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Trump can certainly be forgiven for not comprehending the stupidly complicated Taiwan/China mess.
Trump understood the Taiwan/China mess. IMO, he purposely did the Tiawan phone call to retaliate against the Chinese.
A couple days before the Taiwan phone call, the Chinese government run newspaper published an article calling Trump naive about his tariff ideas. In the same article, China threatened to impose tariffs (or stop importing, I forgot what they said) US cars and iphones from America into China.
Just a couples days after that news article, Trump talks to Taiwan, in retaliation for the jab from China. Don't think for one second that Trump stupidly talked to Taiwan because he didn't understand protocol. He knew that it would upset the Chinese and this is the sole reason he did it.
Trump understood the Taiwan/China mess. IMO, he purposely did the Tiawan phone call to retaliate against the Chinese.
A couple days before the Taiwan phone call, the Chinese government run newspaper published an article calling Trump naive about his tariff ideas. In the same article, China threatened to impose tariffs (or stop importing, I forgot what they said) US cars and iphones from America into China.
Just a couples days after that news article, Trump talks to Taiwan, in retaliation for the jab from China. Don't think for one second that Trump stupidly talked to Taiwan because he didn't understand protocol. He knew that it would upset the Chinese and this is the sole reason he did it.
So we're beginning to see what a presidency of a thin-skinned egomaniac is going to look like. If you hurt Trump's feeling or say anything negative about him he will retaliate, no matter the consequences. All hail the Middle-Schooler-In-Chief. It's going to be a long, painful, dangerous four years.
Lol, I have seen Chinese workers in China (automotive sector), maybe they have an IQ of 106 but they behaved like having an IQ of something like 40. There was a task that had to be carried out carefully to check if engine components are finished well with a time limit of 60 seconds, and they did it in 3 seconds without actually doing any quality control, just looked inside and said "okay". So the company had to replace those workers with expensive expats.
I do not think that it is a big problem to find better locations for those factories. India, Philippines, Indonesia? Probably all having a better work and product ethics than China where fraud is something widely accepted.
Definitely you have not been to many developing countries.
And your fabricated story cannot generalize even if it is true.
My uncle has business in Africa. You will be surprised by the work ethics of local people. I don't blame them though, just different culture.
I expect that it'll play out a lot like it did when George W took office. Talking tough about China nets you votes in any given election. Americans are generally pretty scared of China.
George W didn't even begin to understand the complexities of the China/USA relationship when he took office. He made his fair share of tactless statements, blustered a good bit and things were looking bad. But then at some point all the bluster and pissing contest just stopped. George W Bush finished off with very good US/China relations.
Trump can certainly be forgiven for not comprehending the stupidly complicated Taiwan/China mess. Beijing and Taipei both claim to be the "real" government of China. We used to be on the completely delusional Taipei side of that dispute. Nixon changed everything by turning Communist China into an ally against the USSR. This turned Taiwan into a bizarre Twilight Zone-esque complicated diplomatic mess. As long as the government of Taiwan maintains its ridiculous claim to being "the real government of all of China" then everything is fine. If they give it up and just try to declare themselves an independent country, then China will throw a hissy-fit and threaten to nuke Taiwan into oblivion. Officially, the USA recognizes Taiwan as part of China. The USA can continue to be a military ally to the "renegade province of Formosa" but must avoid formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan or China will throw a hissy-fit. It's a game of keeping up appearances and denying the obvious reality. It's just weird. But it's the best balancing act for maintaining peace in Southeast Asia.
One can hardly fault any new POTUS for looking at all of that and saying, "Screw it! I'm just going to interact based on reality and not fantasy!"
We'll see how it all plays out.
A short history of China & Taiwan:
1912: Republic of China overthrows Qing Dynasty in Chinese mainland
1920s: Chinese Communist Party emerges as rival to the ruling Kuomintang (KMT)
1930: Civil war erupts between KMT & Communists
1931: Japan invades northern China
1937: Japan begins larger-scale invasion & occupation of China (Chinese civil war remains ongoing)
1945: Japanese surrender in WWII ends Japanese occupation of China--China takes control of Taiwan as part of Japan's surrender--China's government at this point is still the Republic of China
1949: Chinese communists win the Chinese Civil War, KMT flees to Taiwan & claims to be the rightful government of China--the Republic of China
1971: UN Resolution ousts the Republic of China from recognition as Chinese representative in favor of the People's Republic of China
1979: US gov't follows suit, recognizing PRC as China's legitimate government over the claims of Rep. of China (i.e., Taiwan)
Taiwan was under military dictatorship & one-party rule until the late 1980s. Taiwanese politics is now dominated by the question of independence or reunification. There is one set of parties that wants reunification, and another set that wants independence.
The US, for decades now, has been neutral on the issue of Taiwanese independence/reunification. US guidance is: 1) peaceful resolution, and 2) no unilateral change in status.
The current President of Taiwan generally supports the concept of independence, but is supportive of the status quo. It will be unfortunate if her position is undermined by the US abandoning trade leadership in Asia and undermining the status quo at the outset of a Trump Administration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mohawkx
If that's the case then why are we abandoning our Pacific Rim allies by scrapping TPP?
That's a good question. A really good one. I hope that the business lobby convinces Trump & Republicans to get on board.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sware2cod
Trump understood the Taiwan/China mess. IMO, he purposely did the Tiawan phone call to retaliate against the Chinese.
A couple days before the Taiwan phone call, the Chinese government run newspaper published an article calling Trump naive about his tariff ideas. In the same article, China threatened to impose tariffs (or stop importing, I forgot what they said) US cars and iphones from America into China.
Just a couples days after that news article, Trump talks to Taiwan, in retaliation for the jab from China. Don't think for one second that Trump stupidly talked to Taiwan because he didn't understand protocol. He knew that it would upset the Chinese and this is the sole reason he did it.
Trump is a naif in foreign affairs. If he were strategizing as you suppose, then we should all be concerned that he is willing to dangerously escalate tensions for no reason. The People's Republic of China will not move off of the status quo for nothing--certainly not because an inexperienced President has blundered his way into escalating tensions.
Trump understood the Taiwan/China mess. IMO, he purposely did the Tiawan phone call to retaliate against the Chinese.
A couple days before the Taiwan phone call, the Chinese government run newspaper published an article calling Trump naive about his tariff ideas. In the same article, China threatened to impose tariffs (or stop importing, I forgot what they said) US cars and iphones from America into China.
Just a couples days after that news article, Trump talks to Taiwan, in retaliation for the jab from China. Don't think for one second that Trump stupidly talked to Taiwan because he didn't understand protocol. He knew that it would upset the Chinese and this is the sole reason he did it.
This is what I have been reading too, he is so playing games,
not only with China but with all of us.
Trump is a tool , this totally smells
like something Bannon would dream up. That man
will be a big danger for US.
When Bill Clinton ticked off China by allowing the president of Taiwan to travel the US and give speeches - do you remember the Alt-Left mainstream media wringing their hands?
When Bill Clinton ticked off China by allowing the president of Taiwan to travel the US and give speeches - do you remember the Alt-Left mainstream media wringing their hands?
Jesus H. Christmas! Will you guys stand on your own two feet and defend or condemn the actions of your new leader, for once? It's always about what some democrat who did something a long time ago as your standard deflection. "Don't look at what Trump's doing now, remember what Clinton did 20 years ago. LOOk! a shiney object!"" How utterly stupid.
And don't dare mention the Bush2, Obama hand off. Bush handed Obama a completely shattered economy losing 800,000 jobs a month, the entire planet on the verge of bankruptcy from his fiscal policies and a steaming fetid plate of **** on the way out the door.
We can talk about how brilliant Trump's move is, but Taiwan issue should be on the bottom of priority list given that there are many other things to be settled with China -- And, there is nothing to be gained from the call.
What about signaling war with China? There many better ways to do that: one can start with 45% tariff on all Chinese imports, attack the artificial islands in SCS ... calling Taiwan isn't as good.
So when have we to get permission from China to accept phone calls?. Therein sums up the whole debacle in dealing with China and other nations for decades now. A weak kneed subservience that has left the Chinese either laughing at us or looking to see how much more they can take from the nation of eunuchs. Well in this case the palace eunuchs in the White House.
We should have no doubts about the one sided nature of trade agreements with China through the years. From devaluing their currency to flood western markets with their goods, to imposing tariffs on foreign goods to China. Is it any wonder their gdp growth is double if not triple our own.
Ironically, it may very well be China that will prove the common cause for the GOP and Dems to unite around. The wholesale theft of intellectual property by China along with unfair trade tariffs levied on US goods will be addressed. It will be in the Dems best interests to participate in making gains for US interests in China. They could be energized by seeing some success in the light of a dismal election showing.
As for the future. Look to see China more isolated as the leading power in Asia. Russia will no longer be the reliable ally to China as in the past. Japan is looking with interest and is anxious to curb Chinese power in the region. Not to mention India and Pakistan, all ripe for stronger alignment with US. China has had one helluva ride for many years now. Too good to be true in many ways. Did they really think it could possibly go on forever. China will learn that mistaking kindness for weakness in Western nations, along with a myopic vision was enough to put the brakes on the runaway Chinese train.
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