Mao would not have launched the Great Leap Forward project if the US and its allies had not invaded the Korean Peninsula in 1950. PRC was forced to intervene in the Korean War just one year after its formation in 1949.

Mao was desperate to industrialize quickly because of the threat of wars, especially nuclear blackmails by the US, the UK and even threats by the Soviet Union, and also trade sanctions just like what North Korea is facing until today.

Food shortages were reported during the so-called "famine", but surprisingly, no photo of the event was ever found.

In any case, it was ultimately the CPC that ended famines in China for the first time. Before them, China had recorded thousands of famines, averaging 1 famine per year, in its very long history.

George Yeo, the former Singapore foreign minister and a retired brigadier general can explain what China is doing in the South China Sea. It's a nuclear war strategy.