China examines antitrust probe thrust into Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron: Claims to see 'massive evidence'

Re: Almost comical or maybe ironic.

(In reaction to USA) who's been stealing IP for a long time and undercutting everyone's prices.

USA who pirated massive amounts of products. Now they're upset over someone doing (allegedly) engaging in unfair trade practices. Color me shocked.

=>(History on how the US kickstarted a massive state of the art manufacture capacity by ignoring EU patents at the time is a very refreshing reading for any upset IP afficionado)

Re: War or Commerce?

Unfortunately, all previous US administrations have taken your approach – i.e. just let China get away with whatever it wants in terms of predatory trade practices and IP theft. This has gone on so long that any corrective measures will be seen as ‘belligerent’.

You may well believe that standing up for your own manufacturers is crass, and the Chinese certainly believed that the US approach was doomed to fail (as no previous administration has had what it takes to stand up to them for long) but it is having massive repercussions in China, including rumblings from senior party members against Xi (not something that is usually tolerated). The trade imbalance is such that the tariffs 'tit-for-tat' affects China far more than the US and with Chinese growth having slowed to its lowest for 20 years, they are starting to be a lot more conciliatory than they have ever been before.

Re: War or Commerce?

From Nixon and until Trump, the US policy on China has been about engagement. US universities are awash with Chinese students - have you reviewed the doctoral science programs at CalTech? The current Chinese president was educated in the mid-west and got his mercantile experience selling agricultural hardware there.

In that time, thanks largely due to the US accommodating massively lop sided trade with China, the middle kingdom has begun to lift itself out of self-inflicted poverty. Good for them. But not so good for US citizens. Sure, they get cheaper products but have lost or have never invested industries that employ millions. Great for those living in cities and greater metro areas. Not so good for the vast numbers living in actual poverty in rural USA. And US voting patterns bear this out.

There is no easy solution. But just spouting sentiments like let's go easy on the Chinese is not a solution either. It's virtue signalling to like minded people who also live in big cities.

I recommend you read "From third world to first" by Lee Kuan Yew, one of the founders of modern Singapore. Although written nearly 20 years ago its still worth the effort. Ethnically chinese (Fujian province) he recounts many meetings with Chinese leaders over his four decades as prime minister and from these explains why it is that he believes China cannot be trusted to be a good international citizen. Again, this is not some western academic. It is someone who grew up in south east asia and who watched China implode under Mao Zedong then begin to claw its way back. He repeatedly points to the cultural Confusianism of the Chinese and the likely effect of that culture on the way China will develop.

So far, his predictions have been on the money. If they continue to be correct, they don't describe a pretty outcome for the US or the west in general or south east asia in particular.

Re: War or Commerce?

"I'd love to see a US administration that realizes that the way to deal with the Chinese isn't by bluster and bombast but by spending money on education rather than overseas bases to "contain Chinese power". "

That would require a government capable of thinking more longer term than the start of the next election campaign and a guarantee that any incoming President isn't going to deliberately and systematically undo everything his predecessor did.

Re: Business is war

Clausewitz is better, just doesn't have the "exotic" factor.

One of his less famous quotes is "Politics is the womb in which war develops." It's a depressing prospect.