Good morning! Today is Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
1846: The first edition of Charles Dickens' newspaper, The Daily News, is published.
1899: Opel manufactures its first automobile.
1921: British crime writer Agatha Christie publishes her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introducing the character Hercule Poirot.
1942: Count Basie records the music single and jazz standard "One O'Clock Jump."
1944: Four hundred and forty-seven German bombers attack London, while 649 British bombers attack Magdeburg.
1950: A New York jury finds former State Department official Alger Hiss guilty of perjury.
1968: A U.S. B-52 bomber with a nuclear bomb on board crashes in Greenland.
1972: The first-ever Star Trek convention is held at the Statler Hilton in New York City. Gene Roddenberry was the keynote speaker.
1976: The supersonic Concorde has its first commercial flights.
1978: The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album hits #1, stays there for 24 weeks.
Birthdays today include Stonewall Jackson, Christian Dior, Karl Wallenda, Edwin Alberian (aka American TV entertainer Clarabell the clown), Telly Savalas, Benny Hill, Steve Reeves, Wolfman Jack, Jack Nicklaus, Placido Domingo, Richie Havens, Edwin Starr, Mac Davis, Chris Britton (of The Troggs), Jill Eikenberry, Billy Ocean, Eric Holder, Gina Davis, and Robby Benson.
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China keeps popping up lately. The pattern is concerning. For example:
Members of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America have been cultivating ties with officials of the Chinese Communist Party and agreeing to take pro-China positions, according to extensive minutes of internal meetings seen by Newsweek… pic.twitter.com/MxwnkwB2Qh
— Bill Bishop (@niubi) January 20, 2026
There’s also this report about Iran:
According to Iranian and Israeli media, roughly 16 Chinese military cargo aircraft have landed in Iran over the past 56 hours.
— WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@WarMonitor3) January 19, 2026
If accurate, this would represent the largest single Chinese military airlift to Iran in such a compressed timeframe.
Then, of course, there's Greenland, as noted by Friends of Socialist China. (Yes, I know, but just go with me here for a minute).
With the eyes of the world focused on Greenland as the Trump administration continues with its aggressive and bullying campaign – including such high-profile stunts as the recent visit by Vice President Vance to a US base on the island after local people made it quite clear that his wife was not welcome at a traditional dog sled race – aimed at replacing Danish rule with US annexation, overriding the people’s desire for independence, leading Greenlandic politicians have expressed their wish to develop greater cooperation with China.
Reporting from the capital Nuuk on March 28, the Xinhua News Agency said that they expressed interest in deepening cooperation with China in areas such as trade, fisheries, and sustainable development while highlighting the potential for a free trade agreement between the two sides.
Obviously, I don't trust this website as far as I can toss JB Pritzker. Clearly, though, if this site is even mentioning any of this, it's a sure bet that China is interested in access to Greenland for a host of reasons. This would seem to be the reason behind President Trump's interest in the place. It would also explain the left, both foreign and domestic, opposing it. As I said yesterday, it's interesting how the people who were mere weeks ago telling us they don’t believe in borders are now all deeply concerned about the territorial integrity of Greenland. Most of the people protesting against Trump's Greenland initiative don't even know where the place is. So why are they concerned? China-friendly propaganda.
I suggest that Minneapolis is just a small fraction of the soft power China is exerting here in the States. How much funding for the Mamdani campaign came from PRC sources, for example? How much Antifa funding? How much for "No Kings?" The DNC is up to its mustache in debt. Yet, it continues to spend money. Where's that coming from? I suspect the answer to all of these is China. There's a history that cannot be overlooked. We know that China was up to its neck in Venezuela as well.
In looking at all of this, it's clear that a lot of money is flowing. Making all this opposition happen in places all around the world requires huge amounts of funding. So where's it coming from?
Until recently, USAID had been the source of a lot of it. With that cut off, there's been a change of tactics among the left, and increased indications of aggressive Chinese involvement. The timing of these events is a clue, I think.
Since USAID was shuttered, China has been getting more aggressive. It's come to the point in the last couple of weeks where I've come to think that China will be found at the root of every problem that faces America today, in both foreign and domestic issues. Mind, this is nothing more than pattern recognition on my part, and the perception is admittedly a cloudy one. That said, it's become increasingly convincing.
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The increasing desperation of the global left to contain the America First movement, along with the obvious moves by China to wield what used to be called soft power, does nothing to dissuade me. China's military buildup over the last couple of decades speaks to a larger strategy involving the use of that military power once soft power is no longer persuasive. Obviously, this is a concern.
Again, I have nothing I can point to at this point to prove an overarching plan, but the patterns I do see are deeply concerning. I suspect the White House sees it as well, but is thus far not referring to it directly for fear of triggering a military response. There will come a point where the eggshells we're walking on start breaking.
Our allies see that danger as well. Japan and the Philippines just signed a defense pact in the face of what they see as Chinese aggression. There's Taiwan, as well. In an editorial in the Taipai Times, we see:
Chinese intimidation of Taiwan has entered a chilling new phase: bolder, more multifaceted and unconstrained by diplomatic norms. For years, Taiwan has weathered economic coercion, military threats, diplomatic isolation, political interference, espionage and disinformation, but the direct targeting of elected leaders abroad signals an alarming escalation in Beijing’s campaign of hostility.
Czech military intelligence recently uncovered a plot that reads like fiction, but is all too real. Chinese diplomats and civil secret service in Prague had planned to ram the motorcade of then-vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and physically assault her during her visit to the Czech Republic in March last year.
Taiwanese officials have rightly labeled this as “transnational repression.” We should call it what it is: endangering the life of a democratically elected leader. Although Czech authorities thwarted the plot, the warning is clear: Beijing is willing to cross any line to threaten and silence Taiwanese leadership. This cannot be allowed to become the new normal. In a world that claims to be governed by a rules-based international order, this was nothing short of a planned political attack, one that must not be dismissed or normalized under the cover of the “one China” policy.
I can't see the Czech Republic being overly happy about China nowadays.
China sees its future not only in being a world power but being the world power. I suspect this is the locus of all the rest of the concerns I've listed.
I have the feeling that this is going to get worse before it gets better. And I hope I'm wrong.
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A quick note: Last I heard, Victor Davis Hanson's recuperation continues apace. Here's wishing him continued recovery. His is a voice sorely needed.
Thought for the day: Courage, self-confidence, and a clear mind are not inherited. They are all acquired traits.
See you tomorrow.
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