I have almost developed a form of news-fatigue
syndrome!
A member of one of my WhatsApp chat groups religiously posts a daily update on the Iran War. I do not know where he gets these updates from. I simply skip them each time they appear. I also doubt that he himself reads these daily updates!
But people love to post, as if to register their presence — rather like the “Good Morning” greetings you so often receive.
The truth is, how many of us really read about the Iran War now? Or the Ukraine War? Or the aftermath in Venezuela?
Perhaps the next headline we are waiting for will be the US invasion of Cuba.
Trump loves to generate headlines. But who believes him anymore?
Answer: the silliness of many Ang-mohs, pseudo-Ang-mohs and wannabe Ang-mohs!
Just a day or two before the expiry of the temporary 10% global tariff, the US announced a new measure: tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from about 60 countries/economies. The stated justification is that these countries — of all reasons — have inadequately enforced prohibitions on goods produced with forced labour. (Much of the Liberation Day regime, as we all know, had been struck down by the Supreme Court.)
And Singapore is slapped with a rate of 12.5% — even higher than that handed down to Malaysia, at 10%.
However, these new tariffs do not simply erase every existing US tariff. They are generally imposed on top of the normal Most-Favoured-Nation/customs duties, while various products and existing sectoral measures have exemptions or separate treatment. India, for example, gets a 10% rate, but roughly 45% of its exports — including specified categories such as generic pharmaceuticals and smartphones — are exempt from this particular new levy.
The administration is shifting towards established trade statutes such as Section 301, which are legally harder to overturn.
The other more pertinent cases: China, 12.5%; India, 10% (total, including MFN); Japan, 12.5% (total, including MFN); South Korea, 10% (total, including MFN); Canada, 10%; and Mexico, 10%.
Just a ballpark figure for China: the cumulative tariff on an individual product can readily be 20–40%+, depending on its tariff classification.
Is China concerned? Of course. But is it lethal? Certainly not. And I bet you, Trump will yield. He is just profiling. The US needs all those Chinese goods. Period.
And is anybody reading this news? I bet hardly anyone.
In response to the EU’s latest Russian sanctions, which included 14 Chinese/Hong Kong companies, China struck back immediately. It placed 14 European entities on its export-control list. Several of these entities are among the most significant in Europe. The Chinese ones, on the other hand, are peanuts in size.
(Among the European companies affected are Germany's Rheinmetall and Poland's Vigo Photonics, alongside firms in France, Italy and the Czech Republic. These are industrial giants.)
This is actually the second such retaliation against Europe this year. In April, China put seven EU entities under similar export restrictions following the EU's 20th Russia-sanctions package.
After the US expanded its list of Chinese companies alleged to have links to China's military in June, China responded by imposing trade/export restrictions on American companies, particularly firms involved in defence, aerospace and strategic materials. Ten US companies were subjected to export controls.
Beijing now has an increasingly elaborate anti-sanctions and anti-extraterritoriality legal framework that allows it to punish foreign companies for complying with foreign sanctions that China considers illegitimate.
What is particularly interesting is China's choice of weapon. Rather than merely answering tariffs with tariffs, Beijing is increasingly using its leverage over rare earths, critical minerals, magnets and other dual-use supply chains. For certain Western defence and high-tech companies, losing access to these inputs can hurt considerably more than an additional 10–20% tariff.
These Ang-mohs are very bodoh. They are living in a delusional world!
The Silliness Extends Beyond the Ang-mohs
Wang Yi, in his meeting with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro on July 22 in Manila, on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings, was most pointed. He warned that China–Philippines relations had reached a “crossroads” and that Manila needed to make the “correct and rational choice.” (You could also see Lazaro’s attempt to look taller than Wang – by tilting her nose skywards in a one-for-the-album photo-shoot session!)
The immediate background was the latest “wayang” staged by the Philippines near Ren’ai Shoal (仁爱礁, Second Thomas Shoal), where Philippine vessels had deliberately rammed a Chinese Coast Guard vessel. The Philippines should henceforth decide whether it wants cooperation and stable relations with China, or continued confrontation.
Incidentally, Marco Rubio was also in town. Did anyone notice his presence?
Instead of living peacefully with a heavyweight neighbour, Sanae Takaichi is determined to revive militarism in Japan and is trying to enlist the Philippines and Taiwan to serve her cause. China and Russia are not going to let Japan have it that way.
There has been a noticeable escalation in Japan's military friction with these two neighbours.
The most recent incident occurred in July, around Okinotori in the western Pacific. A Chinese naval group operating together with a Russian frigate entered waters that Japan regards as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and conducted a live-fire exercise. Japan lodged a diplomatic protest, of course, China just gave Japan its middle finger.
Okinotori, which is about 1,700 km south of Tokyo, is essentially a rock rather than an island capable of generating an EEZ. And an EEZ is not sovereign territorial water.
And a few weeks earlier, China and Russia also conducted a major joint strategic air patrol around Japan and Korea with bombers and maritime-patrol aircraft. Chinese J-16 and Russian Su-35 fighters accompanied parts of the formation. They operated through the Sea of Japan and East China Sea. Takaichi should take note. This was their 11th joint strategic air patrol and no longer an occasional symbolic exercise.
The relationship had already become considerably more dangerous after the December 2025 encounter involving the Chinese carrier Liaoning. Chinese J-15 fighters twice directed fire-control radar at Japanese F-15s which were monitoring the carrier's operations.
China and Russia appear increasingly
willing to demonstrate that Japan cannot treat China, Russia and North Korea as
three completely separate security problems. Despite Trump’s abhorrence of geishas,
Takaichi still wants to sing and dance her way into Trump’s heart.
I posted two articles on Indonesia on June 2 but decided to pull them shortly afterwards. They are: Is Indonesia Turning Against China (https://yubooklim.blogspot.com/2026/06/is-indonesia-turning-against-china.html) and China and Indonesia: The Sweet and Sour Relationship (https://yubooklim.blogspot.com/2026/06/china-and-indonesia-sweet-and-sour.html?m=1). However, having watched further developments unfold, I decided to repost them.
When it was disclosed in February that Indonesia was agreeing to US aircraft overflying Indonesia — which meant that US aircraft operating between bases such as Diego Garcia, Guam and facilities in Australia and the Philippines could move rapidly between the Indian and Pacific Ocean theatres — we already knew that Indonesia had begun to ingratiate itself with the US administration. The export controls on commodities and the nickel policy, aimed principally at China, therefore came as no surprise.
Indonesia's Finance Minister, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, on June 25, 2026, personally conducted a surprise inspection at a Chinese-owned steel company in East Jakarta, claiming that there was a large discrepancy between the apparent scale of the company's operations and the tax it reported.
Purbaya said his ministry had identified about 40 Chinese steel companies suspected of using similar methods. His language was unusually pointed. He said his ministry had specialists familiar with the ways “Chinese companies” allegedly misled the government. Earlier, he had stressed that the companies under investigation were Chinese, saying in effect: they are all from China, not mixed companies.
Yes, by all means go after tax evaders, but do allow the relevant authorities to follow due process. By naming and shaming China, isn’t this a blatant anti-China act? And his arrogance is totally un-Asian.
I often get “discriminated” against by our own kind in the way I am treated. Two incidents remain fresh in my mind.
The first was when I was entering the Business Class cabin of a Singapore Airlines plane, only to see a stewardess eagerly rushing forward to serve an Ang-moh despite a yellow man also being there.
The second was at Hong Kong airport. While my wife and I were waiting to be served at the priority line, the ground crew seemed to think we were invisible; he welcomed an Ang-moh couple first. I blasted him and actually wrote to SIA to complain. I remember they sent me some gift vouchers to appease me!
Takaichi is blatantly telling China that Japan did not lose World War II to China. It lost to the US. And they will always kowtow to the conqueror.
One of the first foreign visits made by Marcos Jr. was to China. But his American baggage was too heavy; he soon reversed gear and aligned himself with the former colonial master.
Prabowo also rushed to attend China’s September 2024 military parade, even though he was facing some unrest in his own country. But just observe how his eyes seemed to be begging Trump to pay some attention to him when they were in Egypt, where Trump was holding his Peace Summit in October 2025.
Trump did not disappoint him and greeted him warmly, publicly calling him a “tough man.” That must have sent him sky-high immediately. That must have done wonders for his self-esteem.
The problem is also China’s. It does not believe in acting like a tough guy, even in its confrontations with the Filipinos over some of the South China Sea islands. Whip the big cane and the Filipinos will come abegging. This was how Rodrigo Duterte turned the Filipinos around during his rule.
I hear that many of the resource-rich countries in Africa are now also trying to adopt the Indonesian approach in dealing with China.
If you are really worth your salt, you process your resources all the way into finished products. But these countries cannot go beyond digging, yet they believe in resource nationalism. Without technology and markets, what good are your minerals?
Many mine owners owe their existence to financing even before the deposits are fully determined. Many go to banks to borrow to support fixed and working capital — and even their private jets and yachts. Once the sales contracts are cancelled, the banks will go after them, just like the farmers in the US. That’s when the politicians will realise the folly they have created.
Yes, to the leaders of these countries: do learn some ABCs of international economics.
Trump is a godsend to China. US antics have allowed China to stage “vertical take-offs” in science and technology especially during the last two years. Yes, the economy has not been that great, but its resilience is mind-boggling.
Despite its handicap in hardware, China is neck-and-neck with the US in AI. There are simply too many of the likes of Liang Wenfeng, Wang Chuanfu, Zeng Yuqun and Yang Zhilin in China, not to mention the recent Fields Medallists Wang Hong and Yu Deng. Without the Chinese in Google, Meta and those other IT giants in the West, they will soon fade.
Sooner or later, the US will bite the dust once China has overcome its remaining handicaps — which it definitely will. China is simply too formidable to compete with in terms of cheaper energy alternatives and their availability, which will be a determining factor in the AI race.
I personally do not quite like the South China Morning Post, for I think many of the journalists there are outright anti-China. However, when it comes to science and technology reporting, they are always fast and accurate. You can follow all of China’s advances in weaponry there.
A fact has simply emerged: the Western Pacific will become the graveyard of US warships if they come to Taiwan’s defence should China decide on forced unification. I believe unification is inevitable; but it will not be through a direct war.
Again, the huge pool of talent in the other branches of science and technology will propel China towards becoming the standard-setter in many things to come.
And ultimately, it is their leaders who
make all this happen. They are constantly adapting — in spite of the fear many
perceive, thanks to the misconceptions that have been laid out by the West and
pro-Western media.
A simple visit to China will destroy all these misconceptions. And China has now opened its doors for everyone to witness history.
Ditto the US flip-flops on the destruction of Iran. It simply fears China and Russia’s intervention, especially when its munitions are running so low.
In short, the US’s decline is inevitable. (Many will certainly disagree with me on this.)
And China is starting a new universe — fortunately or unfortunately.
End
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