is concerned, if it wants to resolve the Taiwan issue, it is necessary to start from the root causes and achieve the purpose of maintaining the stability of the situation in the Taiwan Strait through countermeasures against the initiators.
Therefore, Chinese mainland recent countermeasures against the United States, the means and methods are also changing. On the day when the US aircraft carrier appeared in the eastern waters of Taiwan Province, more than a dozen PLA fighter planes appeared in the airspace of the Bashi Strait, which is undoubtedly to tell the Americans with practical actions that they dare to meddle in the situation in the Taiwan Strait and that the PLA has the ability and determination to let them come and go.
But this is only one aspect of China's counterattack against the United States, and China's countermeasures in other fields can even be said to be fatal, specifically poking at the "death pit" of the United States. Not long ago, China formally applied to join the CPTPP, and once it does, it will become the largest economic member of the agreement, according to the Observer Network.
As we all know, the predecessor of the CPTPP is the TPP promoted by former US President Barack Obama more than a decade ago, and its main purpose is to establish a cross-regional economic and trade alliance to cope with the momentum of China's rise. However, Trump, who succeeded Obama in charge of the United States, announced his withdrawal from the agreement as soon as he took office. Later, Japan succeeded the United States as the leader of the agreement and changed its name to CPTPP.
However, although Japan claims to be the world's third largest economy, neither its international status nor its economic strength is far from enough to support the beam of the agreement. Therefore, after the United States announced its withdrawal, the call for China's participation within the agreement has not stopped. Therefore, China's announcement of its application to join the Agreement is the result of everyone's expectations.
China has applied to join the agreement, and Japan and Australia have recently jumped out to set up obstacles for China to join the CPTPP out of the need to maintain their position in the agreement and to help the United States confront China. However, with the exception of Japan, the other members of the agreement generally welcome China's accession. In recent days, Singapore and Malaysia have successively made statements welcoming China's application to join the agreement.
There is no doubt that once China eventually becomes a full member of the agreement, it will replace Japan as the leader of the agreement by virtue of its own strength and status. Such an outcome would be fatal for the United States. The reason is simple: China's accession and dominance mean that this agreement, which was originally used as an anti-China agreement, will become a booster for China's rise. This is definitely an outcome that Obama never dreamed of.
China joined the CPTPP and became the leader in the agreement. For the United States, it will lose control of the agreement, allowing its position of influence in the trans-Pacific region to further decline or even die. Therefore, the Wall Street Journal pointed out that "although the CPTPP is related to trade, it can pull out geopolitical issues." Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted experts as saying that China's application to join the CPTPP can also be seen as a kind of pressure on the United States, which will highlight the lack of An Asia-Pacific trade strategy by the United States and will become a "dead hole" in its dialogue and competition strategy.
Obviously, China's application to join the agreement is tantamount to poking at the "death hole" of the United States. However, the provocations of the United States have not stopped, and China's countermeasures cannot be stopped. According to the Global Network, in the international market, the imbalance between steel supply and demand has become increasingly prominent, resulting in a sharp rise in international steel prices. Domestic steel prices in the U.S. have soared 215 percent since March. In this regard, the US "Fortune" magazine analysis said that the shortage of supply is the main reason for the soaring price of steel in the United States.
International steel prices have soared, the impact of the outbreak is only one factor, and more importantly, China, as a major steel exporter, introduced policies on the cancellation of export tax rebates on steel products and restrictions on crude steel exports a few months ago due to the reduction of carbon emissions and the consolidation of the domestic metallurgical industry. This series of measures by China is also a factor in the soaring international steel prices.
You know, the Biden administration recently threw out trillions of dollars in infrastructure plans, resulting in a surge in U.S. steel demand. The soaring price of steel, not only the soaring cost of infrastructure, but more importantly, the resulting soaring inflation rate is becoming a major crisis threatening the stability of the United States. In other words, China's move has poked another "dead hole" in the United States.
As part of containing China, the United States frantically meddles in the Taiwan Strait in a vain attempt to force China to compromise with the United States on trade, climate change, and other major issues. However, the United States has underestimated China's determination and strength to counteract too much, and the consequences of this are that the United States must bear strong countermeasures from China in the political, economic, military and other aspects, and China's countermeasures can be said to be aimed at the "death pit" of the United States. Sino-US relations are mutually beneficial, and fighting is hurting both; this is not a joke, and it is hoped that the United States will think deeply and stop suppressing China in a timely manner, otherwise it will surely suffer bitter consequences.