Frank wrote on Apr 29
th, 2021 at 12:45pm:
Where do you see China’s weak spots that could cause substantial problems for their future?
China has a set of weak spots. First, they’ve got a very rapidly aging population. Like all countries with aging populations, they need to export capital and employ young people and other countries to pay for the pensions of their own people. Germany does this, too. That’s part of the motivation for China’s strategy. They will have an enormous burden supporting the aged in the future. They’re hoping to deal with that through automation, through more efficient health care.
Their biggest problem is the ambitions of their young people. The Chinese created a generation of which 10 million people each year take the gaokao (university) exam. A third of them study engineering. They expect opportunities.
If China loses its edge in technology, if they fall behind the West, if the Communist Party is seen to have failed in competing with the West, I think that will be a significant threat to its power.
You can’t effect that by complaining about human rights in China. China’s violation of human rights is repugnant to us. Of course, we will complain. But that doesn’t really do anything. The Chinese only respect power, and our power is in innovation. If we show that we can out-innovate the Chinese and leave them behind in critical sectors of technology, I think that will undermine the credibility of the present government.
This article, originally published by Switzerland’s Weltwoche, is reprinted with thanks.
https://asiatimes.com/2019/10/you-can-never-be-chinas-friend-spengler/
the crux of the matter.
and technology has sidelined this issue.
when henry ford was making cars, the chinese would have needed spies to break in at night and steal the blueprints, or they would have needed to turn some engineers as treachorous assets to pass on intel.
these problems no longer exist.
a brilliant guy like Musk develops the tesla and the chinese just buy one and 24 hours later they have reverse engineered it and are making a knock off version for 1/10 the cost .
innovation wont help you in 2021.
not if your competitor does not recognise IP
the irony is that these electric vehicles being made in china will cost about 5,500 and are going to be sold in the states under the GM label

"we dont make anything anymore" said the mighty donald.....as per usual , his gut instinct was correct.
but that wont stop lazy chodes in the USA snapping these babies up and letting tesla wither on the vine