In a news conference directed at China on Friday, President Trump issued a series of accusations against the Chinese government, accusing them of destroying American industry, of stealing important industrial secrets. He also announced the US pullout from the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing China of controlling it. This is leading to banning some foreign nationals, and restrictions on Chinese students.
The big topic though was China’s recent crackdown in Hong Kong, which Trump and other US officials say meant that Hong Kong is no longer to be considered autonomous for the sake of US law, and will lose also of its special status treatments related to autonomy. This is also going to mean the US limiting Hong Kong’s access to US technologies.
Threats of US tariffs on Hong Kong were panned by many, as the US doesn’t import much from Hong Kong in the first place. By contrast, the US exports a fair bit to the area, so retaliatory Chinese measures could hit harder.
This is mostly just a continuation of US acrimony against China, which is leading to their worst relationship in decades, and warnings of a new Cold War. Experts are predicting that China will impose some retaliatory measures against the US over this.
While some of this is likely to be reflected in more trade disputes, the US naval operations in the South China Sea continue to risk military confrontations. Trump accused China of illegally claiming parts of the Pacific Ocean. More US ships approaching China-claimed islands is almost certain to lead to China confronting them. What that leads to remains to be seen.
Guess he’s not gonna yell at his base for buying all those Chinese products..or his daughter.
No, but its not like Elon Musk is getting any flak for setting up in Shanghai.
For years we sought foreign investment from China and others, it’s what kept this nation afloat. Now we sing a different tune of how unfair China is investing in our country, how dare they. We really have some self righteous dummies minding the store, let’s face it, China plays the capitalist game better then we do and by our rules to boot. If we keep up the bullying China will have no choice but to confront us, and that is how insane our so called leaders are.u
Folks make the mistake of seeing China as a capitalist country. It is not, but it is a free-market economy with a communist government. In a capitalist society, the elite call the shots. Not so in China in which the Communist party rules.
Who cares how they run their own country?
No worries–but they will soon clean our clocks.
It’s a capitalist economy rivaling our hegemony in that regard and that is why we are so mad at them. We must not be capitalist then either because the Dem/Repub monopoly rules here.
Must be sort of like how American Asians are put on a quota at Harvard out of fears they would otherwise dominate admissions…
Apparently thinking and acting like college is for studying, not partying and playing social games, is an unfair advantage.
Likewise, the world economy is for hegemony games, not making a living.
All that is crappy about us, we project on to other countries.
a technique used by Hitler
The last 4 US presidents have done an extraordinary job of destroying American industry, China just served a supporting role in that disaster. Stealing secrets, probably but they’re also not the only nation that does it, nor do all advances come solely from the US (we just like to think we know everything).
The basic issue is that China asserts itself about 20% as much as the US, and US governments and especially Trump consider any other nation asserting an independent agenda to be an existential threat. And if we remain absolutely committed to fascist capitalism, welfare corporatism, producing nothing but weapons and Wall Street ponzi schemes that are way too big to fail, failure and existential threats will be everywhere.
Let China ruin their economy. If China does what it wants to do with Hong Kong, money will flee like crazy. Money will flee China in general.
Products assembled in China will be assembled in greater numbers in other countries. China will financially implode.
I thought China had smart people in high places.
Smart and beuracracy don’t coincide.
Hong Kong is not so financially important to China, on a relative scale, as it once was.
Based on your list — I am afraid you have no idea what China is. Nor how it makes money. Nor its capabilities. Nor its organizational advantages. Products are not assembled in China, they are made in China. How do you think I-Phone is manufactured in China? Ask Tim Cook.
Ummm, check out this infographic of the IPhone suplly chain; truly a worldwide project drawing from the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
The infographic leaves out Africa, where non-rare earths like cobalt for batteries are mined.
https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/infographic-breaks-down-apples-iphone-supply-chain
I misspoke. Yes, supply chains are long and wide. But in an interview Tim Cook explained why is it not so easy to just move production from China to US or elsewhere. I was a very detailed answer — boiling down to the fact that production requires specialized technology, robots, instruments. Recreating these processes elsewhere will take time and money. And why would anyone invest in such a factory if there is no commitment to production. The model Taiwanese chip maker is using may — with some differences) apply to Apple. The chipmaker is a foundry and chip designers focus on design (NVIDIA) not factory.. Apple designs phone, and factories produce, but if you do not have a sufficient capacity elsewhere, you just cannot abandon this Chinese Apple foundry.
Unless Taiwanese model can bee used for repatriation of production. Helpless Taiwan, agreed to essentially move most of its chip making to Arizona — so American designers can use it as foundry. While denying Huawei designed chips to be made in Taiwan. This is still a moving target — but it is very likely that China will do the same, taking the production and experts to mainland.
Apple must then find a way to poach some other Apple producing foundry— and relocate.
Not so easy though; building in the U.S. isn’t cheap relative to Asia. So, even an AI automated factory would be a huge commitment.
The Apple spaceship campus houses the intellectual property, and can easily juStify building in the U.S..
Apart from security, there’s also the drive to attract the best brains to U.S. shores.
The manufacturing and assembly lines… not so much. The China market is huge; and connectivity to the rest of Asia unmatched.
Demented Donald yearns to be a wartime President, so he wants a war.
He will do it after election. Anybody thinks Biden can beat him? It is possible — Corona deaths, tanking economy, unemployment, riots, Chinese retaliation, his stupid tweets? It may undermine him — but Biden?
Biden already did well in the polls just doing nothing throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
The renewed racial tensions will also greatly benefit Biden over Trump.
Biden can be his own worst enemy worse than Trump, but horse whispering on race should be familiar Democratic turf.
It feels so right to Democrats — they can just taste it.
But better watch out. With so much unemployment, entire youth out there with no work, no high school no college — it is a demographic Molotov cocktail.
Trump can act the law and order guy, while Democrats will virtue signal — like we LOVE your cause, but please stop the violence. Or patronizing — dividing good vs. bad protestors. As if by now the whole universe does not know that millions protesting politely never gets attention.
Then at some point if Democrats are seen as ineffective, the fear of violence may change the dynamic.
Trump is betting on violence not abetting and support for some sort of military style action will grow. He is just raising the stakes in Scorched Earth Twitter-land.
There you go, demented student uprisers in Hong Kong, funded by outsiders. There goes your special status that made Hong Kong one of the wealthiest locations in Asia. Was it worth it?
Or did those that encouraged them, promised to support their independence — just use them? They have become useless as a shining city on the hill — showing Chinese the charms and sweets of being Western darling. Their ridiculous property manipulation, rat race work conditions, and high rents — were anything but an example to emulate. So now, they will be useful as a battering ram at China’s gates.
It will be of no use — opium wars cannot be repeated. It may bring HK to earth and integration within bay area may bring finally some normalcy.
China saw what happened to Japan Inc.; an asset bubble pop in 1991. Then the nationalist Korean Chaebols met the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and were ‘reformed.’
Surely Chinese leaders realized, at some point they would be next.
That is the ONLY story in this whole litany of “China did it”. Not letting high finance inside the Chinese tent. They fenced it off by free-zone in Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Thus, some play allowed but no breaching the defense perimeters.
Every round of negotiations ended with the same demand — liberalize financial markets. China would buy our genetically modified soy, while using the soy Russia planted on thousands of acres along Amour river, on border with China. They even bought our fracking energy, or semiconductors to sweeten the deal, but not the smallest crack in financial fortress. South Korea and Japan had no choice, as they were American protectorates under security umbrella.
But, there is a piece of news in Asia Times — that China may not renew
gambling license for Sheldon Adelson’s Sands China. Decision due in a year. Now that would hurt Adelson’s business model that just like Epstein’s Fantasy Island has an objective of snagging some big shots with expensive habits. Trump’s election coffers would miss Adelson’s money.
Addelson’s license to print money not being renewed would be a surprise. Although he’s not exactly delivering nowadays, Addelson and his people don’t seem the type to mess with even if he’s really old now.
China must be having Opium Wars flashbacks; the original wars were fought for greater access to the Chinese interior for Opium.
The U.S. dollar is the new opium; money is very addictive to governments, especially sold as debt.