Bulletins and News Discussion from January 13th to January 19th, 2025 - From Mar-A-Lago to Nuuk - COTW: Denmark (including Greenland)

Image is of Donald Trump Jr. in Greenland, proudly demonstrating what he's learned in his standing lessons.

The imperial core is continuing the process of self-cannibalization as the interimperial wars between Europe and the US over resource and territorial control continue. Greenland, populated with less than a hundred thousand heavily exploited people, is the newest territory to fall under Trump's gaze. The main draw is the mineral resources present there, of which it boasts nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum, and much more than remains unexplored under the ice. But the ice is melting, and profit must be made. There is an additional element of wanting Arctic territory to counter Chinese and especially Russian interests and aims; Russia is increasingly eyeing the northern Arctic route as an alternative to more vulnerable routes through the Suez Canal or around Africa, and is investing heavily in icebreakers for that purpose.

However, even if Europe possessed the desire to resist American annexations - and they absolutely do not, at the end of the day - they do not even have the ability. Denmark may, to a lesser or greater extent, make angry sounds and talk about national honour or some such, but their military would be trampled underfoot by even the New York Police Department, let alone a concerted military effort by the US. If Trump wants Greenland, he will have it. This will naturally increase the grumbling in Europe about reconsidering the Transatlantic alliance, and that grumbling may, in the medium-term future, as the American Empire continues its decline, lead to meaningful results. But in the short term, Europe shall have to bear whatever Trump throws at them, for they obviously cannot now ally with Russia, who was the natural counterweight to American interests for decades before 2022.

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China announces the largest trade surplus the world has ever seen: almost US$ 1 trillion. The highest Chinese surplus so far had been US$ 838 billion - in 2022.
China exported almost US$ 1 trillion more goods than it imported in 2024. A spokesman for the General Administration of Customs said that the country exported US$3.58 trillion in goods and services, and imported US$2.59 trillion - creating a surplus of US$990 billion, a world record. The highest Chinese surplus so far had been US$838 billion - in 2022.
Chinese factories produce a third of all manufactured goods in the world. More than the United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea and the United Kingdom combined, according to 2022 data from the United Nations. In the last decade, China has gone from importing cars to becoming the world's largest exporter. Chinese companies produce almost all the solar panels sold on the planet. At the same time, the Chinese have been importing less. The Chinese government spokesman said that if other countries hadn't politicized trade, China would have imported more.
- its good that rest of the world gets to enjoy Chinese goods, but China doesn't get much other than Dollars, Euros, Yuan etc for this surplus.
  
  The unequal treaty of the 21st century.
  There is no sane justification for accumulating $3.3T foreign reserves (who needs that much foreign currencies??) and if you want to keep the workers employed and factories running, you might as well spend those labor and resources focusing on internal development instead of making cheap products for Western consumers while getting nothing in return.
  Trump always say that China has been ripping off America, but it’s America that has been ripping off China for the past few decades. Maybe Trump wants to turn America into a cheap labor factory for the world, who knows lol.
  
  Especially when the US is willing to weaponize the dollar.
  All that could evaporate overnight and China isn’t getting their exports back in return.

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