“China – Communist Slave State”

In the mid-1800s, Great Britain engaged in two wars against China’s Qing dynasty. The conflicts began when the emperor attempted to crack down on the illegal opium trade that was causing widespread addiction with devastating economic and social upheaval in China.

By 1820, Britain’s East India Company was importing huge amounts of opium from India into China. In 1839, agents of the emperor confiscated and destroyed 1,400 tons of opium warehoused in Canton by British merchants. In response, British warships sailed up the Pearl River and attacked and occupied Canton, overwhelming the inferior Qing forces. This became known as the First Opium War. As a result, China was forced to cede Hong Kong to the British and expand their access from one to four ports. A Second Opium War in 1856 saw British warships capture Peking and burn the emperor’s summer palace, gaining access to many more mainland Chinese ports and the legalization of opium in a forced settlement. These became known as the Unequal Treaties. Merchants in other European nations, as well as the U.S., soon joined in the opium trade.

Ten days ago Xi Jinping walked out in front of the world’s media – depleted somewhat by his government’s growing intolerance of foreign reporters – as the most powerful Chinese leader in decades.

A tradition that limited his recent predecessors to two terms had been broken. And third term in hand, he had cemented his power over China, perhaps indefinitely.

But even as Mr Xi’s grip tightens at home, on the international stage the situation has rarely looked more unsettled.

The more the Communist Party leader has reinforced China’s authoritarian model, the more he has challenged a defining assumption of our age of globalisation – as China got richer, it would become freer.

It’s facing a readiness crisis and underfunding, among other issues

China’s 20th Party Congress concluded on October 23, and President Xi Jinping secured a norm-breaking third term as leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). With the Politburo Standing Committee stacked with close confidants and dissent virtually wiped out, Xi is the strongest he has ever been.

Xi has also redoubled the Party’s commitment to taking the island of Taiwan, by force if necessary. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said that China “was determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline.” The alarm has been repeatedly sounded by American military officials, with speculation that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could occur as soon as 2023.