# Taiwan is about America, not China | Jerm Warfare Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/uk-column-news-315425/taiwan-is-about-america-not-china-jerm-warfare Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/uk-column-news-315425/taiwan-is-about-america-not-china-jerm-warfare.md Podcast: [UK Column News](https://stenobird.com/podcast/uk-column-news-315425) Published: 2026-05-21T22:41:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ukcolumn/episodes/Taiwan-is-about-America--not-China--Jerm-Warfare-e3jmjme Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/1044e334c/podcast/play/120327310/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-21%2F424605652-44100-2-82379eaa99e69.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/uk-column-news-315425/episodes/taiwan-is-about-america-not-china-jerm-warfare Duration seconds: 3560 ## Resource Taiwan is about America, not China | Jerm Warfare ► Subscribe to the UK Column YouTube channel ► https://bit.ly/ukcolumnofficial Carl Zha examines the friction between the US and China, often framed as the "Thucydides Trap," suggesting that this narrative might be less about inevitable conflict and more about the establishment attempting to manage the reality of a declining American empire facing a rising challenger. He notes that Trump’s approach is largely performative, prioritising media optics, whereas Xi Jinping operates with a disciplined, long-term strategic focus that ignores the noise of daily headlines. The discussion also covers the historical and strategic significance of Taiwan, highlighting how it serves as a convenient geopolitical wedge for those looking to keep the region fractured. Ultimately, Zha emphasises China’s methodical efforts to secure energy independence and deepen economic integration, contrasting this with the chaotic, short-term nature of US politics, which seems incapable of looking beyond the next election cycle or the demands of its financial backers. ► Join UK Column Live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1pm UK time or watch previous live recordings here: https://bit.ly/UKColumn_Live ► [UK Column Website] Explore all our written and video content on the official UK Column website: https://www.ukcolumn.org/ ► [Support UK Column] Please donate to support our independent journalism & investigative journalism: https://support.ukcolumn.org/ ► [UK Column YouTube] Please subscribe to the UK Column News YouTube channel for more alternative news and independent news: https://bit.ly/ukcolumnofficial Follow #UKColumn on: ► X: https://x.com/ukcolumn ► Telegram: https://t.me/ukcolumn ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UKColumn… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/uk-column-news-315425/episodes/taiwan-is-about-america-not-china-jerm-warfare/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/uk-column-news-315425/taiwan-is-about-america-not-china-jerm-warfare.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.