China's Long Game: Building the World That Ends US Empire

 

https://youtu.be/oEseVdpf_24?si=PWEyrni5K_fiXX63

Empire Watch - 3 mar 2026

In episode 65 of Global Majority for Peace, Ileana Chan speaks with political analyst, educator, and journalist KJ Noh about the accelerating crisis of U.S. imperialism and the rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape across East Asia. As the United States enters a new phase of open escalation, from Latin America and West Asia to Africa and the Indo-Pacific, KJ Noh breaks down how Japan’s sharp right-wing turn, South Korea’s constrained diplomacy under US military control, and China’s long-term strategy of digital, financial, energy, and political sovereignty are reshaping the global balance of power. He explains how Japan’s ruling LDP, empowered by a new supermajority, is moving toward constitutional remilitarisation in alignment with Washington’s Indo-Pacific war planning, while South Korean President Lee Jae-myung attempts a delicate assertion of sovereignty through his historic visit to China, including a symbolically powerful stop at the Korean Provisional Government site in Shanghai. These developments unfold against a backdrop of U.S. decline, deepening social precarity, collapsing public services, and a viral Chinese term, "kill line," now used to describe the fragility of everyday American life.

KJ Noh also examines how narratives like "Israel controls the US" function as political red herrings that obscure the actual structure of US imperial power and weaken anti imperialist movements. He traces how China’s perception of the United States has shifted dramatically as Chinese citizens witness the realities of homelessness, debt, and social breakdown in the world’s richest country, contrasted with China’s own economic stability and growing confidence in its government’s ability to withstand US aggression. Together, these threads reveal an empire in dangerous decline, lashing out militarily as its global position erodes, while China, Japan, and South Korea navigate a region on the brink of transformation. KJ Noh offers clarity on the fractures, contradictions, and openings shaping this moment, and what it will take for movements to dismantle US imperial power without triggering catastrophic war.

K.J Noh is a political analyst, educator and journalist focusing on the geopolitics and political economy of the Asia-Pacific. He is also an organizer and contributor to Pivot to Peace. His latest book is "KILLING DEMOCRACY: Western Imperialism’s Legacy of Regime Change and Media Manipulation"

★