I have this expat friend in China who does a lot of international business and lived in China for many years. He says the problem with China is that the stories are so absurd that no one believes them. Like no that really happens(ed). I mention that because too many people 1/n
Still think of this as a trade war. Too many people think that we just need some better negotiators and we'll be singing kumbaya in no time. Too many people think of this economic competition between great powers. Do each of those and others matter? Sure probably. 2/n
The heart of the matter however is profoundly simple: the CCP is a bad institution and they want to do bad things to people and countries. End of story. Most people simply do not get this simple truth and do not get how the dominates every discussion. Pick any Chinese 3/n
company of any size in the US, Chinese companies are allowed to expand international by the CCP with a strategic purpose and state directed funds. If I can't link them to very dubious behavior off the top of my head, I can do it with minimal research. Think of any AI company. 4/n
Their revenue overwhelmingly comes from things like facial recognition and crowd control type programming for Xinjiang prisons and the PSB. I could go on and on for other industries. It's easier than playing Kevin Bacon once you're any good. It's not irrational to say 5/n
Chinese companies that engage in this behavior should not be allowed to trade with US companies. It's not crazy to ask why Chinese companies are buying Grindr. You wouldn't let Trump buy a gay dating app so why are we letting the CCP? China is not a bigger meaner version 6/n
of Canada that we need to just negotiate better. They are an expansionist authoritarian state that wants to expand its model of governance and norms to other states and you better decide which type of world you want to live in. A liberal open democracy or Chinese authoritarian.
