First As Farce, Then As Tragedy
The federal takeover of law enforcement in Washington DC wasn't meant to be all about optics but with Donald Trump most things begin as farce and tend to end in tragedy. The National Guard, deployed in DC, first without arms but since armed, are spending time picking up trash, pruning trees and mulching cherry leaves. Nobody at the White House seemed to notice the irony in Pete Hegseth, a defence secretary who once was a National Guard officer, asking the Pentagon to be more "lethal" while the Guard are wasting their time. The president has threatened Chicago, Baltimore and places farther afield with a federal takeover too, but those cities don't have DC's unique status as a district. The crime emergency Trump declared is also questionable as statistics show a decline in crime since Covid. The key to what's going on perhaps lies elsewhere: the US Department of Transport grabbing Union Station from Amtrak citing safety and infrastructure concerns. A rule of thumb about crime is that local police and specialised law enforcement agencies best know who the criminals are and where to find them. Federal troops flown in from everywhere don't even know the streets.
The Chinese Hand in New York
Chinese influence operations in the US are deeper and more wide-ranging than what the Russians have shown themselves capable of. Even as Beijing's full-scale AI assault on America holds its breath, localised activities by social clubs linked to the Chinese consulate but ultimately affiliated to Chinese intelligence and the Party have been determining the outcomes of elections in New York for some time, an investigation by the New York Times has found. They have snatched victories from congressional candidates who differed with Beijing's line, unseated state senators who supped with Taiwan's president, and attacked city council politicians speaking up for Hong Kong. These are not individuals who influence federal policy but one day somebody China controls could make it all the way to the presidency. The investigation, otherwise, throws up little that should surprise. It's mere proof. The real story is how total Beijing's hold on the Chinese diaspora, even families living in the US for more than a century, has become. As for the big picture on how Chinese espionage and influence operations work, Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg's Hidden Hand (2020) and Roger Faligot's classic Chinese Spies (1987, updated 2019) still have a lot to offer.
Comrade Kim Goes Multilateral
Kim Jong Un is set to attend China's 'Victory Day' parade in Beijing next week. The other mighty guest is Russian President Vladimir Putin. It's a big diplomatic victory for Chinese President Xi Jinping who has outpaced Donald Trump in getting Kim to meet him first and demonstrated how close China is to getting the new world order it wants, one made in its image. The reason this dictatorial gathering of minds is important? It will be Kim's first multilateral meeting. Xi has beaten Trump on that count too.