In its bid for world domination, Chinese shipping vessels can be seen circling the Pacific and poking around several territories, which they claim to be theirs. One of their provocative moves was its incursions in the Senkaku Island, a remote Japanese territory. Such bullish aggression would just increase tension on disputed territories. Is it provoking Japan for a military showdown?
The First Wave
Some may consider my arguments conspiracy theories. I don’t mind. This might be a bold statement but I believe that China has succeeded in killing millions of unsuspecting individuals around the world through a biological weapon that was later to be known as COVID-19. Indeed, a cloak-and-dagger approach with certain subtleties. It was out for months and has spread to various international territories before it admitted that the viral infection came from them. The first speculation from WHO was that the virus is not capable of airborne transmission. China, at this point, remained uncooperative. To date, the cost of the pandemic infection is more than 3.3M deaths and over 163M active cases worldwide. In the US alone, the total GDP loss in 2020 was estimated at more than $76B. The economic losses and inflation around the world have caused businesses to close down and unemployment to reach all-time highs. Do you think this was an accident? They have only just begun.
The Second Wave
Bitcoin mining has been fierce in the Mainland with its extremely high hash rates. Nonetheless, the huge rewards that the big mining farms acquire, end up in the coffers of the Chinese Central Government. Looking at this pseudo-socialist setup, the Government is simply saying that it owns its citizens. This takes us to another fork in the digital space. And the big news is that China is about to launch its first national digital currency to replace the old yuan in circulation. It has been in development since 2014 and the target launch date is next year. It is aimed to challenge the USD’s dominance in the world markets. If it prevails, it would be the first to do so.
Some Personal Thoughts
I think that China’s threat of world domination is real. First, its biological weapon spread quickly and wreaked havoc worldwide, where it led us to believe that it was an accidental spread. And now, it's the impending digital revolution. The US has a chance but it seems to be breaking apart one of its digital weapons in Ripple ledger, a very fast and energy-efficient digital cross-border payment system developed by Ripple Labs. The US Government, particularly the SEC, may be backward in its outlook on the lawsuit. But there is still time to correct its mistakes. If the SEC wins, it will be a precedent for other currencies in circulation to be deemed as securities too without clarity. It is never late until it is too late. The new SEC Chair Gary Gensler is a very capable and knowledgeable man in the crypto space. I agree with him that there should be regulation. Nevertheless, there should also be protection and clarity at the same time. The US Government’s stance should be encouraging and supportive, to allow crypto developers and companies to flourish as they can offer specific solutions to various issues.
