Worried about anti-Asian violence? The U.S. is preparing for war with China.

Despite losing disastrously in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the U.S. is actively preparing for war with China, a technologically advanced nation with four times our population.  And it’s planning to fight it in China’s own backyard: the South China Sea.

Donald Trump ramped up the racist rhetoric against China (“Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu”). But the anti-China propaganda and war mongering are continuing.

Wall Street Journal: China is National Security Threat Number One

The Pentagon has published a series of bombastic, hawkish videos trumpeting military exercises in the South China Sea. Here’s one:

The film has rousing martial music, with beating drums. It shows military equipment and soldiers landing on islands — reminiscent of D-Day on Normandy Beach.

Express: South China Sea: US military shows ‘warfighting readiness’ as Beijing conflict fears surge

New York Times: How the Cold War Between China and U.S. Is Intensifying

Military.com: As China Declares War with US Inevitable, Army General Highlights Need for Fighting Vehicles

U.S. Carrier Strike Group, Amphibious Warships Massed in South China Sea as Regional Tensions Simmer

“Exactly if and when the increasing antagonism between United States and China will boil over into full-on conflict remains anybody’s guess.” (Source: China’s navy has more ships than the US. Does that matter?.)

Defense News: Rep. Adam Smith reveals $3.6B plan to counter China

Time: How the U.S. Could Sleepwalk into a War with China

A US Air Force war game shows what the service needs to hold off — or win against — China in 2030

Voice of America News: Top US Commander Warns ‘Front Line’ With China Now South of Border

Hindustan Times: Red surge in the South China Sea: The battle that could define who wins the war

Newsweek: U.S. Military’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ in South China Sea ‘Unprecedented’: Beijing Think Tank

A New Tonkin Gulf Incident in the Making?  “Halt Trump’s rush to war in the Pacific.”

Risk of military conflict between US and China higher than ever, experts say

CNBC: Op-ed: The cold war between U.S. and China just got a lot hotter

Articles are emerging questioning claims about Chinese genocide against the Muslim Uighurs minority.

Consortium News: The ‘Independent’ Report Claiming Uyghur Genocide “It was brought to you by a sham university and neocon ideologues lobbying to punish China for U.S. interests, Ajit Singh reports.”

Progressive: Foreign Correspondent: What’s Really Going on with China’s Uighurs? “Experts say U.S. officials are seeking enemies, not the truth.”

The Grayzone: China detaining millions of Uyghurs? Serious problems with claims by US-backed NGO and far-right researcher ‘led by God’ against Beijing/”

Some Uighurs had engaged in terrorist attacks against Chinese, and China took steps to stop them. So it’s odd to hear Americans criticize the Chinese for fighting terrorism, given the U.S. war on terrorism. I’m not saying the Chinese haven’t been abusive towards minorities or that they’re not mistreating Hong Kong. I’m saying that it’s likely that the claims of genocide are exaggerated, as usually happens when war drums are being beaten.

What I’m mostly saying is: the U.S. can’t afford to be the policeman of the world. We have $29 trillion in debt and have just spent trillions to deal with covid-19. We wasted about $6.4 trillion in (disastrous) wars since 9/11 — wars which killed at least 800,000 people and displaced 37 million people from their homes, according to Brown University’s Costs of Wars project.  News recently emerged that the F-35 fighter jet, for which we will pay over a trillion dollars, is a failure.  There are desperate unmet needs in the areas of climate change, student debt, infrastructure, and fixing our health care system.