Miscellaneous News

taxiya said:

This kind of ban is always strange thing to me, so strange to the point that I doubt the reliability of the source, as usual SCMP.

First of all, the ban would only be meaningful to US and China, nobody else. Then what is the point? Secondly, if AI is dangerous (I agree) in controlling nukes, US should not and China would not do it regardless what each other do, because the "mistaken" first strike by AI isn't giving the first striker any advantage, it is mutual destruction.

It is equally absurd as the nuclear arms treaty between USSR and USA. It is like two drunkered in a competition of drinking, both are exausted, but none of them is willing to stop drinking because of pride, so they have to agree to stop together. It is as if their vanity is more important than their life. It is so stupid and childish.

For me, if China determines that employing AI is more dangerous than gains, China should avoid using it regardless what US does. China don't need an agreement, nor need to make some anouncement.

The "ban" is totally a vanity show, probably something USA is more interested like what it did in the past with USSR.

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Temstar said:

You are worried that Xi will be taken advantage of in event of negotiation, but worry not - this ain't his first rodeo.
This isn't going to look exactly like Treaty of Nanking but the idea is similar - US is currently fighting on three fronts and none of them are going that well:

• Russo-Ukraine War, where AFU's big Spring Offensive have failed and Russians are slowly advancing and potentially arranging a Bakhmut 2.0 at Avdiivka
• Israeli-Palestinian Conflict which have derailed their Saudi-Israeli normalization process and causing the west's image to take a further nose dive in the Global South due to supporting Israeli ethnic cleansing, and the offensive into Gaza is not going as well as planned
• trade war and tech war with China, where Huawei gave them a kick up the ass with the Mate 60 breakthrough

Any one of them would be a headache for Washington, all three at once and they'll have to fold on at least one if not more. That's why Xi is going and talking to Biden, and that's why they're treating Xi's visit like he's the god emperor:
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I was quite taken aback when I read this, but on second thought that's a very normal human reaction isn't it? I too clean up my house before visitors come, particularly if it's people I'm trying to impress, we're just not used to this coming from Americans. Xi knows what's up, if all the attempts by Biden to get a meeting with him is not clear enough you just need to look at the conga line of US politicians visiting Beijing prior to this meeting. It's clear they want some help and I trust Xi to drive a hard bargin.


I'm also not worried about this, because we've already seen this happen once before under Biden. Recall the meeting between Xi and Biden at Bali where they had some kind of closed door agreement. To this day MFA would say US needs to mean what they say and carry out the Bali Agreement and you won't even hear that name from US government.

The result? When Xi goes now the price that was on offer at Bali will no longer be available. Whatever help US wants from China, the price is higher. And if this time around they want to renege again then fine, by next meeting (with either Biden or whoever replaces him) the price that US will have to pay will be higher still.

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ACuriousPLAFan said:

Chinese President Xi Jinping's Boeing 747-8 presidential transport aircraft is currently overflying the Sea of Okhotsk en-route from Beijing to San Francisco.

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Maikeru said:

Better to deal with Biden now than Trump later I suppose. Trump's agenda is pretty wild:

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Some highlights:

"Trump says he will institute a system of tariffs of perhaps 10% on most foreign goods. Penalties would increase if trade partners manipulate their currencies or engage in other unfair trading practices.

He will urge that Congress pass a “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act," giving the president authority to impose a reciprocal tariff on any country that imposes one on the U.S.

Much of the agenda focuses on China. Trump has proposed a four-year plan to phase out Chinese imports of essential goods, including electronics, steel and pharmaceuticals. He wants to ban Chinese companies from owning vital U.S. infrastructure in sectors such as energy, technology and agriculture, and says he will force Chinese owners to sell any holdings “that jeopardize America’s national security.”

Trump claims that even before he is inaugurated, he will have settled the war between Russia and Ukraine. That includes, he says, ending the “endless flow of American treasure to Ukraine” and asking European allies to reimburse the U.S. for the cost of rebuilding stockpiles.

It is unclear whether he would insist that Russia withdraw from territory in Ukraine it seized in the war that it launched in February 2022.

Trump has said he will stand with Israel in its war with Hamas and support Israel's efforts to “destroy” the militant group. He says he will continue to “fundamentally reevaluate” NATO’s purpose and mission."

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antiterror13 said:

My understanding is that China doesn't have a dedicated presidential transport aircraft, wondering how China would manage the security, equipment, inside layout requirement, etc, etc when Xi visiting let's say California

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4Runner said:

Since its announcement, I have read many Chinese posts inside China as well as overseas forums about "surrendering" to Biden by visiting SF for APEC. While I understand some rationale or sentiment and I don't necessarily pretend to knowing inside info, I do want to reminder those who hold that type of views.

(1) Xi works for the well-being of 1.4 billion Chinese citizens on the mainland. So feeling counts very little as human history shows as far as public good is concerned.

(2) Chinese wisdom says that you try to get a bargain while you are in a good position (见好就收). The current situation says Biden needs Xi more than the other way around.

(3) Even though China has been quite successful in resisting US wars on semi (tech) and trade etc., they still have incurred some serious difficulties in the Chinese economy as a whole.

(4) China's position in the Global South is rock solid. EU is trying to mend fence, as they have no other choices. EU desperately needs China when it comes to settle the Ukraine war in the coming months.

(5) China wants to maintain a healthy state of trade between its largest trading partners. Think of Australia, which was very nasty during the Trump admin. Yet, Albanese just received a warm welcome to China just a few days ago.

(6) Some info from inside says that, as long as China can manage US on Taiwan, any deal can be on the table. They still believe time is on their side and Taiwan could be a black-swan event. They want to buy some more time so that Taiwan would become a lesser issue a few years down the road. By then, nobody can blackmail China, not even NATO or the entire west.

(7) Those who really want to see US-China conflict are mostly neither Americans nor Chinese. They want (火中取栗).

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ACuriousPLAFan said:

Chinese President Xi Jinping's Boeing 747-8 presidential transport aircraft is currently overflying the Sea of Okhotsk en-route from Beijing to San Francisco.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...