China rose to prominence making shitty consumer goods for pennies on the dollar. I don't see any reason that any number of third world shithole countries couldn't replace them by doing the same thing.
We could both reduce our dependence on China and strengthen our ties to their neighbors by encouraging/providing technical assistance/subsidizing the development of manufacturing industry in places like Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, etc.
Hell, it may be as simple as tariffing the shit out of goods from China and providing tax breaks for importing goods from those other countries. If you disincentivize companies from doing business with China and incentivize them to produce their goods elsewhere, they will do it.
The remaining shithole countries are still in China's sphere of influence. If the US ever goes full retard like it did with Russia, China will at minimum demand tribute for safe passage, or let totally-not-state-sanctioned pirates take from cargo ships headed for the West.
Thailand and the Philippines are historic US allies, and I read that even Vietnam is starting to get tired of China's shit. One of the surest ways to piss off your neighbors is to claim control over their territorial waters.
With economic ties come military alliances. One of China's boogeymen is being ringed with adversary countries allied with the US. Let's make that happen.
Right now they bully countries like the Philippines because they know they can get away with it. I think the closest analogy to 2024 China is 1930s Germany.
They're testing the waters to see what they can get away with and we need to smack that shit down hard. Yes they have a very large military, but it's completely untested. Their last real war was with Vietnam in 1979 and they didn't do so hot. After watching Russia fumble in Ukraine they're bound to be second-guessing their readiness to take on Western powers
Who said anything about the military? You're seriously going to send the full might of the US Navy just to stop some pirates stealing your Nikes and Funko Pops?
You did when you said that China would simply board other countries vessels or use fake pirates to steal from them if pivoted trade away from them.
Containing China requires exercising all the instruments of power. Western dependence on China for trade is our weakness, but it's also the only thing that prevents them from being treated like a pariah State like North Korea. Increased economic ties come with increased military cooperation and usually security guarantees.
Nikes and Funko Pops?
The South China Sea is one of the world's major fisheries and trade routes. I'm sure you understand that the struggle for dominance in the Pacific isn't about trash toys.
That's a good idea, as long as we are all on board with starting an explicit trade war against China. It's worth noting that lots of companies have moved plants to Mexico and South Africa, but found that the workers are often too lazy or dumb for even basic manufacturing tasks like assembling TVs. In one case most of the workers insisted on smoking weed on the clock.
I'd rather hire Americans but hopefully the brown Asians are manageable and still cheap.
China rose to prominence making shitty consumer goods for pennies on the dollar. I don't see any reason that any number of third world shithole countries couldn't replace them by doing the same thing.
We could both reduce our dependence on China and strengthen our ties to their neighbors by encouraging/providing technical assistance/subsidizing the development of manufacturing industry in places like Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, etc.
Hell, it may be as simple as tariffing the shit out of goods from China and providing tax breaks for importing goods from those other countries. If you disincentivize companies from doing business with China and incentivize them to produce their goods elsewhere, they will do it.
The remaining shithole countries are still in China's sphere of influence. If the US ever goes full retard like it did with Russia, China will at minimum demand tribute for safe passage, or let totally-not-state-sanctioned pirates take from cargo ships headed for the West.
Thailand and the Philippines are historic US allies, and I read that even Vietnam is starting to get tired of China's shit. One of the surest ways to piss off your neighbors is to claim control over their territorial waters.
With economic ties come military alliances. One of China's boogeymen is being ringed with adversary countries allied with the US. Let's make that happen.
Right now they bully countries like the Philippines because they know they can get away with it. I think the closest analogy to 2024 China is 1930s Germany.
They're testing the waters to see what they can get away with and we need to smack that shit down hard. Yes they have a very large military, but it's completely untested. Their last real war was with Vietnam in 1979 and they didn't do so hot. After watching Russia fumble in Ukraine they're bound to be second-guessing their readiness to take on Western powers
Who said anything about the military? You're seriously going to send the full might of the US Navy just to stop some pirates stealing your Nikes and Funko Pops?
You did when you said that China would simply board other countries vessels or use fake pirates to steal from them if pivoted trade away from them.
Containing China requires exercising all the instruments of power. Western dependence on China for trade is our weakness, but it's also the only thing that prevents them from being treated like a pariah State like North Korea. Increased economic ties come with increased military cooperation and usually security guarantees.
The South China Sea is one of the world's major fisheries and trade routes. I'm sure you understand that the struggle for dominance in the Pacific isn't about trash toys.
That's a good idea, as long as we are all on board with starting an explicit trade war against China. It's worth noting that lots of companies have moved plants to Mexico and South Africa, but found that the workers are often too lazy or dumb for even basic manufacturing tasks like assembling TVs. In one case most of the workers insisted on smoking weed on the clock.
I'd rather hire Americans but hopefully the brown Asians are manageable and still cheap.