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Who is the Greater Threat: Russia or China ?
In Europe, we also have had the ‘pleasure’ of hearing about President Trump’s two-hour meeting with Putin, and the subsequent press conference. We have also heard about his advice to UK Prime Minister Theresa May to “just sue the EU,” and that garnered a few laughs, especially here in Switzerland. We have our own problems with the European Union.
But, here is my humble question: Shouldn’t China’s behavior be getting more of the media’s attention than Russia?
If you start to look at some of the information made public from only the last twelve months or so, then you can only come to one conclusion: The number of serious challenges to Western Civilization and its democratic allies is probably a hundred times greater from the People’s Republic of China than from Russia.
Take a piece of paper, and quickly jot down current issues dealing with China. No doubt you will list “huge trade imbalance” near the top. Keep writing. Personally, after about fifteen minutes, I came to this conclusion: The trade imbalance is a mere manifestation of a very large number of issues and causes. China has destroyed much of our industrial base and is now eating our lunch.
Consider just these points, and they are by no means exhaustive:
- The original assumption in allowing China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 was that it would lead to their smooth and peaceful integration into the global trading system, and thereby cause their democratization. False assumption. Also false: the assumption they would follow WTO rules, e.g., about currency manipulation and worker human rights. In fact, China is in violation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rules.
- The Chinese population is sealed off from the rest of the Internet by a censorship apparatus that is the most sophisticated the world has ever seen. About 800 million Internet users are in China, except they really are using more of a China Intranet.
- Facial recognition technology is becoming a key method to control who is meeting with whom, where and when in China. These are communists. Remember?
- Technologies, both military and civilian, of our latest aircraft, shipping and communications systems have been and are continuously compromised and used to shorten the time for the Chinese to build the same equipment faster and at far less cost. The fact that the US has 300,000 Chinese students in the USA, many earning technology degrees and then going to work for large US firms, is very likely a contributor to the problem.
- Take a look at the artificial islands China has built in the South China Sea, in spite of the International Court of Justice ruling in July 2016; now these seven islands are armed with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and the Chinese have declared others must seek their permission to fly near the islands. All of this is in violation of international law.
- China’s “New Silk Road” will become an advanced mercantile system of Chinese-controlled roads and seaports between China and Europe, the Americas and Africa…all to make the future purchase of Chinese manufactured goods ever more advantageous than those from other industrialized countries.
- China is the largest manufacturer in the world of synthetic opioids, like several versions of fentanyl. These chemicals have killed about 64,000 Americans in 2017 resulting from 142,000 overdoses. Most come through the mail from China and pass over the US-Mexican border. Should this be considered an Act of War?
- Chinese prisoners are producing goods exported to the USA and Europe: their use of slave labor is highly problematic.
- Chinese citizens, working, living and marrying in factories, including with their children who go to factory schools, produce many of the common household articles you buy every day. Example: Eüpa Factory City in Shenzhen.
- Human organ harvesting appears alive and well in China. Prisoners are often involved.
- China has a number of ways it secretly supports North Korea, including factories in China across “Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge” from Sinuiju. North Korean workers make products, e.g., for the NFL, stamped “Made in China”.
So now, look at what Russia is engaged in: Meddling in US and others’ elections, including spreading disinformation via social media. Bad, and it must be countered, perhaps in kind until Vladimir gets the point. Then there is the Crimea and issues with Ukraine. There is a potential threat, as yet unrealized, to the Baltic states.
But, who is a greater short and long-term threat to our Western civilization and our allies: China or Russia?
Published in Foreign Policy
Actually China has become much less dependent on the US over the past decade. Their exports to the rest of Asia now dwarf exports to the US (and, for that matter, are now greater than to the US + Europe). And, as to Europe, the EU, in response to Trump’s tariff war on it, has just negotiated a closer trade agreement with China.
I, of course, profess no real knowledge of the situation but would assume that, by their own definition of spy and their own not-to-be-shared accounting of the actual staffing levels, 350K would be a substantial cut to current levels. But I could be wrong…
Russia wants to be a superpower. China wants to be the superpower.
Could not open your link but I know from personal experience that this is happening. Also have heard that many of the women (girls really) who eventually escape these “marriages” are used as little more than “baby ovens” and domestic slaves. I’m led to believe that the majority of the women who return to the countries of their birth are crushed by the fact that they had to leave their children in China.
Don’t hear the feminists talking much about this either.
So sorry. It appears to be working for me. It is a pdf of a scholarly paper, written by:
Quanbao Jiang, Institute for Population and Development Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University (China) Ying Li, Institute for Population and Development Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University (China) Jesús J. Sánchez-Barricarte, Carlos III University of Madrid (Spain) This work is jointly supported by the Project of National Social Science Foundation of China, and the 985-3 Project of Xi’an Jiaotong University. This work has been also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Why would China want or care about money in the long term? They’re communists. Isn’t it enough to acquire the means of production, the best technology, and to cripple any competition (preferably just by the capitalist running dogs being themselves and eating their own seed)?
China is devoting considerable efforts–largely successful efforts–to influence the content of American movies and the politically-related behavior of American corporations. I wrote about this subject here:
So, Really Want to Talk About Foreign Intervention?
Germany’s biggest trading partner in 1914: France.
Germany’s biggest trading partner in 1939: France.
Japan got most of their iron and steel and 80% of their oil from the US before WWII.
“Making too much money” has seldom been a deterrent, especially if the aggressive country decides that they can get a better deal by owning the resource in question.
But they’re not, really, whatever they call themselves. Their actual economic system is Corporatism or Economic Fascism.
Could be. I don’t think it changes my point that they don’t need our money. They need the means of production, the knowledge, the capital, the resources, the access. They don’t need consumers hanging on.
They do. Continuing the remarkable economic growth and explosion of the Chinese middle class of the past 30 years is important to maintaining their legitimacy. Thinking about this as Soviet style communism or anything related to actual Marxist theory takes you in a wrong direction in analyzing the situation.
The number of Chinese nationals in the US is only going to increase. My good friends in Irvine, CA, live in a very nice neighborhood and at least 3 of the homes in just their small neighborhood are places where Chinese mothers come to bear children – at the expense of our tax dollars by the way. There are many, many more such homes throughout CA, each one housing at least 10-15 expectant mothers. This goes on, no doubt, in other states as well. Friends who are nurses find these women to be very difficult, rudely demanding this, demanding that.
The children of course have US citizenship status and therefore have access to welfare benefits, etc. They do return to China and when the kids are old enough, they return to go to college here (at in-state rates as they have addresses set up for them). After the kids are established, then because of chain migration laws, the rest of the family follows.
Multiply these homes across the country and the potential number of Chinese here in the US will begin to increase exponentially.
My friends and their neighbors have reported these goings on to no avail. CA officials (in whatever sector of gov’t) don’t seem to care, or more troubling, are abetting those who have come here to bear children.
One needs to question what the Chinese government’s end game really is in this instance. We know that obtaining a passport and travel visa does not go unnoticed by Chinese officials…
One major reason for the media focus on Russia as opposed to China is that it fits the political interests (at the moment) of the Democratic Party and its media supporter…note that there has been far less interest in Russian attempts to manipulate opinion concerning fracking and GMOs, as discussed in one of the links to the blog post I linked a couple of comments up.
Another reason, though, is the nature of the kind of people who tend to work for the news media. They have a strong propensity to want to talk about whatever all the others of their kind are already talking about,
Yep, and not only the Chinese. I think that the ‘anchor baby’ is a threat to our national security. I know that many (Ricochet members) – probably most people do not.
There is an alternative explanation. Many middle and upper class Chinese are worried about the direction of that country’s government, and concerned about society stability, and are trying to protect their families and well-being for the long term. Many are preparing escape routes, whether by the route you mention or by directly seeking citizenship elsewhere. The US is not the only country seeing this phenomenon.
It’s telling that the same January 2017 intelligence analysis that started the furor over alleged Russian election interference in favor of Trump also stated, without equivocation, that the Kremlin supported anti-fracking movements in the U.S., as well as Occupy Wall Street. I never saw any media coverage of the latter points.
This of course is possible. But how are these people obtaining passports and visas without the knowledge of Chinese officials? Why would the gov’t let them do this if their reasons are gov’t direction and society stability. Certainly the gov’t doesn’t want to advertise problems.
My impression is that the ‘middle class’ in China is not growing at a rate anywhere near like one would expect.
Am not in the least bit surprised. At he risk of being called racist (again), I find the Chinese to be simply the most rude people on Earth. Perhaps it has something to do with their society or that not enough men there are getting ‘any action.’
I’m not speculating about this being in the reason, at least in some cases – I have direct knowledge. They already have passports and the visas they need are from the countries they are going to. There are many possible explanations, including the government seeing this as a safety valve, or a way to get rid of troublesome people. Unlike the old Soviet Union, it is comparatively easy for Chinese citizens to travel abroad. However, it would not surprise me to eventually see the Chinese government try to step in an interfere with this giving Xi’s increasingly authoritarian bent.
I’m not sure what one would expect, but the improvement in material well-being for hundreds of millions between the 1980s and today is dramatic. However, the sheer numbers involved, along with the demographic time bomb (the average age China’s population is rapidly getting older because of the one-child policy) makes it impossible to predict future trends.
I would expect a bigger ‘bulge’ in the middle but (obviously) I am not a college educated economist.
I have read that ~30 million Chinese are living in caves. The wealth does not seem to ‘trickle’ there like it does in the US.
Those 30 million could become a problem for the Chinese leadership at some point. I’m hoping and betting that it will.
Nevertheless, in the long run China is the greater threat.
Does that explain the crappy movies being made today??