CHECKMATE – My cousin introduced me to the game of Chess when I was a kid. He taught me the move capabilities of each piece. We began to play with some regularity. I remember our first game. He checkmated me in three moves. He continued to beat my brains out. I learned to last more than three moves, but the result was always the same. The more we played, the more anticipatory I became, the longer games would last. I gradually learned to think offensively rather than defensively, and was able to put my cousin on defense. With every move I was plotting my next 5 moves, able to fluidly alter my strategy from move to move. I cannot express the sheer JOY I felt when finally, after months of beat down, I won my first game and exclaimed “Checkmate!” By the time I reached senior high school, I had honed my skills considerably. The captain of the school Chess Team lived a few houses down. He would come to my house on occasion to play. I can’t remember EVER losing a game to him. He encouraged me to join the team, but that did not appeal to me. Chess played against a worthy opponent requires intense contemplation, anticipation, calculation and patience. In order to win with regularity, one must have a predominantly offensive mindset and the ability to bait the opponent into making a bad move. Meetings this week between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping have reminded me of the Chess Game that China has been playing with the U.S. for decades now. The focus of the meetings is Cyber Security and the need for ‘Rules’ to govern cyber behavior. History has taught us that China NEVER plays by the rules. They are NOT going to stop hacking our government servers. Their intent is to put and keep the U.S. on a defensive posture. China is a mortal enemy masquerading as a would-be friend. They are now participating in naval exercises with the U.S. in Pacific waters. They have leveraged the U.S. financially by purchasing trillions of our debt. They’re buying American real estate and corporations, and steadily building economic relationships with and arming several of our continental neighbors. The Chinese engage in currency manipulation to the detriment of the dollar. Their trade practices with the U.S. are patently unfair, as Donald Trump has pointed out to us. Their outright theft of our technology is the stuff of legend. The Chinese are seated at an International Chess board. Across the table sits the United States of America. They are patient with their strategy, which is clearly offensive in nature. When was the last time you saw the U.S. make an offensive move that put the Chinese on defense? Fundamental to a good Chess strategy is sacrificing one of your pieces in order to capture one of your opponent’s pieces. Those kinds of tradeoffs are integral to the game. Tradeoffs can pay big dividends; sometimes they backfire. But when ‘Checkmate’ happens, tradeoffs end. When was the last time a China-U.S. tradeoff paid off for America? At the current rate of American acquiescence, one must wonder when the Chinese will make the final strategic move that ends in “Checkmate!” Make no mistake! The game is real! The Chinese intend to win!
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 16:21:21 +0000