Fresh off the Trump Administration unconditionally recognizing the 1981 Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to see the US curb its intelligence and military ties with Israel because the country is trading too much with China.
Pompeo said the US was troubled by Israel’s growing economic ties with China, and said that deals with companies like Huawei pose “risks” that would make the US share less intelligence with Israel, and be less willing to collocate forces with them.
The Trump Administration has been vilifying Huawei primarily with an eye toward ensuring that US companies get most of the international infrastructure deals for 5G network construction. Huawei is a major competitor in that market, and the US has been warning that they consider doing business with the major Chinese telecom unacceptable.
Though it gives some ammunition to Israelis who are arguing that accepting investment from China is a threat to national security, in practice the US threats are almost certainly empty, as the Trump Administration is so determined to position itself as pro-Israel, it would be unthinkable for them to suddenly reverse course over a cellphone infrastructure contract or two.
For Pompeo, this grandstanding in Israel about the “risk” of Huawei is likely just meant to give his words more weight when he arrives in the next country and gives the exact same warning.
… OK, well Pompeo’s surprising burst of common sense may have overstepped his actual authority…
Also, the barn door has been open for the past nine years since Phillip Giraldi first sounded the alarm.
https://original. antiwar. com/giraldi/2010/01/27/stealing-success-tel-aviv-style/
Et tu, Israel?
All over the world China’s economic and technical might are trumping US military bullying.
In Germany and elsewhere in Europe Huawei is allowed to bid on genuine 5G network setup. Hauwei is the only company in the world that can implement this kind of network tech right now. The same openness to Huawei is seen in Saudi Arabia and throughout East and Southeast Asia – and Africa. Meanwhile the 737M is clearly inferior to the Airbus A320 and will suffer even stiffer competition when the Chinese enter that market in the next decade.
In Italy and all over Asia and Europe countries are buying into China’s Belt and Road. The US can only demand that they spend more on NATO and other “obsolete” structures. There are three great advanced economic power centers in the world now, Europe, NA and China and its neighbors. China is growing and the US is declining in each of those. It seems irreversible now since China is just taking off in its move to first class technological power with a market soon to be unrivaled in the world. No country or multinational can afford to alienate it. US military power only consumes resources and drives up the debt.
The Empire is devouring itself.
But China will not allow itself to become saddled with Israel. It still supports the Palestinian cause and has its eyes long term on the historically great power and culture of the Arab world not a sliver of the West serving as a thorn in its side now but not forever
“It seems irreversible now since China is just taking off in its move to first class technological power with a market soon to be unrivaled in the world. No country or multinational can afford to alienate it.”
Agree totally. The Chinese middle class, as it expands, will be the dominant market force of the world in the second half of the century, replacing the American market in importance. Its own industry and all other nations will have to cater to this population if they don’t want to be left behind.
China’s place in the world today looks to me like the US of exactly a hundred years ago: a huge industrial power just coming to terms with its rising power in the world.
Yes.
China already has the largest retail market in the world, I am told.
And its movie market is the largest in the world unless you group US and Canada together – even then it will only be a year or so before
China’s is bigger. And these are movie theaters not stay at home movie watching. How far we have come from pirated videos in such a short period of time. The Chinese worldwide scifi blockbuster The Wandering Earth can only be seen in the Bay Area in AMC theaters – Chinese owned. And Crazy Rich Asians, though not made in China, was snubbed at the Oscars although its beautiful actresses were used as presenters! And iPhones are easy to purchase in China but Huawei phones are not to be found in a store in the US – certainly not in the Bay Area. They are found everywhere else I have been recently, Italy, Africa, etc.
Who needs “opening up,” one may ask?
I fully agree.
Israel uses the US and if China is more beneficial to them, they’ll drop us like a hot potato.
Pompeo is the spokeman/posterboy for the empire’s decline into irrelevance. Cratylus sums it up when he writes: “The Empire is devouring itself.”
Indeed he is, yomama. Pompous Pompass became the poster boy for the Empire’s decline into irrelevance shortly after he became Secretary of State.
I agree with both you and Cratylus when he wrote, “The Empire is devouring itself.” That happened to the British Empire at the end of WW 2.
When will the USA realize that China is far ahead of it in cellphone technology and that Huawei is the main leader, and most other countries know this and have already got involved in the development and it will cost a lot to change. Even US companies are in this situation.
Republicans blasting the free market again.
Mikey, you better clear it with Jared first.
Pompeo threatens Israel? You are joking.No US official including its president will threaten Israel.If Pompeo is serious, he will get a kick on his face by Netinyahu and he will hold his pace. May be this “threat” is just posturing with Netinyahu’s indulgence
I don’t own a cellphone. It just feels good to say that.