7 comments

[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 39.3 ms ] thread
A bit biased here because I helped start a company that got badly burned by the Chinese government to the point where we ended up shutting down.

That said, IDGAF if it's a weapon for China or not. They don't allow our companies to operate there, so we need to reply in kind. They aren't a developing nation anymore, so no need to handle trade with kid gloves.

This 100% — I don’t get why it doesn’t come up in discussions more. Personally, I think the US should offer an ultimatum: allow American apps access to the Chinese market, or face a full ban of all Chinese apps in the American market.
Trade wars can have cataclysmically bad outcomes, historically speaking. Numerous wars, the Great Depression. It's a bad idea.
If this is a trade war, it's not one of physical goods. I don't think it's an apples to apples comparison. Most software is just unnecessary.
What if your read on what TikTok "is" is massively incorrect?
What about it is incorrect?

All I stated was that there's no reason for the issue of trade with China to be treated with kid gloves. That made sense 25-30 years ago when a vast majority of China was still in poverty and clearly still a developing country.

Now, China has several billionaires, globally-recognized companies, a growing military footprint, some of the top academic institutions on the planet, a billion+ people lifted out of poverty, etc. It's economy has the ability to stand on its own feet without the support of the USA.

China can play the protectionist card all they want to, but when they claim that their goal is to surpass the USA and EU , then both the US and EU need to play the same card in their backyard, too.

Every company in China is ultimately subject to direct government control.

Don't take my word for it, just ask Jack Ma --- if you can find him.