As Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan, questions about the economic and military relationship between China and Russia abound. With Xi's likely re-election in October approaching, what are the knock-on effects of his particular brand of authoritarianism, extreme even by the CCP's standards. When two concerned citizens and election researchers discovered US poll worker data being stored on an open database in mainland China, they brought it to the attention of the FBI. After 15 months of investigation, the case was handed to the FBI's D.C. office and suddenly the concerned citizens were the ones being investigated. Who is the FBI really protecting?

As the Solomon Islands recently denied a port call to US warships, Cambodia seems to be joining the Belt and Road initiative and Nicaragua has seized the Taiwanese Embassy and handed it to Mainland China. In this context, our team of China Watchers discusses what strategic acquisitions China needs most to assert its growing hegemony.

Join us as our team of China Watchers digs into the details of political tensions in the South China Sea and the South Pacific. Guam's significantly increasing its US military presence, the Solomon Islands are diverting away US warships, while Russia sells natural gas to China, that China then sells to Europe for a huge markup.

Joe Biden is now condemning a CCP organization his son once lobbied for. What has changed in Washington? Youth employment in China has risen to 19.9%. Is this a signal of impending demographic collapse? Is Taiwan prepared for a blockade? In 1904 Sir Halford John Mackinder wrote "The Geographical Pivot of History" for the Royal Geographical Society, predicting that an alliance centered in the Asian land mass would dominate global politics. Is such an alliance forming right now?

Why is the US National Institute of Health still funding the Wuhan Institute of Virology? Would a Western intervention be justified if the Solomon Islands start becoming a Chinese military base? Did Sri Lanka build China a de facto military base? What would the economic costs be to Taiwan and Mainland China if sanctions increase or if a war breaks out? How does the US and China compare with regards to population decline? Is a great decoupling of the US and Chinese economies underway? Is Chinese national debt spiraling out of control?

As the team debates the various competing claims to the ownership of Taiwan, Amy Hao joins in to add her unique perspective.

It's easy to get caught up in the theater of contemporary geopolitical brinkmanship. Join our team of China Watchers as we go beyond the headlines to ascertain the medium and long term economic and military effects of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.  While China's economy looks to be in worse shape than the US, the underlying question is "how close to losing faith are the Chinese people?" It seems Anthony Fauci still sees funding Chinese military related bio-loabs as a good investment. Why? Is a war over Taiwan on the horizon? Has it already started? What role does the worlds need for high quality microchips and the recently passed CHIPS Act play? After Xi told Biden not to let Pelosi visit Taiwan, how will he act to "save face" domestically and could this be the trigger for a dramatic escalation.  Was this move a face saving exercise for the US or a facelift for the Democrats?

Senior Australian Accounting Venture Capitalist William Ricketts joined us to dig deep into Australia/China relations as well as help us understand the nature of the Chinese banking system. He also described the situation in the Solomon Islands with regards to recent inroads made with a Chinese offer to train and augment local security forces. With regards to the Chinese banking system, it sounds like a house of cards primarily supported by foreign trade and investment.