by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
COVID19 cases in China continue to drop, just as cases outside the Middle Kingdom continue to rise dramatically. This leads to a scenario where what we all know is inevitable — China replaces the United States as the center of the global order — happens now, not 30 or 50 years from now.
It could happen a lot quicker than any of us might want to think, like, in two weeks. If the United States buckles sometime just past The Ides of March, you might see China make it clear who owns some pretty valuable islands in South China Sea. That would be just the beginning. They might attack Taiwan while they can. They might also gobble up North Korea if that nation collapses for some reason.
If they got away with that, then they might go for broke and make a huge land grab in Russia’s Far East. If Russia is just as incapacitated as everyone else by this point, then Siberia itself might be in play. Russia without Siberia is a major European power who might have a sudden reason to be far more nice to everyone around it. Maybe any election interference in the Untied States they do has a far different objective?
Or, really, you might even see any major land grab on the part of the Chinese as the thing that totally changes everything — suddenly Russia, the United States, India and Europe all join forces to control China. A pandemic might be just the thing to give China reason to believe they could strike Russia in a big way without fear of being vaporized.
Who knows. It’s interesting to think about.
