Gunners Shot

Sowing panic among consumers and businesses is the price China is willing to pay to maintain its  zero-tolerance approach  to the virus. Public health objectives – which reflect the government’s unwavering resolve to avoid mass fatalities in a nation with relatively low vaccination rates among the elderly and less effective vaccines – have long trumped economic goals. China is caught in an economic trap of its own making   These are not my word but from an article in South China Morning Post. Having said, this article indicates how extensively China has scored a self-goal with Zero Covid. However, do they have an alternative? I doubt. The extent of misery wreaked by the Wuhan Virus is very wide and severe. Like before, these are headlines with some content extracted this month from The South China Morning Post . Very clearly, the Virus has put China in a ‘Tang Ping’ position….Tang Ping means lying flat…China has changed course from Victory Laps into Tang Ping!  ...

Also Published in The Financial Express @  India-Taiwan cooperation framework India and Taiwan must establish an informally formal Strategic Cooperative system which is all encompassing. The start point of such a system is that both countries are democracies and these values have to be spearheaded and reinforced through political contact and exchange.  August 30, 2022 2:40:39 pm US will always like to trade and strategically partner with democratic Taiwan outside Beijing’s influence. By Lt Gen P R Shankar (R) China has multiple  territorial and maritime disputes with many nations. However its most important disputes at this point of time are with Taiwan and India. The disputes with Taiwan and India are not merely territorial but hegemonistic and expansionist in nature. They are also part of China’s larger design to establish global supremacy and a Sino Centric world order.  Annexation of Taiwan at the earliest is China’s first priority ambition. PRC wa...

Aadi and I had a live discussion on what's happening in Pakistan...we realised it was chaos as usual.   

This article is in continuation of the ideas I have propounded in my article   Ailing China on a Decline.  The thought process in this article and the long term severity of the drought is being confirmed by recent articles in SCMP on  Economy and Power Crisis ,  Farming  and  Hydropower . I am sure there is more to come. Mark my words there is panic in China! Read on and you will understand why.   The Article has also been published in The Sunday Guardian   Droughts and floods have been endemic to China from time immemorial. Many Chinese dynasties have collapsed due to drought, famines and floods. The current drought is more extensive and severe. The Communist Party  legitimacy to rule China in perpetuity is premised on providing a flourishing economy and life comforts to the Chinese people.  Xi’s aim of  doubling GDP , and the per capita income, by 2035 are the goal posts of this promise. These lofty ambitions are un...

Establishment of High Altitude Firing Ranges Currently, we sorely lack adequate facilities in high altitudes. There is great difficulty in inducting or developing new equipment or training troops with longer range weapon systems to meet operational and developmental requirements of High Altitudes. This is a long standing red flag and needs urgent attention.  Updated:  August 27, 2022 4:53:04 pm The highly publicised firings on the other side of the LAC omes roughly two months ahead of a US-India military drills to be held near disputed border with China. (Photo Credit: CCTV) On August 16, 2022, The PLA’s Xinjiang Military Command tested the HQ-17A surface-to-air defence missile at an altitude of more than 4,500 metres (14,760 feet). This test was part of the countdown to the forthcoming US-India military drillsin Octoberas per a report in South China Morning Post. In Jul 22,  China  tested its PHL-16 Multiple Launch Rocket System in high altitude along the  LAC...