The unraveling of the global financial system: currency, trade and bond wars next

[ThePythonicCow]

The current global financial, political and economic system is being dismantled, apparently in preparation for replacing it with a new world order: The brutality of American, NATO and Zionist operations in the Muslim expanse from North Africa through the Middle East to Southern Asia is destroying cultures, nations and people, leaving the survivors with much anger and little hope, and possibly leading to a major war in that region.
World wide control of weather, agriculture and food processing is leaving people sick on crap food, with increasing numbers priced out of even that.
A half century of exponentially increasing debt and derivatives is collapsing, soon to be imposing austerity on even the wealthier nations, buried under a mountain of debt and promises of social benefits.
This post will focus on the third of these problems - the financial collapse.

It seems to me that the next phase of the financial collapse is now becoming clear:


China has taken (been assigned) the role of the antagonist. They are initiating a trade, currency and bond war. They are now taking the steps to trigger a collapse of the US Dollar and the current world monetary system.
I have mentioned several actions that China has taken in recent weeks in other posts. The intention of this thread is to pull those comments together, so we can see what is happening.

The role of the immediate main opponent to China is being played by Japan. These two nations have a long history of animosity. Japan rather literally raped and pillaged (http://www.nanking-massacre.com/RAPE_OF_NANKING_OR_NANJING_MASSACRE_1937.html) China in the early part of World War II. Quite possibly this was caused by Western influence on Japan, as part of a long effort, dating back before the Opium Wars of 1839-1860 (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0836734.html), to control China and to steal the gold and silver she had been accumulating from many centuries of trade. The gold that was once China's was buried by Japan in the Philippines, then apparently stolen by some of the Western elite after World War II.

Since World War II, Japan has been a loyal ally of the United States, under the long ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 1955 to 2009. In the summer of 2009,the opposition Democratic Party gained control, and Japan began to shift its loyalty toward China. Apparently the Western powers would not allow that shift. With the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011 and the more recent death of Japan's financial services minister Tadahiro Matsu****a on September 8, 2012, both of which some skeptics suspect were caused by Western powers, Japan is more firmly back in the grip of the West.

Now Japan has taken what seems to be the next step in this drama, with their provocative "purchase" of the disputed Senkaku Islands, which both China and Japan (as well as Taiwan) claim as territory. I suspect that Joseph P. Farrell is right when he speculates here (http://gizadeathstar.com/2012/09/extra-islands-protests-and-dead-ambassadors/) that someone else “strongly suggested” this seemingly absurd move by Japan.

In an earlier post (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?49785-Petro-Dollar-Died-on-Sept-6th-2012-and-was-Replaced-by-to-Petro-Yuan&p=553386&viewfull=1#post553386), I have reported that China has been escalating the currency war over the US Dollar:
further loosening the tie between the yuan and the dollar (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/08/us-china-economy-yuan-idUSBRE88705N20120908),
extending currency clearing bank arrangements with Taiwan (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan-business/2012/09/08/353567/Taiwan-begins.htm),
exploring "The Transformation of Banking Models" in conference proceedings (http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/10/4805500/ceibs-6th-annual-china-bankers.html),
increasing the volume of lending to individuals (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-09/12/content_15751464.htm),
discussing allowing more "backflow" of yuan investments back into the country (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-09/12/content_15751468.htm),
increasing its state set domestic gasoline price (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-10/china-to-raise-gasoline-diesel-prices-from-tomorrow-c1-says),
resuming sales of asset backed securities (aka damned derivatives) (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/08/us-china-bonds-cdb-idUSBRE88702520120908),
extending more debt domestically (http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/11/china-economy-loans-idINB9E8JH00I20120911), and
continuing to extend its retail banking presence in foreign markets (http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2012-09/07/content_15742204.htm).
These moves are helping to establish a yuan as a major world currency, with all the usual foreign currency exchange, banking and debt instruments expected of a major currency. The Yuan will increasingly oppose the weakening US Dollar and Euro. For the time being, China is being allowed to issue debt free Yuan currency nationally, without incurring central bank debt. This will help keep China debt free and financially strong, as the other major economic powers are "reconstructed." China is also being allowed to accumulate massive quantities of gold, through mining and purchasing, even as Western hoards of gold have been stolen in various ways over the last few decades. I am confident however that the Western powers think they have major influence over China's ruling government, by other means. Whether they do have such power or not ... remains to be seen.

China now holds trillions of US debt, and nearly a trillion of Japanese debt. They can destroy the Japanese and/or US government bond market if they choose to unload those government treasury bonds. This would force an increase in Japanese interest rates, which have been nearly zero since 1996, or US interest rates, which have been nearly zero since 2008. Either or both of those events would result in rapid destruction of the multi-hundred trillion dollar derivative market. The major banks, such as JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are deeply invested in derivatives, which trade based on interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and defaults in corporate and national debt.

China is now threatening to escalate a trade war with Japan, ceasing the sale of rare earth minerals to Japan, which can be purchased no where else and which Japan's electronics and automobile businesses absolutely require, and
start unloading their hoard of Japanese debt. See further Beijing hints at bond attack on Japan (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/9551727/Beijing-hints-at-bond-attack-on-Japan.html) and Lindsey Williams update on Gold-Seek Radio (my Post #4) (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?49937-Lindsey-Williams-update-on-Gold-Seek-Radio&p=555549&viewfull=1#post555549).
If the trade war between China and Japan over rare earth minerals has not yet actually resumed, it likely will soon. China has already limited exports of rare earth metals to Japan at various times over the last two years. I notice that all 2 TByte 3.5" hard disk drives of the popular Japanese Hitachi brand (now owned by Western Digital) are now sold out (zero in stock) on Newegg.com. I had no problem finding such drives three months ago.

If the (elite managed, in my view) conflicts between Japan and China continue to escalate, then China will likely carry through on its threats, selling Japanese bonds and withholding rare earth metals from them again. This would force Japan to sell US bonds and to raise interest rates on their debt. That would soon force the US to do the same thing, which China could aggravate by selling some of their own, larger stash of US treasuries.

The expected financial super nova of the collapsing derivative market would follow quickly, putting the world's major banks and the European and US central banks on death's door. Most dollar denominated "paper" (stocks, bonds, savings, future contracts, derivatives, pensions, as well as various social, retirement and medical benefits payed for, but unfunded, by the government) would dramatically lose most or all value. Your personal health, awareness and well being, your personal possessions, and the trust of your neighbors would become your most prized possessions.

The combination of this with continuing or increasing violence in the Middle East would dramatically reduce world trade, dramatically reduce the value of the US Dollar in trade for food or oil, and quickly put many more Americans in poverty and unemployment, struggling to pay for food and rent.

The austerity which has been imposed on so many other nations over the last half century would come to America, which has already been burdened with a mountain of national debt and unfunded liabilities it can never hope to pay.

In due time, Americans will welcome their new masters. The increased tyrannical powers which the US government has been accumulating, especially since 9/11 of 2001, will be used to ensure that there is no serious revolt by the American people during this transition.

[gripreaper]

Brilliant and very well done Paul. It's obvious you have been following this developing story and are right on target.

As an adjunct, our nefarious Helicopter Bernanke has pulled out all the stops and is willing to dump 40 BILLION a month to backstop derivatives, in anticipation of this impending tsunami. Statistically, it would only take a 2% move in the wrong direction to set the derivatives bubble up for a major unraveling, impossible to stop.(See MF Global's demise).

So, while the crackheads in Washington are playing slalom with the icebergs and obfuscating the obvious, and dancing in the streets with their election side show in full regalia, complete with pleated skirts, bobby socks and pom poms, Rome is burning.

Suffice it to say, who is the grand fiddler leading China into the prominent world power while taking down the western countries, which have been dominant the last 60 years, can be postulated as the globalist elite banksters, who are moving the chess pieces around to fit their agenda. I feel bad for those who will get caught in the crossfire like deer in the headlights.

[ThePythonicCow]

Here's a little bit of confirmation of the impact that these economic changes are already having on Americans, from Richard Rahn, on Jack Wheeler's To The Point (http://www.tothepointnews.com/) website:




Economic freedom in the U.S. is dropping fast

The annual Economic Freedom of the World report, including an index of country rankings, has just been released, and it should be a wake-up call. The United States was known as the bastion of economic freedom for more than two centuries, and it was because of its economic freedom that the nation became the pre-eminent economic power. However, in just a few short years, the U.S. has fallen from No. 3 in 2000 (behind the city-states of Hong Kong and Singapore) to No. 8 in 2005 and to No. 18 in 2010, the last year for which complete statistics are available. Worse yet, the U.S. decline continues, and in next year's ranking, it is almost certain to be lower.

The main components of the index include the size of government (taxing and spending), legal systems, property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation (including credit markets, labor and business regulations). The report says it "uses 42 different variables derived from sources such as the World Bank to measure the degree to which the institutions and policies of 144 countries are consistent with economic freedom." It is published by the Cato Institute in the United States, the Fraser Institute in Canada and a network of institutes in 78 other countries. The authors of the report are James Gwartney of Florida State University, author of a major economics textbook and former chief economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, Robert A. Lawson of Southern Methodist University and Joshua Hall of Beloit College.

The godfather of the Economic Freedom of the World report was Milton Friedman (1912-2006), who said that "if economic freedom could be measured with greater accuracy, it would be possible to isolate its impact on the performance of economies and other factors of interest." Since the report was first published in 1996, it has provided overwhelming evidence that economic freedom is highly correlated with economic progress, liberty and well-being.

This article is currently the most recent article on To The Point (http://www.tothepointnews.com/) website. There is no permanent direct link available to the article, and the rest of the article (which I have not read) is subscription only.

It is the clear intention of the elite that most Americans no longer find themselves to be "well off."

Somehow I doubt our new found poverty will illicit much sympathy from the rest of the world ... nor should it. America has been the "point of the spear" for the global elite for a long time now, enough to make enemies of almost everyone else on this planet.

[gripreaper]

Somehow I doubt our new found poverty will illicit much sympathy from the rest of the world ... nor should it. America has been the "point of the spear" for the global elite for a long time now, enough to make enemies of almost everyone else on this planet.

Yes, but the whole world knows it was not a handful of desert nomads with cell phones, laptops, box cutters and flight training in piper cubs, who took down the towers at freefall speed, pulverizing 500,000 tons of concrete and steel per tower into dust !

The catalytic global consciousness shift as a result of this massive fraud, I hope, has awakened the sleeping giant of humanity, as to who the true culprits are, and one day, one day, the domino's will fall and these elite banksters will get crushed.

It cannot happen to soon as far as I am concerned.

[ThePythonicCow]

Thanks, gripreaper.

(I edited your post, to change "200 tons" to "500,000 tons per tower", which is closer to the right number I believe.)

[gripreaper]

Thanks, gripreaper.

(I edited your post, to change "200 tons" to "500,000 tons per tower", which is closer to the right number I believe.)

Thanks. It was an gargantuanly amazing amount to say the least. The whole study of... explosives v directed stellar technology? I think it was both.

[GoodETxSG]

Very nice, Do you mind if I post it on my Facebook Group? Link in my signature below. I can post it w/your name or w/out.
Thank you much!

[T Smith]

I think the important question to ponder is the objective. Do the progenitors of this collapse intend to burst the dollar, in a violent pin-to-the-balloon fashion, or do they intend to slowly deflate the dollar in a continual, controlled, slow-burn descent? One can see how a violent burst would provide the impetus to install the new world order, but also at a huge societal cost and perhaps at an unnecessary risk that things might get out of control or might produce unintended or unforeseen consequences. On the other hand, if you starve the patient to death, slowly, over time, you may achieve the same end without incurring the risk of waking the sleeping patient or eliciting some kind of "black swan" response that was overlooked and not fully planned for.

I would imagine if the ladder is the case, the BOJ and the Federal Reserve might collude to cushion the blow of China's divesting dump. The Fed could quietly soak up the Japanese bonds China is dumping on the market, while in turn, the BOJ would pump massive $ back into Treasury market, and maybe even into the derivatives market. This would entail a massive transfer of debt from the Bank of China unto the balance sheets of BOJ and the Fed. This would certainly be a rocky ride, but not necessarily a collapse. It is essentially a merry-go round monetizaton of world debt. I would then imagine, if this is the game plan, that China would aggressively begin dumping dollars, once they had all their yen-based debt off their balance sheets. The BOJ, and other central banks would move to soak up this debt. At the same time, central banks everywhere would necessarily need to step up the monetization of their nation's debt, with the help of the other central banks aligned with the BOJ/Fed. The bottom line would be massive inflation as China divests first from the yen, and then from the dollar (step 1, step 2) but not necessarily hyper-inflation, if the central banks cooperate to control the transfer of assets. It would appear this is all coordinated, among all players, to usher in a new world currency. I see the same end in any event, a major world war and a new “Bretton Woods” agreement, likely with the Yuan being at the center of the one world reserve currency. The question is, will the collapse transpire within weeks amid fire and brimstone? Or months amid the same gradual and worsening suffering we've seen all over the world?

[ThePythonicCow]

Very nice, Do you mind if I post it on my Facebook Group? Link in my signature below. I can post it w/your name or w/out.
Thank you much!

No problem - post it where you like. I'm slightly fond of my Web "tradename", ThePythonicCow, as that's how I can find myself on the Web, so suggest you post with that name.

[ThePythonicCow]

I think the important question to ponder is the objective. Do the progenitors of this collapse intend to burst the dollar, in a violent pin-to-the-balloon fashion, or do they intend to slowly deflate the dollar in a continual, controlled, slow-burn descent?

I'd guess that in the grand scheme of things, "they" don't care that much whether it's fast or slow, but rather that they get "us" (humans) moved over (or imprisoned or killed) without losing control.

Secondary details, such as infighting among the elite, and the practicalities of what is possible, will likely determine the path we take.

Given the enormous imbalances and insanities that have built up in the system, I doubt they can accomplish this entirely gradually. Sooner or later they will have to scare the living daylights out of us and run this herd of human buffalo over the cliff. That, or sooner or later the unraveling of the monetary system will scare the living daylights out of even many of the elite, and they will start executing some panic maneuvers.

Most other nations in the world have experienced the greater hell of war fought on their own land, or the lessor hell of monetary and economic collapse, in recent memory. Since the War Between the States, aka Civil War fought in the eastern half of the US in the 1860's, and the Great Depression of the 1930's, such has not happened in the US. Our parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression are mostly dead or dying now. We Americans have lived in (what we thought was) the Land of the Free, the home of prosperity and liberty, the shining light on the hill, for seemingly "forever".

When I talk to my neighbors who have migrated here from Central and Southern Americas, they've seen major changes in their life circumstances and tend to be hard working people who watch out for each other. I think they will do OK. But when I talk to "Americans" who have been here for generations, it's scary sometimes.

[Cidersomerset]

Thanks Paul a very clear summery , ties up some of the loose ends from other sources who are saying similar things.
You have tidied them up to make more sence,,,Cheers steve

[ThePythonicCow]

One more example of China's developing the Yuan to be a world class currency and displacing the US Dollar as the reserve currency for trade: China, Germany plan to settle more trade in yuan, euros (CNBC) (http://www.cnbc.com/id/48838061):



BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Germany and China plan to conduct an increasing amount of their trade in euros and yuan, the two nations said in a joint statement after talks between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing on Thursday.

"Both sides intend to support financial institutions and companies of both countries in the use of the renminbi and euro in bilateral trade and investments," said the text of the statement.

It also said that both parties welcomed investments in China's interbank bond market by German banks and supported the settlement of business in the yuan by German and Chinese banks and the issuance of yuan-denominated financial products in Germany.

[norman]

Paul, your analysis of the situation is very vividly national ID orientated and that takes a little away from it's big-picture credentials.

Unless of course you really do see the world as anarchic as that ?

If you do, you may be right, but my view is that there is another structure than this 'political-map-of-the-world' structure that's going into chrysalis right now. In my view, the map of the world is just the territory the Caterpillar munched it's way through to get to this stage.

My bones tell me "they" are putting all their 'chips' on the black with this. The likelihood that they have also put a processor controlled servo brake on the spindle is neither here not there. They ARE taking a RISK.

Certainty is only a black art, and they know it better than any of us..

[ThePythonicCow]

Paul, your analysis of the situation is very vividly national ID orientated and that takes a little away from it's big-picture credentials.

Unless of course you really do see the world as anarchic as that ?
Yes, I did paint a picture involving the monetary, financial and economic conflicts and interactions of nations.

Would you care to provide us with an alternative perspective?

(If your thoughts of black art servo braked caterpillars on a spindle was that view ... I'll have to confess to missing your point.)

[ThePythonicCow]

One more example of China's developing the Yuan to be a world class currency and displacing the US Dollar as the reserve currency for trade: China, Germany plan to settle more trade in yuan, euros (CNBC) (http://www.cnbc.com/id/48838061):
In addition to China and Germany trading outside the Dollar hegemony, Germany has called for an audit of its gold reserves that are held by the US Federal Reserve, and might be expected to also call for the physical return of that gold to Germany. From Spiegle Online last year (05/15/2012), Germans Fret about Their Foreign Gold Reserves (http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/debate-breaks-out-in-germany-over-foreign-gold-reserves-a-833289.html):




A large portion of Germany's massive gold reserves are stored abroad, mainly in the Federal Reserve in New York. But are the bars really where they are supposed to be? A dispute has broken out over whether the central bank needs to check on its gold, or if Germany can trust its international partners.

Germany has gold reserves of just under 3,400 tons, the second-largest reserves in the world after the United States. Much of that is in the safekeeping of central banks outside Germany, especially in the US Federal Reserve in New York. One would think that with such a valuable stash, worth around €133 billion ($170 billion), the German government would want to keep a close eye on its whereabouts. But now a bizarre dispute has broken out between different German institutions over how closely the reserves should be checked.

Germany's federal audit office, the Bundesrechnungshof, which monitors the German government's financial management, is unhappy with how Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, keeps tabs on its gold. According to media reports, the auditors are dissatisfied with the fact that gold reserves in Frankfurt are more closely monitored than those held abroad.

[ThePythonicCow]

The essence of the control that the Banksters and the elite families (perhaps descendant from off world "gods") have maintained over humanity for millenia is scarcity; something they control the supply of is made economically essential.

Most often this has been gold and silver, which they manipulated into being the primary way to settle trading account imbalances between nations. Since World War II, this has been petroleum, which fuels the modern economy. Always the Banksters displace any debt-free sovereign currency with their own bank issued, debt-based, currency which can be traded for the essential gold, silver or oil.

We are now seeing China especially and other nations such as Brazil, Russia, India, and Iran make moves toward settling international trade accounts outside of the US Dollar hegemony, in some cases using their own gold, or barter, or China's debt-free national Yuan currency.

What I cannot tell yet, and what will have the most profound affect on the ultimate outcome of all these machinations, is whether

China and other such nations have been subverted by the same globalist Banksters and we're just seeing a changing of the guard from the US Dollar as the world reserve currency to some other world dominant monetary system ("Welcome to the new world dollar, same as the old world dollar.") or whether
China and other such nations are making a serious move to break the back of the Banksters.


If it is (2), we risk a catastrophic World War III. Nations such as Iran, and ultimately China, will not be allowed by the Banksters to increasingly thumb their noses at the Banksters schemes for world domination, so long as the Banksters have any say in the matter. Also, if it is (2), the Banksters will not only want to keep the American people from completely revolting, reforming a new government after a Second American Revolution, but they will further want to keep the American people continuing at least nominal support for the present US Military machine which will continue to be needed to bring Russia, China and Iran back under Bankster control. This would put the Banksters in a tight bind however, as I suspect they actually want a functioning planet (albeit a perhaps reduced human population) when they get down their Project for a New World Order. The combined military capacity of Russia, China, Iran and allies is now sufficient to ensure Mutually Assured Destruction, if those nations have and can maintain their independence from the Banksters and if they are pushed "too far."

If it is (1), those of us holding gold will want to recognize the likelihood that we're just trading one "scare good" (the petro-Dollar or some inter-changeable currency) for another "scare good" (gold), and that we are really just continuing to play the game of scarcity controlled by the Banksters, subject to their rules and whims. Us gold bugs will want to remain alert, and time our exit from gold into the next scarcity wisely, or at least fortuitously. There is likely more gold 'above ground" on planet earth than we're being told of, so the apparent scarcity of gold is a monetary and legal fiction, being allowed to be hyped now in the "alternative" media as a convenient safety value; while us potentially troublesome gold bugs are busy counting our gold and anticipating great profits, the Banksters are busy turning the crank on their next round of increased world domination.

My guess at the moment is that not even this planet's elite insiders know whether it is (1) or (2), and that much covert effort is being expended to increase or remove Bankster control over the inner power circles of Russia, China, Iran and other nations.

If it is (2), and if Russia, China, Iran and others prevail over the Banksters, then both precious metals and petro dollars could likely become worth much less in the grand scheme of things. My second guess is that this will indeed be the outcome, but perhaps only after decades of a near stalemate. Neither side can checkmate the other quickly, without destroying this planet in the process. So each side must struggle to eat out the other from the inside. My ultimate fear would be that in this scenario, our new masters turn out to be no more humane than our old ones ... just different.

[ThePythonicCow]

... My second guess is that this will indeed be the outcome, but perhaps only after decades of a near stalemate. Neither side can checkmate the other quickly, without destroying this planet in the process. So each side must struggle to eat out the other from the inside. My ultimate fear would be that in this scenario, our new masters turn out to be no more humane than our old ones ... just different.

The quality of the result, in the case that current Bankster domination of human civilization is released, likely depends in the end on our collective awareness.

Reaver discusses this further in this thread (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?50018-Seeking-a-New-Direction):



TPTB (The Powers That Be) do not mint coins as much as they mint people's minds.

The world is falling apart true enough... what troubles me more than that fact, is that people want to avoid it!!, Why on earth would they want so save a poisonous system?. If you are hoping to see a better world, an authentic better world and not just a band aid then the current system has to be destroyed, not tweaked to please the mindless masses so they can acquire more stupid crap to decorate their life.

I guess if most people were willing to think then such transition would be gradual and smooth, but since most are zombified then it is going to be a hard fall... We are seeing toxic entropy in action, so I don't see the fall of so called civilization as something to worry much about, what concerns me more is what are people going to do after the system fails for the Nth occasion?. Are they going to remain stupid and follow the next messiah who puts together a mass movement?

[PathWalker]

Greetings Readers,

This game of power in the financial world is just another control game.
China power is not "nation" but rather a corporate.
The whole financial world game is well entangled and therefore all players have mutual interests and conflicts. Always battling for power and control. One can have very good example in watching soap operas.

World power games is not at national level anymore. Secret societies, corporates, ET races and other hidden factions are the real game players.

If one is to investigate the fundamental values of our social structure we find: scarcity and competition.
Both leading to a state of fear. The assumption of scarcity and competition as economic drivers are absurd and unsustainable. The real values are sustainability and cooperation.

The players can play and battle, provide us with much drama game. Eventually the drama is not sustainable and a new game will appear.

I chose to recognize this power drama as drama devoid of the fear involved.
China, US, Japan, Zion, EU... are all drama players. No one will win. Certainly not the US.

[ThePythonicCow]

This game of power in the financial world is just another control game.
China power is not "nation" but rather a corporate.

That could be. I'm not sure yet though, as I noted in Post #16 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?49951-The-unraveling-of-the-global-financial-system-currency-trade-and-bond-wars-next&p=556846&viewfull=1#post556846) above.

[Buck]

"The quality of the result, in the case that current Bankster domination of human civilization is released, likely depends in the end on our collective awareness."


The only thing that could possibly ruin things for them is if by some chance, against all the effort they have put into ensuring that this never happens, we were to wake up before the curtain call.

[TargeT]

"The quality of the result, in the case that current Bankster domination of human civilization is released, likely depends in the end on our collective awareness."


The only thing that could possibly ruin things for them is if by some chance, against all the effort they have put into ensuring that this never happens, we were to wake up before the curtain call.


“Wake up” is a pretty vague term, I’d agree with you but that covers so much ground I’m not really sure which you are speaking of. I don’t think a full realization of our problems is necessary to fix them though it certainly would help.
For example:
If we break the scarcity paradigm and the best starting point I can think of would be incredibly cheap and easy energy; cold fusion comes to mind, LFTR tech (which china is working on, of course you'll have to drop your pre-programmed fear of radiation too), magnetic generators, Keshe plasma based generators or whatever "comes first" really... (granted this would take at least a small “wake up” to the fact that we have been kept from better methods of energy production)

Since one of the main controlling scarcities is energy (a petro based energy society is one easily milked for money) change that and the whole house of scarcity-cards collapses.

This is my assessment and where I am focusing my efforts (aside from continued reading & staying somewhat current on "news" & of course my slave-job so I can continue to pay for the high cost of energy).

[ThePythonicCow]

The role of the immediate main opponent to China is being played by Japan. These two nations have a long history of animosity. Japan rather literally raped and pillaged (http://www.nanking-massacre.com/RAPE_OF_NANKING_OR_NANJING_MASSACRE_1937.html) China in the early part of World War II.
Charles Hugh Smith, always a delight to read, has an excellent summary of the history of conflict between China and Japan, at China, Japan and the Senkaku Islands: The Roots of Conflict Go Back to 1274 (http://www.oftwominds.com/blogsept12/China-Japan9-12.html).