A Field Guide to the Real US–China Strategic Competition
A guide to the governance operating systems behind China’s rise, and what they mean for US strategy.
If you’re new to Xinanigans, start here.
This is the master framework behind everything I write about China.
Most analysis treats China’s rise as an economic, military, or ideological story.
Xinanigans takes a different view: China competes through governance.
Not bureaucracy-as-administration, but governance as a strategic operating system—one that shapes markets, narratives, alliances, resources, legitimacy, and time itself.
Everything in this publication from Xinjiang to Taiwan to BRI, from historiographical warfare to cognitive deterrence is part of one overarching argument.
Governance, not growth, is the real battleground of US–China competition.
This post is your map.
THE SEVEN DOMAINS OF THE XINANIGANS FRAMEWORK
Each domain explains a distinct way China uses governance as a tool of competition. Each includes links to the core essays in that lane.
1. Governance as Strategic System
How China uses governance — not GDP — to shape the world.
China competes by restructuring the systems that coordinate finance, data, legitimacy, supply chains, and political behavior—not by chasing growth metrics.
Governance is the architecture that determines what choices other states can make.
Start here:
Everything Is Governance: Why the Real Contest with China Is Systemic, Not Economic (coming Jan 20, 2026)
2. Governance as Imperial Doctrine
Why China’s 21st-century tools are built on 2,000 years of statecraft.
China’s model isn’t new. It draws on imperial statecraft, upgraded with AI, surveillance, and bureaucratic precision.
Understanding this continuity reveals both its strengths and brittle seams.
Start here:
Ancient Doctrine, Digital Tools: China’s Enduring Model for Irregular Governance (coming Feb 10, 2026)
Why the PLA Might Fail Xi — Even If It Obeys (coming Jan 27, 2026)
Xi’s 2050 Mandate: The Bureaucratization of Destiny (coming Feb 3, 2026)
3. Governance as Narrative Infrastructure
Identity, memory, and story as instruments of state power
Narratives anchor legitimacy and give the state its most powerful governance tool.
China treats history, identity, and information as strategic terrain.
Start here:
4. Governance as Irregular Warfare
Irregular competition has evolved, and China is already operating in the next phase.
The U.S. is still debating definitions.
China is practicing irregular warfare through governance, not insurgency.
Start here:
Weaponized Governance: How China Turned Bureaucracy Into a Battle Doctrine
Irregular Whorefare: How the CCP Turned Influence Into a Transactional Art
Beyond COIN: Why the Next Era of Irregular Warfare Is Governance Warfare (coming Mar 17, 2026)
5. Governance as Global Export Model
The world isn’t adopting authoritarianism — it’s adopting China’s governance architecture.
Beijing exports planning regimes, surveillance norms, elite incentives, and narrative frameworks — not ideology, but operating systems.
Start here:
Political Engineering Abroad: How the CCP is Rewriting the Rules of Influence
The Real Succession Battle Is Already Happening — And It’s Global (coming Feb 17, 2026)
6. Governance as Resistance (Democratic Counter-Governance)
Taiwan is pioneering the world’s first democratic counter-governance doctrine.
Cognitive deterrence, civil resilience, narrative sovereignty, and transparency are becoming strategic tools.
Start here:
Cognitive Deterrence: How Taiwan Is Learning to Govern Resistance (coming Mar 24, 2026)
7. Governance as Systemic Economic Architecture
China isn’t just competing economically — it is redesigning the global operating system itself.
This domain includes:
digital currency governance
supply-chain chokepoint sovereignty
standards-setting as political control
financial plumbing as geopolitics
data sovereignty as power
This is where governance and geoeconomics converge.
Start here:
What We Got Wrong About China in 2025 (partial)
Everything Is Governance: Why the Real Contest with China Is Systemic, Not Economic (coming Jan 20, 2026)
READING PATHS
A. The 5-Minute Overview
Start here if you’re new:
B. The Strategic Practitioner Path
For policymakers, analysts, and military readers:
Ancient Doctrine, Digital Tools: China’s Enduring Model for Irregular Governance (coming Feb 10, 2026)
Weaponized Governance: How China Turned Bureaucracy Into a Battle Doctrine
Political Engineering Abroad: How the CCP is Rewriting the Rules of Influence
C. The Deep Theory Path
For scholars and strategists:
Why the PLA Might Fail Xi — Even If It Obeys (coming Jan 27, 2026)
Xi’s 2050 Mandate: The Bureaucratization of Destiny (coming Feb 3, 2026)
Everything Is Governance: Why the Real Contest with China Is Systemic, Not Economic (coming Jan 20, 2026)
WHY THIS FRAMEWORK MATTERS
Xinanigans is not commentary. It is a living field guide to how China governs its rise, and how the US must adapt.
This is the strategic terrain of the decade: Governance as power. Governance as warfare. Governance as destiny.
Welcome to Xinanigans.