Lethe
Captain
And to think this all started a decade ago when Obama was embarrassed by a Chinese crane...
And so after a decade now they've managed to come up with tariffs, but still no cranes....
Chinese Economics Thread
- Thread starter Norfolk
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And to think this all started a decade ago when Obama was embarrassed by a Chinese crane...
And so after a decade now they've managed to come up with tariffs, but still no cranes....
I do want to make a comment on this because, months after the label was coined, I still see it being given airtime in Chinese domestic media through articles trying to "debunk" it. There is nothing to debunk because the term itself is just cognitive warfare. It's clearly working because you see all the anti-China peanut gallery using it and it was recently used at the G7. They use it because China allows the term to get to it through trying to "debunk" it.
China should be proud of its "overcapacity." This "overcapacity" has allowed the country to beat the entire West at its own game while the latter is still in possession of dollar hegemony. You don't see Western media constantly accusing the Russians of an "overcapacity" in nuclear weapons because the Kremlin would hold a press conference the very next afternoon and say: "Thanks, we're happy and proud of it."
I would reckon the real reason the term has gotten to China is because it turns something positive, an achievement that Chinese people are deeply proud of (their industrial strength and EV innovation) into an accusation; a crime; a slur. This particular line of cognitive attack isn't new, actually. I remember the Western ACBD grain cartel under the Economist's mouthpiece accusing China, a country with a history of suffering famine and food blockades, of "hoarding" grain. China's triumph of finally achieving grain food security was slandered as something shameful. This is typical of the "but at what cost" nature of anti-China propaganda.
The reason why this recent rendition of cognitive warfare landed particularly strongly is likely because that US underling declared this on Chinese soil, in Beijing itself, right after the Biden administration's stooges were given a meeting and handshake with Xi himself, is probably what has given it such a teeth.
The only way to defeat it is to recognize it for what it is, cognitive warfare, and it should be responded to akin to the way a racial slur is defeated: by appropriating it and branding it as a positive. These sort of cognitive gimmicks by the West where they warp Chinese achievements into accusatory slurs will continue happening until the time comes when China learns to respond to it properly: "China accused of unfair overcapacity in years as the number one economy"; "China has an overcapacity of nuclear fusion reactors"; "China's lunar base overcapacity overcrowds Moon"; "Concerns grow of Chinese settler overcapacity as colony ships expand into solar system."
China is waiting to be treated with respect by the West, to have its achievements recognized. I won't digress here into how this neurosis is emblematic of a still lacking deficit in self-confidence, but this is why this accusation of "overcapacity" lives rent free in Chinese media still. The day that China is given a handshake by the West, where the latter gives a sportsmanship acknowledgment of "well played" will never happen, as respect in international relations is taken, not given. To hear that "China has an overcapacity in success" is a triumph in of itself and should be recognized as such. It represents, in truth, the only form of roundabout praise the West will ever give you.
The fundamental problem is that the only group which China can compare itself to is the West. The BRICS outside of China are a collection of poor and middling countries, even if some are very big (e.g. India). The Russian friendship is useful but Russia itself has very little innovation if you look outside the MIC, itself is a legacy of the Soviet union.
China is a huge source of innovation in the world economy but outside of China and the West who do you have? It's very little if anything at all. So the West is the only real comparison that China has. I don't count Japan, SK and Taiwan since they are all client states of the West.
We should also acknowledge the fact that while China has come a long way, it still has a long way to go.
Even adjusting for PPP, China's income per person is that of an Eastern European country circa 2005. People have to remember that for all the impressive achievements of top companies like BYD or Huawei, there is a huge part of the Chinese economy - especially in the service sector - which is low productivity and low pay.
RCEP did not prevent SE Asian countries from imposing high tariffs on Chinese E-commerce imports. Indonesia official explicitly said（when being asking about his opinion on Temu），that manufacturer-to-consumer model is not compatible with Indonesia society，in Indonesia all business activities must go through intermediary.
This situation isn't unique to Indonesia. In most countries，the role of middle men between manufacturer and consumer is important，it represents a very large employment
Actually, if China follows Poland's rise (GDP per capita PPP wise), that would make it an incredibly powerful nation in 20 years. No wonder US is shitting itself. Unlike Poland which has no global business presence, China has a lot potential left in it's fuel tank given it's vast technology and science industry.
Doesn't matter if it is important to an economy because it gives jobs. Direct manufacturer to consumer is cheaper,quicker and much more efficient. Technological changes sweeps the normal way society functions away and this is how it is going to end up. Indonesia cannot stop it they are only delaying it, and by delaying it they give Chinese companies more time to hone their strategy.
That is why Indonesia economy is less innovative and is stagnant.
C
GDP (even PPP) doesn't mean much. China is basically better than Poland at everything: Median wealth, life expectancy, per capita electricity generation, China is better than Poland in all of these and much more. Not to mention the fact that Poland was MUCH more developed than China in its socialist days and got preferential market access to EU market post socialism. I agree that China still has a long way to go but it's a lot shorter than you realize
Well the "middleman" now is the app which connects the consumer to the manufacturer.
Not just that. Poland had its debts to the West made during socialism erased for free.