China faces serious domestic problems – and that spells trouble for all of us
WESTMINSTER has been rocked by allegations of espionage this week.
Initially, it emerged that two people – including a parliamentary researcher – had been arrested as potential secret agents for China.
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It was then revealed that MI5 had intervened to stop Chinese agents from standing as MPs.
It’s a crazy story.
Straight from the Cold War.
But it should remind us that we are in a whole new conflict with the powers in Beijing.
Apparently some people find it easy to shake off stories like this.
There are those who are already trying.
They say that everyone spies on everyone.
And everyone knows that.
But these latest alleged Chinese efforts are on another level.
It is alleged that MPs who were already critical of the Chinese Communist Party may have been targeted.
Greedy companies
It would be another level of seriousness to actually send people to parliament to collect information on anyone critical of the CCP.
This is not the behavior of an ally or rival, but of an enemy.
The Chinese have been running espionage operations against British companies for years.
We have allowed the theft of intellectual property and other property on an industrial scale for decades.
There are numerous British companies operating in China that have been raided for information stolen from the Chinese.
In the two decades since it joined the World Trade Organization, China has evolved in this way.
Through unfair advantage.
It convinced greedy foreign companies like Apple to outsource their labor to China.
In fact, until recently China was the only power that could overtake America as the world’s dominant economy.
But now the country is in trouble.
In recent weeks, the country’s economy has finally begun to show its serious and profound deficiencies.
There is chaos in the real estate market.
Cheap debt fueled a bubble in the real estate sector for a long time.
It kept the entire economy afloat.
But this bubble is finally starting to burst and with it the entire Chinese economy is suddenly in danger.
One consequence of this is that the regime is resorting to strange diversionary tactics.
Perhaps it hopes that its own population will not notice the chaos the regime has wreaked on the economy.
This week the communists proposed a new law that would allow authorities to punish and arrest people for wearing clothing that “hurts the nation’s feelings.”
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress announced that clothing that “harms the spirit of the Chinese nation” could be banned.
This follows years of proliferation of “feminine clothing styles” and a crackdown on tattoos.
Why would they do that at such a time? Because they don’t know what else to do.
The only reason the CCP remains in power is that it has managed to bring about a rise in living standards while maintaining an iron grip on the freedoms of the Chinese people.
It seems that as long as people’s living standards increase, you can have a totalitarian country that is quite successful.
But what if they fall?
Well, then everything becomes much more uncertain.
And that is exactly what the CCP will fear now.
If the population’s standard of living at home falls, the likelihood of unrest increases.
We all know – and remember Tiananmen Square – what the CCP is willing to do when it sees its grip on power threatened.
There is literally nothing they won’t do.
They are willing to suppress dissent.
They are prepared to round up people and put them in concentration camps – like they did with the Uyghur people.
And they are willing to make internal critics disappear.
Now they are even doing this to people who are critical of the authorities in Hong Kong.
There is nothing they won’t do to stay in power.
And it is in this light that we should view this week’s news from Westminster.
I’m getting desperate
If Beijing gets into trouble at home, it is even more likely to take action abroad.
As they struggle with domestic political problems, they are expected to become more aggressive militarily abroad.
They will want to portray a declining power and brag to their own people – but also to foreign powers – that they are going nowhere.
But you shouldn’t just accept any of it.
The CCP has gotten away with so much in recent years.
Not least because they gave the world a virus that they didn’t tell us about, that ruined every economy, including ours, and that they are still covering up to this day.
Now they’re trying to send people into the heart of the government to spy on us.
This is certainly not the action of an ally.
But it is the actions of a regime that is desperate.
Hello Vlad! I am a friend without benefits
KIM Jong Un was sent to Siberia.
In fact, North Korea’s hereditary dictator decided to travel there this week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Some people consider this a dark and disturbing development.
I do not agree. The way I see it is that Vlad No-Mates is getting seriously desperate.
Having been to North Korea, I can tell you that they have absolutely nothing to give to Russia.
Nothing.
The country doesn’t work.
They don’t have the most basic food items.
You can’t keep the power going.
Their only active market is the black market.
And their military consists of belching old Soviet tanks that stagger down the highways for the big military parades.
If Putin wants these old things back, then he is really desperate.
Extending a hand to North Korea is not a sign of strength.
It’s like calling your closest friend, asking them for money and pretending it’s a deal.
Silence is a bit rich
RICHARD Ayoade is the latest celebrity to be rejected.
What was the comedian’s crime?
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It’s just a cover endorsement of Graham Linehan’s hilarious and moving new memoir, Tough Crowd: How I Made And Lost A Career In Comedy.
Linehan is the creator of such popular series as Father Ted.
He’s a comic genius.
But in recent years he has been concerned about the flood of demands from trans extremists.
In particular, he was concerned about attempts to “convict” children simply because they had questions about their identity.
Just like most children do at some point.
For voicing his concerns, Linehan was attacked online and offline – and effectively put out of a job.
All those “brave” people in comedy who pat themselves on the back for their bravery in hitting easy targets were running a million miles from him.
Just last month, a venue at the Edinburgh Fringe – of all places – canceled a stand-up show in which Linehan was due to appear.
And that’s when I thought that the Fringe should be a place where daring and interesting things happened.
No longer.
It has become just as boring and well-behaved as everyone else when it comes to the topic of transsexuals.
What happened to Linehan is a real scandal.
But good luck to the people who think they’ll shut down Ayoade and others just because they say something nice about him.
Time confirms. It will vindicate Linehan.
And there will be much to be said about the people who remained silent while children were misled, abused and worse.
There’s still time, Harry
PRINCE HARRY’S Invictus Games were once again a great success.
I’m happy for him and everyone involved.
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But it’s also a poignant reminder of what could have been.
Because Harry could have done so much good.
There is nothing wrong with being the “replacement.”
The late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, played second fiddle throughout his life.
And not only did he do it with grace and style, but he also did a lot of good in the process.
Not least with its awards program.
Harry didn’t have to choose a life in California Mansions.
The Invictus Games are a reminder of the good that can be done – and what more could be done.