NorthOfNorth wrote on Mar 24^th, 2021 at 12:15pm:


It does not matter if it is enslavement and or oppression.  As long as it is more efficient, then it will eventually out compete our system.   And that is the problem.

But North, from what I have read, our government is doing the exact opposite.  Yes, we had being talking about diversification.  However just recently, our government have lodged a formal complain at the world trade organization, for purpose of resume trade relationship with China.  This is even supported by the recent US delegation to Alaska. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-20/us-has-our-back-says-trade-minister-dan-tehan-on-china-relations/100019392

Quote:


Noted the words 'fix' and 'resolve'.

Quote:


But what if the western democracies are not sustainable?  As you know, the US and much of Western Europe are facing dire debt crisis.   We pretty much quantitatively eased ourselves out of immediate trouble and kicked the can down the road.  Quantitative easing.. basically printing money to shore up our financial system by buying bonds and shares are not sustainable in the long run.  US national debt is now 28 trillion, some $85000 for every man woman and child.  And in Australia, we are having issues of our own, with run away real estate prices, and historic levels of private debts.  Yes, you can elect to change our government, but it is not going to pay back our debt, or unprint the money we printed.

I can see that both systems are completely unsustainable.  The question is.. which one is likely to fall first? 

its almost certain china has infiltrated most western society infrastructure grids.

you will do what you are told or you will be without electricity for 3 months.

now, i would be ok with that, i have plenty of fresh water, food and generators.

but your average urban chode who hides under the bed when confronted with the sniffles doesnt strike me as 'resilient"

no power =  no running water, no sewerage treatment, no fridge, no stove, no petrol, no food distribution.

it will be interesting watching all those urban chodes behave like "teenage brats" as you seem to label the chinese.  i think the west will do exactly what they are told.

maybe you could have stopped china 20 years ago.

but the fat chodes liked their cheap consumer goods too much.

now you have no hope of stopping them .

who is going to stop them

scomo?

he's too busy dealing with staff members who cant keep their dick in their pants and then having a little sob

the americans?

they seem too busy crying and washing black mens feet.

I certainly wish that I share your optimism as well.  However, we had been fed news from biased sources mostly.  The reality is that China has cement itself as the second largest economy in the world.  In our region, they are either the 1st or the 2nd biggest trading partner with any country around us.   The belt and road initiative has sure up its supply routes to and from Central Asia, Africa, and South America.   The purchase of Port of Darwin and the Belt and Road initiative with Victoria was in attempt to build two massive shipping lines connecting South East Asia, Australia and South America.   As soon as Mr Trump dissolved TPP, they moved into the pacific region to fill the void.  So to say that they lacked diplomacy, is like shooting ourselves in the feet before a bullet is even fired.

tickleandrose wrote on Mar 24^th, 2021 at 2:11pm:

Yes... A friend brought a few back from mainland China a few years back (cheap)... Lasted about 6 months.

tickleandrose wrote on Mar 24^th, 2021 at 2:08pm:

Debt trapping small nations is not diplomacy.

You'll find that 'cement' you're relying on is sand (like much of the construction in China).

Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, few in the west had any idea how dire things were. Even Gorbachev was shocked at the state of the nation after he became general secretary. Even he had no idea things were as bad as they were as he rose to the top.

He implemented glasnost and perestroika (openness and restructure) in the naive belief that totalitarian communism was reformable. It wasn't.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Mar 24^th, 2021 at 2:20pm:


Of course it is debt deplomacy, and they have learned from the best - The West.   

Case study Sri Lanka - the poster boy for News corp on China's debt trap diplomacy. 

The conventional account is that China lent money to Sri Lanka to build the port, knowing that Colombo would experience debt distress and Beijing could then seize it in exchange for debt relief, permitting its use by China’s navy.

This narrative is simply incorrect. The project was proposed by former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, not Beijing, as part of his government’s corrupt and unsustainable development program. It quickly became a “white elephant”, however, creating vast surplus capacity and adding to Sri Lanka’s financial woes. Sri Lanka’s debt distress arose not from Chinese lending, but from excessive borrowing on Western-dominated capital markets.

So in brief, the debt problem of Sri Lanka started a long time ago, and mostly excessive borrowing from Western capital markets, who was also trying to lure it into its 'diplomatic' wing.  However, the Chinese got there at the right time, and the right place. 

NorthOfNorth wrote on Mar 24^th, 2021 at 2:40pm:


This is nothing new.  The Chinese used it for many centuries, and the Western worlds did to each other as well.   This is how the world functioned.

The Chinese are just learning from the best.... the IMF  

Check this article out:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/27/imf-economics-inequality-trump-ecuador