Is there some particular reason why China has gone full asshole mode lately?

2. South China Sea, Tibet, India skirmishes, regional weakness because of Myanmar and Philippines .

Taiwan or North Korea are the next steps.

3. Presumably, china thinks Biden is weak.

4. china may be like 1930s Germany. Make enemies to be stronger themselves. Population and food i stability.

5. old man syndrome. consolidated power is the mainland chinese way.

All of the above is speculation. Call me a
formerly informed person of Chinese modern history.

I can definitely see a few of those contributing here. Probably 3-4 factors if not more. I wonder if Xi is getting more aggressive as he gets older, and if he's regressing back to the glory days of the CCP or something.

They’re back in a position they haven’t been in since before the Opium Wars in the 1840’s: they’re a big power again and they want to throw their weight around.

4 years of bizarre foreign policy has left countries wondering about our leadership in the world and we are split at home with the republicans now supporting the Russian government more than our own.

alert thinking that moron may start a war. Now things are uncertain Trump could be back in 2024. That moron tried to kill NATO, pissed off the Chinese and all our allies.

Anything that might put pressure on Biden's presidency is something they like to talk up, almost to the point of inviting it.

Sometimes I think they like trouble in the world just so they can blame it on the Libs. That's why I would never trust today's crop of Trump loving republicans to stand together with their fellow Americans in actual crisis.

Maybe China senses that their biggest threat is divided from within. Maybe it has emboldened them.

Only my opinion, but I'm willing to back it up.

They're facing major food and fuel shortages heading into the winter right after a sizeable chunk of the Chinese people just lost their life savings to real estate speculation. And then there's their mess over Hong Kong and the Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Don't look at how we messed up and keep locking you down to stop Covid, or all the fuel and food shortages, look at all these foreign powers against us and stand strong.

are feeling their oats, so to speak. They have a lot of money and power, and want to see how far it gets them toward some long term goals.

Our internal divisions. Our fractures.

In a way, I view it as “taunting” us. They are, today, unwilling to be an immediate direct threat, but are testing…probing…poking us, gauging reactions. Adding to our internal tensions and stresses…adding distractions in whatever way possible to keep us from focusing on getting our shit together and regaining any sense of world leadership (no comment on how we squandered THAT advantage).

Imagine a married couple in a very bad marriage in the middle of a very bad argument. China has seen that the best way to prevent a potential reconciliation at this particular point in time is to play the role of a screaming defiant teenager.

Just my take on things. Others will probably disagree.

This is the long game they have been playing all along with the goal of being the number one nation. Xi wants it done during his lifetime and he wants to be greater than Mao. What truly bothers me is that their income disparity is getting worse but those at the bottom accept it because they know they have to.

World Bank GINI coefficient of 38.5 compared with the US at 41.4 (lower is better).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality

Their GDP per capita is a lot less than ours.

to the countryside which I am sure endeared him to more of the rural population. Many still depend on a family member going to the cities to work in factories and households to send home their wages. I wonder if that income is attributed to the rural residents or the city workers for statistical purposes.
They will tolerate more than Americans at this point but as his autocracy spreads, we can see what his plans are for us too.

Biden hasn't really removed any of them in a significant way.

Besides, the MIC needs an enemy, now that the War on Terror is over with the Afghanistan withdrawal.

They are in an expansionist mood, which Obama and his allies saw very clearly. It was stupid of American leftists to agree with American right wingers that the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a bad idea. It would have helped rein in China’s incursions in the Pacific.

Trump, the idiot, aggravated them for no good reason but his own ego and his base’s need for a racist whipping boy.

Biden has Xi’s number, though. He said early on that as VP he had spent innumerable hours with Xi, and that while “there is not a single democratic bone in his body”, Xi is no fool, but an intelligent leader with long term goals for his country. Personally, I think we are looking at the Century of China. Look up the Belt and Road Initiative, and the project to build islands in the Pacific in order to claim territorial rights around them.

One of the things we Americans often don’t understand is that there are vast swaths of the Earth where democracy has never taken root and likely never will, China and Russia being the most notable examples on the world stage — tho far from the only ones. Why ban movies, music, books, and other things from outside? Because they unsettle people and give them unauthorized thoughts. I did mention they were a totalitarian regime.

Over time I have seen that small groups of their citizens (and sometimes masses in protests) will demand more freedom and more rights, and while they may call it democracy, what they will settle for is an orderly and predictable society without random cruel oppression. I wish their people luck.

Finally, why Taiwan and why now? Taiwan is unsettled business from the Revolution. The anti-revolutionaries fled to Taiwan, those that could. China considers Taiwan part of China, and figures the Revolution is not over until they get it back. The US, otoh, has always kept Taiwan as a satellite for our own purposes (we can do propaganda, too) — keeping the plucky Taiwanese free from Red China and all that.

Why now? I don’t know, but I am sure Xi’s reasons are well thought out. And I am equally sure Joe Biden is aware of what they are.

My opinion

and manufacturing is slowing down. It muscle flexing may be to distract from current economic climate.

Where have we seen that before?

It is likely to get worse before it gets better because he's purged anyone that might have steered him into a more sane direction. He could very likely derail China's economic revolution.

Boys need something to do with all that testosterone.

and the vaccine they foisted on other countries was garbage

The Chinese people work a great deal of hours. It's crazy really how much they work. If China can create the illusion of enemies they can make the hard work seem patriotic.

China needs a strong world economy to thrive. Let's face it, we all do.