Barry Shein 29 May · I'll admit it's a bit of a stretch but this US posturing on Hong Kong is reminiscent of how the Vietnam War began in the early 1960s (with prior history of course.) In that case it was Saigon ("The Paris of Asia") and the USSR backing a civil war. In a nutshell the initial intents may have had value, billions of dollars of business went through Saigon, many major banks and other finance was located there. But in a few years after many blunders there was no longer much left to save for the US other than face. And the cost was the loss of 58,000 US soldiers, and upwards of 2 million southeast Asian lives. I doubt this will go quite like that, I can't see a proxy war in Hong Kong between the US and China for many reasons. But it does have that feel of an irresistible force on a collision course with an unmovable object. 22 1 comment Like Comment Share Comments Richard Sexton Richard Sexton Let's not forget how China lost Hong Kong in the first place. 1) British merchant imported opium from Burma into China. 2) Opium was illegal in both Britain and China. 3) After 30 years of China protesting this smuggling, China burns a shipment in Chinese waters. 4) The British Merchants demanded $7M in reparations. That's like sixty five million trillion today or something. 5) China said no. 6) Britain went to war over this, and eventually won. 7) China gave up a 99 year lease on Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan nd Macau to settle. The recent declassification of Lord Satow's diary shows te British used Japanese plague fleas to get rid of the natives aided by the guys that headed Unit 531 during WWII. Russia and America raide this torture camp after the war ans rhe Russians hung their prisoners while the US put theirs to work in America on what is snow called "Gain Of Function" what may have led to the current outbreak. Nearly all of this stuff was recently declassified and is online. Not all of it though.