CHINA

[wanton dwarf]

I cannot see that knee jerk reactions by governments will prove useful. When the public have decided to avoid buying Chinese crap the Chinese will have nobody to blame but themselves. The problem is that many products labelled "made in Germany" or other valued manufacturing centres are stuffed full of Chinese components. Legislation should not allow that to happen and in such cases it should state "assembled in".

Trouble is it's not "Chinese Crap" .. at least 50% of the products sold via China are from Western companies .. I think it might be a lot higher.

China has taken that technology and made it their own using state funding to make it so.

Something the UK could have done since WW2 but cannot be bothered .. as it might weaken the hands that have a death grip on power in the UK.

 

[Paddington]

Look around your home to see how many Chinese products are there, it's frightening. You need a new kettle say and order one online with a good British make, the make your parents or even grandparents bought and used for years. The new kettle turns up and you manage to unpack it without any bits breaking off before seeing the dreaded made in PRC label, the thing might last five years if you're lucky. I'd rather pay £30 for a British made kettle than £15 for a Chinese one, but perhaps I'm the exception.

 

[Still Farming]

Bubonic Plague resurrection there allegedly also next!

 

[Martin Holden]

Aren't you interested in how and WHY China has so much power today ?

Billionaires - a lot from the USA - have made China into the power it is today. Not only with their money but also technical know how.

It isn't a "Mistake" that money, power & technology is in China and not elsewhere in the world.

I know full well how the west have helped the chinese!

 

[rob1]

Look around your home to see how many Chinese products are there, it's frightening. You need a new kettle say and order one online with a good British make, the make your parents or even grandparents bought and used for years. The new kettle turns up and you manage to unpack it without any bits breaking off before seeing the dreaded made in PRC label, the thing might last five years if you're lucky. I'd rather pay £30 for a British made kettle than £15 for a Chinese one, but perhaps I'm the exception.

Im exactly the same, I always try and buy British if possible but with most electronic goods it is very hard to.

 

[kiwi pom]

Distracted by the virus that they started........

That's the one
China's gaining power all the time. Trumps the only one that's called them out and he gets hammered for it.
All the 'experts' think they can control them. I think the experts are full of sh!t.

 

[Devil's advocate]

China did not start the virus.

The virus jumped species there, they are a victim just like us. Yes they likely should have closed the border earlier, but doubtless the virus the was already outside China. The Chinese did send a detailed warning to other countries on 02/01/2020 to expect the Wuhan virus & offered DNA information. Was the western world planning to deal with Covid 19 in early January?

I was thinking earlier that China has only been invaded in part, never the whole country with Mongols in the past & Japanese recently in WW2.

Our culture won so many battles around the world often very easily thanks to the flu that our culture took around the world. This of course would never work on the Chinese becaue most of the worlds human disease evolved in the far east.

What this has cost China will be massive in the trouble at the time plus the huge loss of goodwill.

We are long overdue for a serious pandemic & it was always when not if. In the past these came along every 25 years or so, not the 102 years since a really serious world wide pademic.

Having said all above & my deep respect for the hard working ordinary people of China. The government is certainly not to be trusted & is guilty of evil acts now & in the past.

 

[Exfarmer]

Putin is the result of those in the West that sought to destroy Russia in the Gorbachev era.

Russians saw the bread queues and Oligarchs and chose Putin to fix the mess.

And they've chosen right.

You are aware of course thatthe CIA believe with very good reason that Putin is far and away the richest man in the world thanks to his control of the Oligarch, which he is course on.
you are also aware that the recent poll which gave him another 10 years on top of the 20 he has already had in direct contravention of the state constitution was in a poll which had 3 questions on the ballot sheet.
q1, should the state minimum wage be raised?
q2 should the state pension be raised 40%
q3 shouldthe president get another 10 years.

but there was only one box to tick

surprisingly 27% did not want an increased wage or pension?

 

[Lowland1]

You are aware of course thatthe CIA believe with very good reason that Putin is far and away the richest man in the world thanks to his control of the Oligarch, which he is course on.
you are also aware that the recent poll which gave him another 10 years on top of the 20 he has already had in direct contravention of the state constitution was in a poll which had 3 questions on the ballot sheet.
q1, should the state minimum wage be raised?
q2 should the state pension be raised 40%
q3 shouldthe president get another 10 years.

but there was only one box to tick

surprisingly 27% did not want an increased wage or pension?

Putin is a good example of what you get when the West gets its way. Having travelled through Russia in 1991 I can see why he is still in power anything is better than those days. White beggars , people selling combs with half the teeth missing or used bars of soap on the streets ,by the time our train got to Moscow there was no food as it had all been bartered on the journey. I can't imagine any one wanting to go back to that. I don't think that will happen in China I think we would have a big war before that. But democracy doesn't suit these countries it's an alien concept. If people don't want Chinese stuff they don't have to buy. But if Western Goverments try to humiliate them it will only end badly.

 

[Exfarmer]

Putin is a good example of what you get when the West gets its way. Having travelled through Russia in 1991 I can see why he is still in power anything is better than those days. White beggars , people selling combs with half the teeth missing or used bars of soap on the streets ,by the time our train got to Moscow there was no food as it had all been bartered on the journey. I can't imagine any one wanting to go back to that. I don't think that will happen in China I think we would have a big war before that. But democracy doesn't suit these countries it's an alien concept. If people don't want Chinese stuff they don't have to buy. But if Western Goverments try to humiliate them it will only end badly.

Certainly the West handled the fall of communism very badly, I suspect nobody in power thought it would collapse so quickly. There should have been a massive injection of capital to enable society to recover, perhaps the powers that be were concerned that support would be misused to support the old regime.

 

[arcobob]

Putin is a good example of what you get when the West gets its way. Having travelled through Russia in 1991 I can see why he is still in power anything is better than those days. White beggars , people selling combs with half the teeth missing or used bars of soap on the streets ,by the time our train got to Moscow there was no food as it had all been bartered on the journey. I can't imagine any one wanting to go back to that. I don't think that will happen in China I think we would have a big war before that. But democracy doesn't suit these countries it's an alien concept. If people don't want Chinese stuff they don't have to buy. But if Western Goverments try to humiliate them it will only end badly.

Absolutely spot on. The people hold all the aces and the people are too ill informed or too thick to play them. Governments will not influence Chinese thinking but every individual can register their disapproval by hitting them in the pocket.

 

[uztrac]

Putin is a good example of what you get when the West gets its way. Having travelled through Russia in 1991 I can see why he is still in power anything is better than those days. White beggars , people selling combs with half the teeth missing or used bars of soap on the streets ,by the time our train got to Moscow there was no food as it had all been bartered on the journey. I can't imagine any one wanting to go back to that. I don't think that will happen in China I think we would have a big war before that. But democracy doesn't suit these countries it's an alien concept. If people don't want Chinese stuff they don't have to buy. But if Western Goverments try to humiliate them it will only end badly.

The Chinese have invested vast sums into African agribusiness and this will ensure that the people of mainland China do not go hungry whatever happens elsewhere.

 

[arcobob]

The Chinese have invested vast sums into African agribusiness and this will ensure that the people of mainland China do not go hungry whatever happens elsewhere.

So the Chinese are cashing in on the empire that rejected us. Very opportunistic and a touch ironic perhaps?

 

[manhill]

Absolutely spot on. The people hold all the aces and the people are too ill informed or too thick to play them. Governments will not influence Chinese thinking but every individual can register their disapproval by hitting them in the pocket.

Agree with that but hang on, there's a few things I need if we're going to have a trade war.

 

[Lowland1]

The Chinese have invested vast sums into African agribusiness and this will ensure that the people of mainland China do not go hungry whatever happens elsewhere.

I am in Kenya and it's not happening here. They have invested in Zimbabwe but that is just in Tobacco because they smoke a lot . No I would say that's a lot of hype and fear mongering. We have a lot of them here but they are in business or involved in infrastructure projects.

 

[arcobob]

Agree with that but hang on, there's a few things I need if we're going to have a trade war.

Try to find a way round it. It may cost you a few shillings extra but it will be beneficial in the long run.

 

[ollie989898]

Look around your home to see how many Chinese products are there, it's frightening. You need a new kettle say and order one online with a good British make, the make your parents or even grandparents bought and used for years. The new kettle turns up and you manage to unpack it without any bits breaking off before seeing the dreaded made in PRC label, the thing might last five years if you're lucky. I'd rather pay £30 for a British made kettle than £15 for a Chinese one, but perhaps I'm the exception.

True story, many years ago I bought a cheap £15 kettle from Tesco.

One morning I entered the kitchen and was hit by a tropical heatwave. The bloody thing had stayed on all night, boiled dry and had become an impromptu space heater. I turned it off, let it cool and smashed it up before placing it in the trash. I will never buy dirt cheap consumer goods again after that.

 

[ollie989898]

Certainly the West handled the fall of communism very badly, I suspect nobody in power thought it would collapse so quickly. There should have been a massive injection of capital to enable society to recover, perhaps the powers that be were concerned that support would be misused to support the old regime.

How can you, they are crooked on a scale you would not believe.

That a land of such immense natural capital, a big workforce (at least back then) and huge oil, gas and mineral wealth has become an old boys club where about two dozen players control all the wealth. Not that far from what American became then.

 

[Exfarmer]

The Chinese have invested vast sums into African agribusiness and this will ensure that the people of mainland China do not go hungry whatever happens elsewhere.

They may have invested large sums in Africa, just as we did, but they will get a far harder kicking as our Investment was private. China‘s investment Has been state and the result will be the same.
corruption can be sorted in your own country but as soon as you start jailing people in far distant lands youwill have major problems

 

[ollie989898]

Bubonic Plague resurrection there allegedly also next!

Bubonic plague is a thing and has been going at very low levels in some countries for decades. The USA gets a few cases a year. Weird disease.