Firstly, Chinese companies/celebrities can and do say whatever they want about Trump, because they say it in Chinese, and Trump - nor anyone else in the West - is going to pay any attention to it. That's the problem that English-speaking countries have. Everything they say is understandable to everyone. So it's wide open for criticism. What is said in China though, largely stays in China, and this is partly why their propaganda is so effective.
Naw. Sorry, but that's BS. There are Chinese people all over the world. Go to the smallest weirdest town in either of our countries, and I bet there's still going to be a Chinese takeout place. Also, Chinese people also speak and write English like everyone else so if they want to say something they can and do. South Morning China Post for example, is published in English and easily available online. No one is out there like "Trump's a dick!" *teehee* they can't understand me!
China's propaganda works in China because they're born to it, because they control the press and social media, and because obviously you can't actually say what you want against China. Especially if you are a celebrity.
China's propaganda doesn't work outside China because well, we know what's up. I don't think that many people in the US or UK have a very positive view of Chinese government. No one is really bamboozled by them and like cutting them slack that they don't give other countries. If anything it's the opposite. Tibet has been a pet cause of Hollywood for years.
Falun Gong was tremendously successful at putting propaganda fake news on social media. So much so that Facebook had to shut them down. And they're dissidents. Imagine what China can do (and does, but we're just finding out about it). I mean no one actually DOES anything about it, because well... that's just politics. There's a million injustices like that.
Secondly, whether Trump is fighting his trade war for moral reasons (which I agree, is unlikely), or for economic ones, the fact is he is trying to restrain China from simply doing as they want. And no one else will.
No, he's not. The best way to restrain China would have been to join the TPP, but Trump pulled out of that. Trump is fighting his trade war because he has some alt-right racists in his ear telling him what to do and because he sees something in it for him. So far, he's mostly making preposterous demands that China can't meet and wouldn't even help us if they could.
I'm not a fan of Trump. He's a knob. But I know some intelligent (and non-white) Americans who support him. They're not racist, and it isn't right to label everyone that disagrees with you as racist. You have to be wary of over-zealous liberals, because they are part of the problem too.
But they are racist, sadly. They're not racist because I disagree with them. I disagree with them because they support a racist person who says racist things, employs racist advisors, and is backed by racists, and enacts racist policies, while propagating racist propoganda... which makes them racist. Knowingly or unknowingly or directly or indirectly.
And, by the way. The Chinese are far, far more more xenophobic/racist than the Americans.
Never said they weren't. It's a huge problem there. I'm fully aware of that. Honestly, they're kind of assholes in general. It's a byproduct of being in a closed society with a corrupt government which fosters an every person for themselves mentality. When people are uneducated or worse intentionally miseducated and you lack basic rights or legit means of earning a healthy living, bad stuff happens.
In contrast America is one of the least racist places in the world. Which is actually a little depressing since it is still kind of racist. Like, this is the best we can do?
But China is only going to grow more powerful.
Well yeah. Because China has a population of 1.4 billion, and tons of land rich in various natural resources. We're like a quarter of that population. And you are like a quarter of our population. It's kind of messed up that either of our nations have as much power as we do. And it's probably fair to say we didn't get to where we are by being nice guys and treating everyone fairly.
This is the problem with Trump's worldview. He's all hung up on trade deficits and who has the larger economy. One of the reasons why China is getting more powerful is precisely because they're participating more in the global market, have opened up trade, and de-centralized their markets to some small degree. Twenty years ago, it would be crazy to suggest that Southampton would have a Chinese owner.
They still have a loooooong way to go, but actually that's what's keeping us ahead still. Once you open things up and allow resources to flow, things to tend to even up. It's pretty hard to maintain a GDP per capita four times that of another country on the open market, which is what has to happen for the US to be the larger economy. If a country is a ****-ton larger production capacity than you, but you're pretty rich then guess what happens? You're going to buy a bunch of stuff from that other country, because they can make it and you can't, and you have the money to just buy it from them rather than go without.
China becoming more powerful in the world economy's is a good thing. A fifth of the world's population was not being put to work efficiently to achieve maximum value. Which means everyone suffers a little and one fifth of the world suffers a lot.
China turning into powerful dickheads though, is a bad thing. Both because no one likes to suffer under dickheads and because dickheads don't get the maximum value out of human resources. It's bad economically and awful morally.
I would have no problem at all if Trump took a hard stance against China in favor of the Hong Kong protestors. I want him to do it, because it's morally right and because the Hong Kong protestors are literally risking their lives thinking Trump will help them. But he's having trade talks with China instead, where he'll tell them he will raise tariffs on them, but then give an exception to half that **** because it turns out it hurts his buddies or it will hurt consumers at Christmas and he wants the votes.
Trump is wrong because he doesn't give a **** about China being dickheads but he cares tremendously about not allowing China to be powerful (at least until they pay him first). As with most things, the right priorities are exactly the opposite of what Trump's priorities.
