364
submitted 3 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Summary

U.S.-China tensions are escalating as Trump imposes tariffs on all Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to retaliate and vow to fight “any type” of war.

China is boosting defense spending by 7.2% while portraying itself as a stable global partner.

The fentanyl issue adds to disputes, with Beijing dismissing it as a pretext for tariffs.

China faces economic struggles but is injecting billions to stabilize growth.

If Trump continues escalating tariffs, the trade war could intensify, worsening global economic and geopolitical instability.

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[-] biofaust@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

Choosing this post among many others to say that I am tired of old men declaring wars they have no skin in, for a future they will never leave. The world is starting to mirror the mental images of their deteriorating brains.

[-] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 135 points 3 days ago

I just caught myself almost rooting for China for a moment there. It has been a wild month.

[-] breadguy@lemm.ee 15 points 3 days ago
[-] stardust@lemmy.ca 82 points 3 days ago

For a brief moment thought crossed mind but then when news came out they are considering sending in military to get experience in Ukraine and threatening Taiwan was a reminder that US and China are both enemies.

Would rather both countries destroy each other.

[-] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 26 points 3 days ago

Also claiming the part of South China Sea that's not theirs. And land dispute with india.

[-] LadyAutumn 21 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

To your last part, that would likely end hundreds of millions if not billions of lives. The world population is several times larger than it was during the second world war. A conflict at scale between the United States and China would absolutely be a global conflict.

For no reason other than to illustrate how many lives another world war would take, World War 2 resulted in the loss of life of at least 3% of the world population. That figure in 1946 was somewhere in the range of 70 to 80 million. 3% of the global population today would be 246 million people.

I don't point this out to be snide, just to say that it is absolutely a worst possible case scenario if the United States and China go to war against each other. It would affect the lives of every human being on earth. Those nations do not share land borders. It would mean widespread invasion and destruction of other nations in both hemispheres.

[-] notsoshaihulud@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

The world population is orders of magnitude larger than it was during the second world war.

FYI, order of magnitude = x10. otherwise your math seems to check out, but this got me confused. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_magnitude

[-] Today@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago
[-] stardust@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 days ago
[-] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Japan needs to invest into biotechnology, because Biotech is Godzilla

[-] SabinStargem@lemmings.world 7 points 2 days ago

If a war happens, whoever wins, we lose. :(

[-] buzz86us@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

The world would be better without this dumb trade war. People would actually be able to afford a goddamn car, which they only need because the elites took away our fucking trolleys.

[-] NightCrawlerProMax@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago

I propose a hell in a cell match between the two Presidents.

[-] pennomi@lemmy.world 45 points 3 days ago

Trust me, they aren’t. But neither are the Americans.

[-] guillem@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago

When a nation talks about being able to endure something they don't mean the peasants.

[-] jonne@infosec.pub 9 points 3 days ago

Xi is definitely beating Trump at thumb war.

[-] RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

If you say Dumb War with a lisp, it sounds like Thumb War

[-] orgrinrt@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Oh wow, are we getting a world war with China and Europe allied against Russia and the US?

Things are all wonky

[-] soyboy77@fedia.io 25 points 3 days ago

These world leaders desperately want to be seen as tough guys but they're merely overcompensating for their micropenises.

[-] coffeeisblack@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Gives a new meaning to sword fight

[-] Klear@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

The sword is mightier than the pen is.

[-] aleq@lemmy.world 35 points 3 days ago

"If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we're ready to fight till the end," China's embassy said on X, reposting a line from a government statement on Tuesday.

Maybe something is lost in translation, but this sounds like they're primarily talking about economic wars. My reading is that they're just saying that they won't accept US bullying, which is good.

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 40 points 3 days ago

The "any other type of war" part is definitely intentional though.

[-] darkmoon_au@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago

I can't fault them for it personally. They've not been the ones going off the rails and stirring international shit.

[-] roguetrick@lemmy.world 28 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

China is just as jingoistic as America for domestic consumption. Both countries believe their own propaganda. It's like pre-WW1 Russian Empire and Austria-Hungry all over again. Complete ignorance that any actual conflict would rip them to pieces.

[-] stopdropandprole@lemmy.world 32 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

the Cold War was a free printing money machine for 50 years. creating a new one against China makes sense if you're an oligarch whose wealth rides upon govt contracts and endless military industrial expansionism.

and it kinda explains why Putin is manipulating Trump to make him believe they'll choose the US over China in a game of saber rattling. Russia is positioning itself to be the tie-breaker so it can play both sides against one another in lucrative energy/arms deals. maybe they'll even get some real estate out of it.

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 days ago

They are welcome to Florida if they leave the rest of us alone

~/s~

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

The problem with imperialists is that they might say they are happy with whatever the current concession is on the table today but will still want to expand their power beyond whatever limits it currently has tomorrow.

[-] middlemanSI@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago

winnie the pooh vs. a dumb sack of fat. 3, 2, 1, go!

[-] riodoro1@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago

China faces economic struggles but is injecting billions to stabilize growth.

The sole manufacturer of everything we buy faces economic struggles. We better fucking hope they don’t because all they have to do is increase prices and we’ll bring them the money on our knees. Good planning on behalf of our capitalist oberlords.

[-] Freefall@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

Economic, trade, soft power, cyber...sure, hell they stand a chance in those. Combat? Not even close, they would be leveled. The tricky part is using the advantage they have in the first few without receiving the kneejerk usage of the last one against them.

In actuality, the CCP influencing anything outside China (and arguably inside China) is a worst case outcome. The US doing so is very quickly moving up the ranks to the second worst. The world is going to need the EU, and allies, to step up and keep both in check.

[-] kautau@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

Russia just beat us in a war and didn’t have to fire a shot. They’ll have to beat Russia at the disinformation/planting assets game first to win the war with Russia.

[-] itslilith 1 points 3 days ago

China stands no way of winning a conventional war. But they're also not going to lose it, either, the US doesn't have the manpower for that. It'd be a long, bloody mess, and they likely know that

[-] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

Let's fucking go!!!!

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 days ago

I choose Naval Battle! Go!

[-] Albbi@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I was hoping for a pog war. I hear the pog of war makes things very tricky.

[-] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 5 points 3 days ago

The only time when having SLAM in the headline; describing a pog war is acceptable.

[-] badhops@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago

lol yeah their navy has “army” in its name. Their blue-water capability is simply not in the same league as the USN.

But also, if they wait a few years, I’m sure our military will start to fracture and esprit de corps and morale will largely evaporate because they’re all sick of shooting at other Americans.

[-] Goldholz 1 points 3 days ago

Bring the tofu drag and sewage oil to the US!

this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025
364 points (100.0% liked)

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