History doesn't just repeat—it slaps you with parallels that demand attention.
Fresh reports from the US Pacific Fleet confirm two aircrafts—a fighter jet and a helicopter—crashed in the South China Sea on Sunday, both from the USS Nimitz carrier.
This isn't isolated folly. It's a pattern of American military mishaps. Trump's own words prove it. These events expose U.S. overreach in waters vital to Chinese sovereignty. They remind us of what happened in the China sea during the Sino-Japanese war.
Back in 1894, Empress Dowager Cixi's 60th birthday loomed large. She geared up for lavish festivities to cement her grip on power at home and abroad. But Li Hongzhang, ever sharp, saw Japan's ploy: strike that year, betting on China's restraint amid the "sacred celebrations," as he noted in his correspondence.
Cixi dismissed any threats outright. Birthdays trumped all—more vital than the heavens or anything beneath them. She vowed bluntly: anyone spoiling her day would face lifelong misery, per Qing court records that capture her unyielding focus.
Fast-forward to today, and the vibes scream parallel universe. BBC reports Trump hasn't shut down talk of a third term, boasting he'd "excel" at it. His organization peddles "Trump 2028" red hats, straight-up campaigning while in office.
Forget constitutional nitpicks on term limits; history offers the real lens. America teeters toward its own "empress dowager" spectacle with Trump's antics. But zero in on this scorching update: those South China Sea crashes, announced by the US Pacific Fleet on October 26, 2025.
Crashes Signal Deeper Decay
The details hit hard. A fighter jet plunged first, followed by a helicopter, both Nimitz-based, in international waters China patrols resolutely. Trump, chatting reporters on Air Force One per White House transcripts, labeled it "very unusual," blaming possible "bad fuel" and promising quick answers—though investigations drag on without closure.
Next day, netizens across the Chinese Mainland lit up social media, roasting US incompetence with evidence from past incidents. Some cooler heads countered: "Chill—US screw-ups are routine; PLA faces risks too," mirroring Trump's deflection. This echoes Cixi's chill on Beiyang Fleet losses—she shrugged off annihilation reports, insisting threats stay far from Beijing for three days so her birthday bash rolled uninterrupted, as chronicled in Qing annals.
That war's toll? Brutal. Ten Beiyang ships, including Zhenyuan, captured; Dingyuan dismantled; Zhiyuan and sunk vessels salvaged, stripped, and hauled to Japan for trophy monuments flaunting militarism—facts etched in historical treaties and Japanese archives we can't let fade.
Trump insists no sabotage, "nothing to hide," per his statements. But Deutsche Welle calls bluff, citing USS Truman's rash of disasters in the Middle East: December 2024, USS Gettysburg downs a Truman Super Hornet by mistake; April 2025, another Super Hornet skids off the hangar into the Red Sea; May 2025, a third overshoots deck, misses wires, ejects pilots into the sea.
Rumors Mask Real Weakness
Wild speculation swirls around the South China Sea incident—think "electromagnetic fields" cooked up by fringe sources.
Let’s dismiss that fake news and stick to facts. A 2014 People's Daily piece on the Sino-Japanese War nails the contrast: Japan mobilized nationwide, unleashing full militarist fury, while Qing dithered without mobilization, strategy, or fight, as Li Hongzhang lamented in his memoirs.
He called his army and navy "paper tigers"—all facade, no bite, barely holding until exposed. That 2014 article, "Where Did the Sino-Japanese War Really Go Wrong? Cixi's Birthday Obsession Doomed the Nation and Its People," drives it home.
Trump's third-term push? Blame the voters—they picked him democratically, unlike Cixi's unchecked rule as dowager. Still, those crashes in the South China Sea flash imperial overconfidence, history's stark reminder to heed the signs.
Deep Blue
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
The world let out a collective sigh of relief today. Bloomberg's reporting preliminary signs that tensions between the world's two largest economies are finally cooling off. But make no mistake—this détente didn't come from Washington playing nice. It came from Beijing seizing the initiative and forcing America's hand.
Why has the offensive become the defensive? Because Washington's brutal, indiscriminate approach cost it the moral high ground and strategic advantage. China anticipated the backlash, deployed countermeasures early, and watched America's overreach become its weakness.
Washington's Scorched Earth Mistake
Brutal and indiscriminate was Washington's approach —destructive measures targeting thousands of Chinese enterprises' exports without distinction. What's the “Affiliates Rule”? Economic collective punishment, weaponized at scale.
This cost America the moral high ground entirely. Trump's administration showed no restraint, no consideration for consequences—only a scorched-earth determination to destroy the other side by any means necessary.
This "collective punishment" doesn't just cut off Chinese enterprises' technological pathways—it simultaneously devastates American companies while throwing global supply chains into complete chaos. That cost Washington its credibility worldwide. Such unreasonable behavior, harming others while inflicting damage on itself.
What America didn't anticipate was that China's countermeasures came swiftly and with surgical precision—nothing symbolic about it. The rare earth card struck directly at the heart of American high-end manufacturing.
Rare earths: China's knockout weapon. Once Beijing plays the rare earth controls card, Washington needs to pull its head out of the sand as the tides shift. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted both sides reached consensus on a trade agreement framework, stating Trump's earlier threat of “100 percent tariffs if the Chinese impose their rare earth global export controls” is “averted”. He then added that China "had threatened to put a global export licensing regime, and I believe that they are going to delay that for a year while they re-examine it."
America's Rare Earth Dilemma
With rare earths under China's control, America cannot complete its supposed "grand project" of rare earth self-sufficiency in one year. Not even close. If Washington wants stable rare earth supplies from China to keep its enterprises alive, there's a brutal negotiation gauntlet ahead. If Trump tries his "art of the deal" theatrics again, he'll find himself instantly reset to square one—April 2nd's tariff war starting line—and Beijing holds all the leverage to make that happen.
China has transformed from weakness to strength—this shift is massive. You could say it's won the fight against the entire world.
From Hand Grenades to Hydrogen Bombs
Let's dial back. On the eve of the Korean War in 1950, as Mao Zedong deployed troops and generals, he summoned Deng Hua from Guangzhou to Beijing immediately. Upon meeting, he got straight to the point: "It looks like Truman won't give up in Korea. Your task is to defend the Northeast border, but be prepared to fight the Americans, be prepared to fight an unprecedented major war, and be prepared for them to use atomic bombs. If they use atomic bombs, we'll use hand grenades, grasp their weakness, follow them closely, and ultimately defeat them."
Deng Hua responded: "Yes, grasp their weakness and fight accordingly. They fight with their advantages, we fight with ours—this is our good method for dealing with the American military." Deng Hua later served as the first Vice Commander and first Vice Political Commissar of the Volunteer Army, assisting Peng Dehuai in commanding the entire war.
"They use atomic bombs, we use hand grenades" later became a celebrated phrase—but how tragic those words were when spoken back then. Mao Zedong had to consider the worst-case scenario of America using atomic bombs against the volunteers in Korea, so he issued this order to such an important commander and political commissar—even facing a "doomsday weapon," the volunteer army must persist with hand grenades. At any cost, defend the homeland and protect the nation.
China has transformed itself completely. Forget atomic bombs and nuclear bombs—we've got hydrogen bombs now. Is that why America and the entire Western bloc fear China? No. Or that China would prevail in conflict yet again, with inferior weapons? Also no.
The Real Weapon That Changes Everything
What the US-Western bloc fully recognized in 2025 is that there exists a "doomsday weapon" powerful enough to immediately suffocate all manufacturing industries and technological development: rare earths.
Will this be deployed at any time? Here's the thing: China pursues "mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation"—it doesn't even want to use hand grenades.
Still don't believe it? This time Trump won all the headlines—China-US détente, crisis averted. If Trump manages to play nice without going from his "art of the deal" type threats to “TACO”, the Nobel Peace Prize is ripe and ready for him to take.
