It’s lucky you used the term “theocrats” else I’d not be sure of which participant in this crisis you were referring to.
Firstly I remain unconvinced China wants to control the world, rather than just be pre-eminent in their sphere.
But secondly, why would they waste bandwidth or resources “undermining” the US whilst the US is blithely shooting themselves in the foot and withdrawing from the world?
Whilst historically credited to Napoleon “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake” aligns perfectly with the tactical wisdom expressed in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.
China cornered the market in rare earth metal refining. Rare earth metals are necessary to make green technologies, computer parts, military technologies, etc. China is also trying to build an international financial system that runs parallel to western dominated financial institutions. The fentanyl crisis in the US is in part intentional on China’s part to undermine the US.
The US is trying to control China’s shoreline, its energy imports, trade routes, its ability to build computer chips.
Both nations are competing for influence in the global south.
This didn’t start with trump, sadly this is the reality of the new cold war. Iran and Venezuela are just pawns in that war.
I do like Carneys idea for an alliance of middle powers. Wealthy, industrialized democracies with good human rights offering a third way so nations aren’t forced to pick between an authoritarian China and a white nationalist, imperialistic US.
More correctly the US gave China a near monopoly in the trade of “cheap” refined rare earths. Given that rare earths aren’t actually rare, were the US prepared to pay a fair market value (given they are expensive and environmentally hazardous to produce) then alternative refiners could, indeed are being established.
Sounds a prudent strategy to protect their interests rather than propping up the US banking system. You may have noticed it’s carrying a fair bit of debt. When the levee breaks the USD as global reserve currency will go the way of the Spanish Real and British Pound.
The flow of fentanyl and its ingredients involves a multi-step global supply chain. You want to ignore the demand side. There is an argument that the majority of money made in the fentanyl trade is domiciled in the US.
I recall a line from the TV show “The Americans”, from one of the Soviet agents. “Even in matters of their national security, they can’t help being Americans.”
Sure, securing different sources for rare earth elements would be good for US national security, and undercut China’s hold on several key technologies, but paying more is anti-capitalist! Why should we pay a few dollars more for our smartphones?!? That’s Anti-American!!!
‘the capitalists will sell us the rope we use to hang them with’ has a lot of truth to it. China has weaponized the weaknesses of capitalism against the west. As a result they have a near monopoly on rare earth refining, they’ve stolen a lot of IP from foreign nations, and they sell 21st century technology at a loss to corner markets. Companies only look at short term profits, and China exploited that weakness to gain a lot of long term leverage.
The point is the US and China are locked into a cold war for world influence, and this is one of the tactics being used.
It must be considered that China seeks to displace US hegemony and become the world’s leading power. Through the fentanyl strategy, it succeeds in weakening American society and forcing the United States to concentrate its efforts on this crisis, while at the same time benefiting economically, since precursor chemicals are extremely cheap to manufacture for the Chinese industry Chemistry and acquire a high value when converted into synthetic opioids. Although there is no conclusive evidence of direct Chinese government involvement, several pieces of evidence would suggest its involvement.
The annual loss of more than 70,000 people between the ages of 18 and 45 represents a significant impact on life expectancy, the country’s productivity and even its ability to recruit. What is undeniable is that China is playing a key role in the fentanyl crisis, its efforts to combat it are minimal, and the main one affected by this status is, coincidentally, its biggest adversary: the United States.
Evidence supporting the idea of geopolitical intent includes the findings of the aforementioned committee of the U.S. congress , which established that the Chinese government directly subsidizes the manufacture and export of illicit fentanyl materials through tax rebates. In addition, it provides monetary subsidies to companies that openly traffic in these materials and allows the free sale of fentanyl precursors on the internet. This crisis has also consolidated organized criminal groups with ties to the PCC as world leaders in money laundering. Despite US efforts and formal indictments, the Chinese government has not prosecuted precursor manufacturers or cooperated with US authorities.
There are less dangerous synthetic opioids that could be made instead of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. Demand exists, but there are other versions of opioids that don’t cause mass death the way fentanyl does. Also they could go back to opioids derived from poppies like heroin also. Heroin is still widely used in Europe for example, fentanyl is mostly a north American phenomena.
Trouble in “Paradise”- some GOP Senators are in a mini revolt-
Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his proof-of-citizenship voting bill. But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday’s vote to approve the war powers resolution, a mostly symbolic measure that allows Congress to rebuke the administration’s military actions. The House passed its own version of the resolution earlier this month.
I predict that Trump isn’t going to abide by this. His negotiations aren’t going to be fruitful, he’s going to escalate the war, and the Republicans in congress are going to have to decide what they are going to do about a clear violation of their authority as a co-equal branch of government (and the one with the power to authorize war).
One bag of fuck-all (sweet variety) coming up!
They already dont like trumps near-fascist “proof of citizenship” bill. They didnt pass it already. So, they just wont pass it again.
Looks like Trump scared them.
Fucking Pusillanimous - the whole lot of ‘em!
Yep. Even if Trump was going to ignore their Resolution anyway (as @Moriarty suggested), they just couldn’t hold firm.
Carrots? Sticks? Both? It’s unlikely to be ‘fear of the voters’ as even THEIR constituents are likely to be like the rest of the USA (strong majority anti-Iran-war).
Meanwhile, Iran is still creating havoc in the strait.
I predict that the cease fire doesn’t hold, and we’re back to U.S. missiles firing on Iranian targets soon.
I still think Trump feels burned and will just abandon the Strait rather than go back to fighting. He’s like the kid who touches the hot stove and then stays away for years. At least, that’s my guess.
Round and Round we go-
US President Donald Trump has accused Iran of a “foolish violation” of its truce with Washington after a cargo ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz was attacked.
No casualties were reported after the ship was struck by a projectile on Thursday. In response, the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) paused its planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the key shipping lane.
Didn’t take long for me to be proven wrong…
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/20/world/iran-trump-israel-lebanon?smid=bs-share
Since there is a paywall, a couple of relevant paragraphs would be nice.
In short, Trump didn’t abandon the Strait.
The U.S. did go back to fighting.
Not a paywall issue for me since I subscribe but your link goes to an article from 6 days ago. I suspect you linked to the wrong article. ???
Headline - Vance Heads to Talks as Strait of Hormuz Re-emerges as Point of Tension
Doesn’t seem to relate to the point you were making.