Hard Numbers: South China Sea war games, Chinese sour on America, US chipmaking labor shortage, Ya Ya breaks the internet

24: In a recent war game run by Chinese military planners, 24 hypersonic anti-ship missiles were able to sink the USS Gerald R. Ford, the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, every single time in 20 simulated battles. In the exercise, the US fleet is attacked after ignoring Chinese warnings not to approach a China-claimed island in the disputed South China Sea.

70,000-90,000: The US CHIPS Act is pouring billions of dollars into bringing semiconductor factories back to American soil to counter China. But, who will make the chips? According to one estimate, the US chipmaking industry faces a shortage of between 70,000 and 90,000 workers (engineers and technicians) in the coming years.

12.2: Only 12.2% of Chinese people “like” the United States, according to a new survey about views on national security by Tsinghua University, Xi Jinping's alma mater. The most popular country is Russia (54.8%) and the least, India (8%).

230 million: China's superstar giant panda Ya Ya finally returned to Beijing this week after 20 years at the Memphis Zoo in the US. Ya Ya, whose troubled journey encapsulates the current state of US-China ties, has become such an internet sensation among patriotic Chinese that a hashtag following her homecoming got 230 million views on Weibo, China's answer to Twitter.