The US Is Reeking the Smell of Fear
By Substack-Hua Bin - Jan 31, 2025
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, has sent a shockwave through the US tech industry and Wall Street in the last week. Its LLM R1, trained under $6 million and 2 months, has outperformed the latest offerings from OpenAI, Meta, Google and Microsoft, who have spent tens of billions and years on their models.
The DeepSeek AI app has topped download charts in the US and China, replacing ChatGPT as the No. 1 AI productivity tool.
Due to its breakthrough technology that shows powerful AI can be developed with very limited investment in compute, DeepSeekâs emergency has sent Nvidia stock reeling, losing as much as 17% on Monday and wiping out $600 billion in market cap.
Interestingly, as we speak, barely a few days after the shockwave on Wall Street, DeepSeek is experiencing a massive denial of service (DoS) attacks from the US on its servers, affecting new registrations.
The US government, including the US Navy, has banned the use of DeepSeek for its personnel. And the congress is already discussing ways to slow down and disrupt DeepSeek.
This episode is eerily reminiscent of the Huawei ban, the TikTok ban, the chip ban, and the EV tariffs. The US regime has fully adopted the Tonia Harding school of how to win by breaking the leg of her competitor. Ask Nancy Kerrigan about it.
As thoughtful people put all these panic-ridden actions in context, the most obvious conclusion emerges â the US regime is not acting from any position of strength. It is behaving like a chicken little who cannot compete, win honestly, and is running scared.
The list of anti-China activities out of successive US regimes is long and varied â
- Trump started to impose 60% tariff on Chinese imports since 2017, a policy the Biden regime continued.
- The Biden regime imposed 100% tax on Chinese EVs, which have not yet even entered the US market. But the competitiveness of Chinese EVs is enough to get Biden to enact pre-emptive tariffs.
- Biden regime imposed dozens of export controls on China, often using coercion against its own âalliesâ to follow suit such as Hollandâs ASML and South Koreaâs Hynix and Samsung.
- Biden regime put thousands of Chinese companies on the US entity list with all sorts of made-up justifications in hope of disrupting these companiesâ operations.
- Trump is again making noises to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. He is going further to threaten invading Panama and Greenland to contain China.
- The FBI launched the infamous China Initiative to prosecute Chinese scientists working in the US, yielding zero prosecutable case after ruining the lives of numerous scholars and scientists.
McCarthyism is alive and well in the âland of the freeâ. J Edgar Hoover, the cross dresser, would be proud of the viciousness of the criminal organization he founded.
- The US regime has also harassed the hundreds of thousands Chinese students in the US, who are contributing $150 billion a year to the US economy. It is attempting to prevent Chinese students from studying in advanced technical fields. Anyone studying the defunct neoliberal economics or neoconservative politics and faux democracy is welcome.
- The congress passed a $1.6 billion smear fund in a so-called âanti-CCP propagandaâ campaign. The best to counter otherâs so-called propaganda is of course to launch a bigger one of your own.
- Every political appointee, as well as elected official, must espouse a fervent anti-China rhetoric in confirmation hearings, TV interviews, and corporate media op-eds. If you are not a China hawk, you have no place in the US power elite.
- Every Pentagon official and military industrial complex funded âthink tankerâ is expected to sound tough about the coming China US war. They come up frightening concepts like âunmanned Hellscapeâ strategy in the Taiwan Strait, seemingly unaware China is years ahead in drone tech and production.
- The US has tried to mobilize its vassals from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and India into anti-China military alliances. It has formed fearsome-sounding acronyms like AUKUS and QUAD, which are looked upon in awe only by itself.
The âmost powerful country in the history of the worldâ (as self-claimed by multiple US regimes) seems unconfident to take on China on its own.
On the other hand, China is playing its own game. There is no political figure or âexpertâ jumping up and down on national or local TV to shout against the US. There is little attention paid to the theatrics in Washington and its client states.
China is focused on overcoming the difficulties posed by the aggressive US actions, reducing dependencies, and developing its indigenous capabilities.
- China has diversified its trades. Trading with emerging markets now account for more than 50% of Chinaâs total trade. Trade with the US is less than 3% of its GDP as of 2024.
- Huawei has revived its mobile business and dethroned Apple to return to market leadership in China. Its leadership is more entrenched in the core telecom technology area. It is more vertically integrated with its own chip design and manufacturing supply chain.
Huawei has expanded its product offerings to include mobile operating systems (Harmony OS NEXT), electric vehicles, streaming services, and autonomous driving.
- In AI, Chinese companies are making rapid progress. In addition to DeepSeek, ByteDance, Baidu, Alibaba, 01.ai have all developed sophisticated LLM models.
- China leads in industrial AI applications from robotics, drones to autonomous driving. Companies such as Unitree, DJI, BYD, Xiaomi are integrating AI technologies into multiple areas of practical applications beyond generative AI.
China is also translating its industrial, technological and economic power into military power.
It has recently launched the worldâs first 6th generation fighter prototypes (not one but two at the same time), the worldâs first drone-carrier, the first hypersonic stealth unmanned airplanes for strike and reconnaissance, the first stealth unmanned warship, and the most powerful long-range air defence systems.
It is progressing rapidly in directed energy weapons, military 5G, atomic timing, and space warfare systems.
All these military technological breakthroughs were unveiled in the last 3 months.
While the US politicians and military figures seem to conflate theatrics with reality, China is quietly amassing the capability to overwhelm its opponent in raw military might, industrial might and economic might.
As we watch with amusement the clownish performance of the US elite, the stinking odor of fear reeks so much you can smell it from across the Pacific.
Thanks for reading Huaâs Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.
Why is the US reeking the smell of fear
A follow up to "the US is reeking the smell of fear"
By Substack-Hua Bin - Feb 11, 2025
I recently published a short opinion piece titled âthe US is reeking the smell of fearâ on Substack and Unz Review. https://huabinoliver.substack.com/p/the-us-is-reeking-the-smell-of-fear
I received many comments and feedback. Most comments are positive and many readers shared thoughtful observations.
Predictably, some trolls, loonies and racist crazies climb out from under the rock and started to make the routine noises about the virtues of US vs. communist China, of course in their usual fact free fashion. As expected, there was no dispute about the facts and data â venom seems the best the trolls can do.
On any social media, such sour losers abound. China clearly lives rent free in the minds of Washington elite and the many clueless defenders of the plutocracy. These defenders of the realm are never the plutocrats themselves but the slaves who donât even know they are slaves. The plutocrats are generally smart and let the slaves get worked up.
These comments always give me a tickle. Some wise man once said, everyone has an opinion like they all have an asshole. Unlike anuses, brains are not evenly distributed. Dumb people make me feel superior. I love to push their buttons and blow the dog whistle. Rubbing some salt into these sour losersâ open wound seems a fun way to spend a Sunday hour.
In that spirit, here is a follow up piece to the US is Reeking the Smell of Fear â Why is the US reeking of fear?
Fear comes in many different forms but the biggest cause for fear is the challenge to oneâs fundamental beliefs â the beliefs on which a personâs world view and frame of reference is built, however insane, bigoted and moronic they may be.
Try to reason with an evangelical Christian about the sins of Zionism and âgodâs chosen peopleâ. Or try to tell a Yank the Baseball World Series is just a national ball game, not a world event. You get my drift.
The rise of China, more accurately the return of China, is such a challenge to several deeply held core beliefs of many in the west â
- The Chinese cannot innovate
- The US is exceptional
- The US can defeat China as it is stronger economically, technologically and militarily
- The neoliberal capitalist system in the US is inherently superior to the Chinese communist system (though few can define communism)
- China is an interloper in a world of âthe end of historyâ that should be rightfully dominated by the US and its vassals
- White people are superior to other races
None of the above is true. Here are some uncomfortable facts for the brainwashed. Consider this as free education to inform your public school educated mind â
- The Chinese can innovate. When Europe was still living in the Dark Ages, China gave the world a few modest innovations â paper, printing press, gunpowder, compass, silk, and its namesake china.
The Chinese invented PAPER in the 2nd century during Han Dynasty. The Europeans didnât get the technology until 12 centuries later through the Arabians. The Chinese invented gunpowder (known as black powder) in the 9th century during Tang Dynasty. Europeans learned about this technology from the Mongols in the 13th century â at the receiving end of it.
The Chinese sailed to Africa and the Abria Peninsula in 1405 on ships ten times bigger than the Portuguese who started the Age of Discovery a century later. Columbia didnât arrive in the Americas until 1492.
The Chinese built the Great Wall and the Grand Canal before the Europeans had the concept of public works. No European capital could carry water for Dadu (called Beijing today) when Marco Polo visited in the 13th century.
In 2014, the vaulted Harvard Business Review published a cover story titled Why China Canât Innovate. In 2021, it ate its own words and published another one titled Chinaâs New Innovation Advantage. From cannot innovate to innovation advantage in 7 years. Pretty funny for a prestigious publication to say water is not wet and then say water is wet after all a few days later.
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) published a lengthy study on Chinese innovation in Sept 2024 titled China Is Rapidly Becoming the Leading Innovator in Advanced Industries. Written from a US perspective, it nevertheless presents an honest review of the history and performance of Chinese technological and industrial innovations. https://itif.org/publications/2024/09/16/china-is-rapidly-becoming-a-leading-innovator-in-advanced-industries/
In the field of AI, the Paulson Institute in Chicago reported 47% global AI talents are in China. Among the top AI research institutes in the US, Chinese researchers account for 38%, more than any other nationalities including Americans. If you find it hard to believe, just walk into any PhD programs in top tier US universities and check out the percentage of Chinese ethnicities.
Here is a kicker. China is not only the only country that operates its own space station but also can send astronauts to the station and return them to earth, pretty much on schedule.
All the sour-grape âtechnology theftâ talk is a made-up smear tactic and less believable than a second hand car salesman. Ask some first principle questions:
o How do you steal something from someone who donât even have it? Like 6th generation fighter, landing a rover on the dark side of the moon (instead of the fake Apollo moon landing).
o How come you are so dumb and suck so badly to let an adversary to steal your top military, high-tech, industrial secrets decade after decade?
o Can you share some specific examples of tech and IP theft? Why is no one in China stealing KFCâs secret fried chicken recipe instead of letting KFC China grow into 50% of Yum Brands global business? The chicken people seem to have better cyber security than NSA.
- The US is not exceptional. No doubt it has done great things and led the world in the second and third industrializations. The US also has done horrible things and great harm to many parts of the world, including the people originally inhabiting the land.
The US empire is not particularly virtuous â its history is filled with genocide, slavery, deceit, racial apartheid, and violence. Ever since its deep state blew off JFKâs head in a public execution and open coup, the US is a de facto mafia rogue state â from unilateral wars of aggression based on lies, 911 false flag attack against its own population, complicity in Israeli genocides, use of outlawed weapons (deleted uranium and white phosphorus bombs), extra-judicial killings, concentration camps that make Nazis look good (Al Ghraib, Guantanamo), legalized torture dubbed as enhanced interrogation, illegal regime changes dubbed as color revolutions, sponsoring of terrorists like ISIS, and proxy wars that have killed millions in Ukraine and Syria.
The US is exceptional only in the sense it acts above international laws and can flaunt the so called rule-based order any time it wants. The US exception means committing crimes with immunity. A good book to read on the subject is Aaron Goodâs the American Exception.
Pax Americana is nothing but âthe security of the slavesâ as JFK put it in his famous peace speech. Just look at Europe. The most truly exceptional thing about the US is the exceptional hypocrisy the regime hides its crimes behind as it promotes its criminality and hegemony under the pretence of human rights, freedom, motherhood and apple pie. Have you noticed how Trump is sanctioning the ICC for prosecuting the live-broadcast genocides by the Israeli jews.
The US regime operates as a mafia don. Trumpâs recent extortion of Canada, Panama and the Greenland makes it clear what kind of actor it really is.
The longer the undeserved US sense of superiority last, the further they will fall behind. May their ignorance know no bounds.
- The US cannot defeat China in a war, hot or cold. The economic decoupling the US has pursued in the last 8 years have failed to slow China down. Instead, Chinese trade is booming with largest ever trade surplus in human history ($1 trillion in 2024). It is the largest trading partner with 140+ countries in the world.
China is now leading in more critical industries than ever from cars, high speed trains, ship building, AI, 5G, robotics, drone, critical minerals, green energy, and military technologies. I can go on and on. China accounts for 36% of global manufacturing. 70% of Amazon and Walmart sales come from products sourced from China.
The tech chokehold the US has put on China has failed. Chinaâs semiconductor supply chain has never been stronger. The pace of Chinese tech innovations has accelerated instead of stalled.
US sanctioned firms such as Huawei, DeepSeek, BYD, DJI, BGI are winning the tech race against their competitors.
Chinese innovations are broad based beyond the daily headlines: numerous scientific institutions such as Nature Magazine, Lancet, ASPI, and Harvard Belfer Center are acknowledging Chinaâs lead in R&D for critical future technologies. In fact, China now boasts the most number of top research institutes and universities globally and is widening the gap with others. Here are links to my two recent articles on the subject: https://huabinoliver.substack.com/p/whose-universities-are-better-china?r=xiqz0; https://huabinoliver.substack.com/p/comparing-china-and-us-critical-future?r=xiqz0
o Did I mention that China can send astronauts to the space station and return them to earth, unlike certain other âsuperpowerâ whose astronauts didnât know they bought one way tickets.
o Western media reported with glee when President Xi ordered a crackdown on monopolistic big tech like Alibaba, Tencent and Didi in 2019. The doomsayers solemnly pronounced Chinese tech boom was dead in the water and CCP was revisionist commies that would ruin Chinese economy, to their obvious delight.
Instead of derailing Chinaâs tech progress, the crackdown delivered its objective to break the inertia of monopolies, redirect resources, and release the raw entrepreneurial spirit of smaller businesses. As a result, we are now seeing the emergence of start-ups like DeepSeek, Unitree, Deep Robotics and Game Science.
Chinaâs lead in science and technology will only widen in the coming years as the country graduates 4 times STEM students as the US annually, roughly the same as the rest of the world combined. The average age of the teams behind DeepSeek and Chinaâs lunar mission is around 30. They are worlds apart from the stereotypical western depiction of Chinese youth. The west is well advised to be afraid of the daring and entrepreneurship of Chinaâs next generation.
On the military front, there is no chance the US can defeat China in a war near Chinese shores whether in the Taiwan Strait or in the South China Sea. War game after war game by the US DoD in the last decade has shown the US will suffer a debilitating defeat against China. The only variables seem to be the speed of the defeat, the amount of casualty, and how many planes and ships will be lost.
For those armchair warriors who claim US superiority, I encourage you to enlist in the US Navy or USAF west pacific theatre and weâll find out what is the probability you will return in a plastic body bag.
Even the US nuclear brinkmanship will not work after China has shown its ability to retaliate against continental US with its test firing of the DF-31AG nuclear ICBM missile in September 2024 (the second or third most powerful ICBM in its arsenal). Here is my recent article on the prospect of a China US military showdown. https://huabinoliver.substack.com/p/comparing-war-readiness-between-china
Finally, the psyops the US regime has tried to turn the Chinese population against the Chinese state and the communist party, a central part of the hegemonâs usual playbook, has completely backfired.
The Chinese government is enjoying the highest popular endorsement in its history with approval ratings over 90% compared with the pedestrian 30-40% in âwestern democraciesâ. Most Chinese youth are now looking at the US as a belligerent, arrogant, bad-faith, and declining opponent today instead of a benign, inspirational power to identify and learn from a generation ago.
For the average Chinese, you donât have to agree with CCP on everything to realize the US regime has no good intentions with the Chinese people and Chinese state. Itâs a life and death fight.
- The US system is not superior. When Trump called the US a failed state in his election campaigns, few people inside or outside the country disagreed. The much touted âbeacon of democracyâ is nothing but an oligarchy window-dressed as a âdemocracyâ. With 13 billionaires in senior government positions, Trump leads a verifiable plutocracy bar none.
It will take millions of words to discuss the state of affairs in the US and much better-informed authors have written volumes on the empireâs polarization, inequality, disfunction and decline. I wouldnât spill too much ink here.
While Chinaâs political and economic systems have many flaws, I challenge anyone to do an apple-to-apple comparison of the two systems on factual basis. Deng Xiaoping liked to say âblack cat or white cat, the cat that catches the mice is the good catâ. Which system is delivering for its population?
Here is my short piece comparing China US corruption, an area most westerners think the US is superior no doubt. But really? https://huabinoliver.substack.com/p/corruption-in-the-us-and-china-a?r=xiqz0
- China is not a historical interloper. China is the constant in the history of human civilization. It is the worldâs oldest continuing civilization for 5 millenniums. The Chinese state formed centuries before the Roman empire and millenniums before the Westphalian concept of nation states appeared in the west. China led the world in science, technology, arts and literature, and was the largest economy for most of human history.
Chinaâs rise is a return to normality as history normalizes after an aberration of 300 years of western colonial domination. The US came out of this aberration in human history, and it is the interloper, not China. The US is not some âchosen countryâ just like the jews are not some âchosen peopleâ. Your god is not our god. Your destiny is not our destiny.
For those court scholars proclaiming âend of historyâ, what ends is merely their credibility. History will continue and all empires fall.
- White people are not superior. As with any race, there are smart and compassionate people and there are stupid and malicious ones. Generalizing makes no sense.
That said, white people donât have a higher-than-average IQ score, do better in schools, and they donât run faster or jump higher. Chinese students in the west on average perform better than the white students and work harder. Obama seems smarter than W. Black people jump higher and run faster in general. In Paris Olympics, a Chinese swam faster than everybody else. White colonialism, a specialty unique to the race, seems to indicate below average morality and ethnics.
It is worthwhile to highlight again a point made by the neocon scholar Samuel Huntington - âthe west is not superior in values or ideas or religionâŚbut rather in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-westerners never do.â Confession must feel good. Even in organized violence, the west is losing its edge â check out Ukraine.
In summary, as China continues its economic and technological rise, the US will simply be more scared. The causes of its fears will not lessen but proliferate. I really donât feel bad for the trolls.
