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Short thread on why I generally differ from think tanks and other people focused on China. I've been reading a bunch of US think tank pieces and seen stuff today about what the US needs to and in many ways it is not crazy recommendations but is really irrelevant. Here's why 1/n
Fundamentally, it is about the US needs to do more such as get allies. Whether it is diplomatic outreach or increased financial aid to emerging markets. Simply because it is the right thing to do, I fully agree with that. Also fundamentally, this criticism is nothing more 2/n
than I hate Trump. It's a reason to rant about Trump. Here is where this line of thinking jumps the rails. It doesn't matter. It won't change anything. At all. AT ALL. Period. Full. Stop. Start from the China side. I can just imagine the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing 3/n
"President Trump got his picture taken with the Prime Minister of Portugal. We should take down the Great Firewall." Nor is this really going to change anything on the allied country side. Take the UK as an example. UK Huawei oversight board basically wrote a report 4/n
that said "Huawei 'security' is face palming disaster, they aren't even trying, haven't fixed anything we told them to for the past decade, and we take no responsibility for any decision you politicians make." Yet somehow, Trump being nice to Meghan Markle will change it all 5/n
At the end of the day, the baffling poor analysis and understanding come from the view point of what so many people want China to be rather than what China is. I keep seeing phrases like "resetting" or "fixing" or "going back" to the US-China relationship of old was but 6/n
this again is nothing more than disguised way of blaming Trump rather than taking a good hard look at what China unapologetically wants and stands for. Go to any BRI country and you will find rampant corruption among the ruling elite. Malaysia, Sri Lanka, African countries 7/n
Why the US needs to give a sales job to Muslim countries why they shouldn't support Beijing right now is beyond me. If you can't rub two brain cells together to figure this one out, I'm moving on. Huawei was built on massive IP theft as a front company for the PLA. 8/n
We know this. Just look a little bit. The only question was why Obama people, who now work for HW and DC think tanks loudly criticizing Trump measures, did nothing. I wish for nothing but unicorns that crap rainbows and burp cotton candy but that is simply not the reality 9/n
For once, just once, try focusing on the reality of what you have before you rather than what you want to deal with. I get not liking this reality, but this is reality you have. Choose wisely.
