Isn't there negative wage growth in most of the western world for years?
Cold War against China?
- Thread starter VorZakone
- Start date
They don’t keep up with inflation. This article suggests they are falling.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...te-collar-workers-say-their-wages-are-falling
also if international investors don’t get access to funds after evergrande liquidation, watch more investors pull out from China as confidence dwindles.
The unemployment rate has been the same for years now. The China rate is lower than the longer term average of the US and better than the Europe. China wage growth is predicted to be 4%.
China is still a capitalist country so infinitely growing isn’t possible and of course economic crisis will happen at points(Any collapse would also destroy other economies in the world). But China has to be compared to other economies and currently it’s doing better.
Well yeah all these stats report from any other country could just bollocks. But the FT is probably the best paper out there when it comes to reporting what’s likly to be true.
Debt is the problem for China, but then again it is for the US too.
Agree about the FT, I read several papers online with a free library app, but it doesn't include the FT unfortunately. I used to grab them free off Virgin Trains but they've stopped, and I know you can google individual articles but it's a pain finding them.
That’s great. I use to something similar. Overall it’s one of the better ones. After the ICJ ruling the FT was one of the bigger papers to have it as it main story. It’s papers the capitalist class uses so the information has to go pretty on point for the most part.
Pacific Fleet chief Paparo on China’s big lesson from Ukraine: Win quickly
https://breakingdefense.com/2024/02...n-chinas-big-lesson-from-ukraine-win-quickly/
The narrative that China wants to 'build' for everyone to prosper (for them) is a bit funny. We are hearing more and more of it, although obviously it happens mainly because of the massive failure of America's foreign policies for decades.
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The main point that China is a manufacturing powerhouse is true. No one credible will deny that. But Arnaud Bertrand is pretty transparant in what he really wants to convey to you.
I am talking about the recent narratives that I am hearing about their intention - 'peace' and 'build' to prosper (for them). Countries like mine has seen it for decades.
Also, US defence spending as part of GDP was 3.1% in 2023. It's more than many others but hardly shocking. The US economy is just so big that 3.1% of the US economy dwarfs other countries' defence spending.
Figures for China vary, but one source says it may be 4% of GDP:
Figures for China vary, but one source says it may be 4% of GDP:
https://www.aei.org/op-eds/chinas-real-military-budget-is-far-bigger-than-it-looks/
Well, so far china only fecks around its own chinese population in some areas while US fecked around the world most of the XXth century and all XXIst. I am lucky that im from an allied US country. There is no country that china fecked like the US
Would china's dominance as hegemon be bad? Probably as hegemons never worked ok for others. Would be worse than US dominance for a great number of countries? Maybe but it would take a loooooot of feck around. So much that i doubt it
My point is that all superpowers will only look at their own interests, as you mentioned. People who keep repeating the narrative that they will do that with peace and not interfere with other countries are delusional. It does not mean the West or the US are better. Far from it.
The argument that China only fecks around its population is not accurate. They are not getting too much access to others yet, at least not for long. When they do, like in my country, the effects are hardly desirable. Burma has some of the longest (ongoing) civil wars in modern history, and the Chinese have a big hand in it. When some of their backed groups (who speak and use Chinese's languages) occupied an area, other ethical groups were oppressed and basically hounded off from the area. Those groups would protect their (Chinese's) interests, not Burmese's'. The Burmese Junta literally had to give up some of the country's areas to them in the last couple months for the very purpose of not being able to protect the "Chinese's interest" in freaking Burmese territories. It is essentially like what Putin is doing with Ukraine. Well, very similar.
Just to empathize with the peaceful way again, the Chinese actually pretty much fecked the current Burmese Junta in the last two months because it was trying to get in bed with Putin lately. Oh, and their forces were literally in the Burmese territories. In the 1970s, when the previous Burmese Junta tried to have a better relationship with the 'West', he was told to cut it out or Burma couldn't be friends with China by the Chinese. And let's look at the period when a civil government was ruling the country a few years ago. When Obama visited Burma, one of the Chinese-backed groups in the area was equipped and encouraged to attack the Burmese forces in areas where they had been relatively peaceful for a few years. It was open knowledge for everyone around them about who encouraged them to do so. The country has been under Chinese influence for a long time, and it is one of the poorest and most fecked-up countries in the world today. The only thing that multiplied in it was a bunch of Chinese coming in not giving a feck to the natives while taking everything valuable around.
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Yeah, surely china must feck around its area of influence and if they would be as powerful as US, they would increase its reach as US does. Simply cant yet. But that is just conjectures. US already did what it did. China will see it in a few decades.
Question, when i was in Shan state, suddenly a well armed militia started poruing a town and they did some military exercises in a buddist temple. Their clothes were shinny and everything looked brand new. I couldnt see the myanmar flag on it, but i font know if it is customary. After the drill most of them they enter to different houses in town. So they were locals. Thry were regular army? Or a faction for shan state? And if so, are those independentist armies backed by china or who?
Good question. That state has shitloads of armed militias, and so I really doubt I can say who based on what you described. If you were in North Eastern Shan State and they were well equipped, they were likely to be from those groups. Government or junta forces usually don't stay in houses in towns. There are a few militia groups in Southern Shan State that are mostly natural to every other group, including the government forces for now. All those groups just collaborate with either the Chinese or the Junta, selling stuff that came out of their lands and funding money for their equipment, which is mostly Chinese-made. Areas with better and more valuable stuff would be controlled by groups that had more influences from China, for obvious reasons. Everyone and their bosses, except ordinary people, there get rich. The Burmese side of the infamous 'Golden Triangle' area was /is controlled mostly by Chinese-backed groups. The previous and current junta stated that their force could not go there and do anything about it without fighting those groups to death whenever they got pressured from outside and they were afraid to deal with the Chinese if they had to fight those groups. The Chinese know but don't care as long as the heroin does not come into their land. Pretty much the same with fentanyl and methamphetamine stuff too.
I am not sure when you traveled there. It was like hell, especially in the north-eastern areas awhile ago. The Junta forces were using ammunition and fighters made by Russians to bomb whatever they saw, including villages, while the militias were trying to take them down with Chinese-made anti-air weapons, etc. It has calmed down a bit because the Chinese forced the Junta to withdraw their forces from those areas, and they had to because they kept getting their butts kicked. But if you are an ordinary citizen living there, you are at the mercy of everyone who has a weapon. If you are a visitor, you can be a spy for whatever side they accuse you of.
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You'd probably be posting in German if it wasn't for the US fecking around the world in the 20th century.
That's debatable, but it's also entirely irrelevant to his point. Being the clear good guys once doesn't excuse the entire Cold War. And that goes for the Soviets/Russians too. Besides, the US wasn't "fecking around" to get involved in WW2, they were dragged into it by the Japanese and then the Germans (stupidly).
The Chinese like to think that everything in the south CHINA sea is theirs. The Philippines and Vietnam among others have issues with that.
If China becomes the dominant force they will take and take as they see fit.
If China becomes the dominant force they will take and take as they see fit.
Succinctly accurate.
It was in 2019, I believe. everything looked fine. That event was South Shan as it was still officially open to tourist but I ended grabbing a train to Mytkyina that they told me it was off limits for tourist but I didn't feel restricted at all, so I don't know why they told me that when they didn't want to sell me a train ticket. It was always very normal in my opinion. But no white people there and neither in the south where I felt that I was more the attraction than me visiting pagodas. Even when I entered through the southern border crossing the river through the river, even not having all the documents as requested they allowed me to cross the border so it was a peaceful time. You have a beautiful country with great people. Sucks that you are caught with these power grabbers. At the same time, if one they everything is resolved and the country opens up, I fear it will become another over crowded touristy destination, but hopefully you will be able to manage it better than thailand. Maybe Buthan would be a good example how to do it
Oh that sentence, that I heard so many times that gives americans a bonner...No my friend. I would not be speaking in german because my country was a fascist state allied with nazi germany, Spain. And when the allies beat the germans, they didn't go and kicked out the fascist dictator in Spain as they wanted him in power as he did a coup against a left wing bordering communist with the help of nazi germany, fascist Italy but also thanks to US companies like Texaco, Ford and GM.
US and Europe didn't have any problem with nazism or facist ideology, quite the opposite with a segragated army
As someone said in maybe another thread, Europe and US didn't fight the Nazi Germany because they were the bad guys and anti semitic. They attack them to prevent an invasion and the loss of imperial brittish rule and eventually maybe northamerica. UK had plenty of nazi simpatizers among the elite, even with royalty. The same in US. US was racially segregated and the UK empire and France were plenty racists and consider their colonies as inferiors. It fitted perfecly fine with the nazi narrative. the WWII was a power struggle and not to be conquered by germany, specially Europe and for US, was also a german menace, historical ties with brits and a good business opportunity, not good boys against bad boys
Then holywood came and while in america they still segregated black people, made it look like fighting for freedom, free europe and the racist gemrans and "you probably be speaking in german if it would not be for us" bbbig bbbbbonner
They could have easily continued to trade with Japan and stayed entirely out of it and Japan would not have done Pearl Harbour.
When did I mention anything about ideology, the fact of the matter is, without US involvement, Germany & likely Japan win the war.
And you use that to invalidate my point that US fecked around the world most of the XXth and XXIst And instead of german, I speak english. I wonder why
The US has done a lot of awful things, but on balance I'd still say it is still a better world with the US than without.
Without the US holding Russia & China in check, everything will be way worse than it is now.
It's all very well living in current day western Europe where a lot of human rights are taken for granted.
Thats am hypotetical. The US had been the biggest evil nation of the last 80 years, another one would be worse? Maybe, we will never know
The only ones that are benefitting from US are themselves and allies. Other countries are worse off including human right violationa like now in palestine or befor in iraq and afghanistan...and for many years latinamerica
That is simply not true, even if you ignore the smaller countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh or Rwanda with genoicides and ethnic clensing.
Russia (USSR) under Stalin & China under Mao were both infinitely worse than anything the US has ever done in its entire history.
No is not. Us directly and indirectly killed more and made suffer more even nowadays. Cuba blockade is criminal, Israel support is criminal, SA Appartheid support is criminal,Latinamerican dictatorships and propping up drug cartels is criminal, segregation is criminal. Ignoring the deaths, in the millions there is all the misery that US caused
By he way, US dropped more bombs in Laos and Cambodia during the Indochinese wars than all the WWII causing later on the raise of the Pol pots regime causing all those deaths. US caused instability in many regions being directly or indirectly the responsible of what happened there. Others call it geopolitics
And this is Cold War china and I don't want to derail it more
What about what Russia (USSR) or China has done, they have also propped up puppet regimes to serve their own agenda and killed far more people (including their own citizens) than the US ever did.
For all that miitary might, the US has not gone about threatening to invade or invading their neighbours.
I'm certain the US is not going to start WWIII, China are by far the likeliest, followed by Russia.
Anyway, as you said, this thread is about China, let's agree to disagree.
That was a good time to visit the country.
Thanks. People are still raw there and just want to have some opportunity to improve their lives, just like everyone else. It is hard to do it when every top military leader there thinks it is their destiny to rule the country in an ultranationalist way (while enriching themselves and their cronies while destroying the country along the way) and civilians are way beneath them.
Yikes...would be true what they had been saying that something will happen on 2027-28? can't the world take a break?
Often there are 2 camps on this. One camp says this is just propaganda for domestic consumption. The other camp says they really mean this.
I don't know where I sit. There is a lot of smoke but maybe China will tolerate the status quo for many more decades.
But emperor Xi won't, it's all about his personal legacy!
He is also 70 years old. Does he want Taiwan before he gets to 75?
There are also rumors that he is fighting pancreatic cancer. We all know how quick that kind of disease is when it strikes someone.