The US is a master at using sanctions to encourage “useful idiots” (ie domestic Chinese companies whose main market advantage is “I’m not sanctioned!”). If Douyin gets banned, Kuaishou may get all the business without Chinese users having any major disruptions, as you’d sooner switch an app than switch your phone or side load a platform.
This is how the US operates globally to influence the success and failure of companies. All in an effort to create more “useful idiot” companies and less actual, competent competitors like Huawei and Byte Dance.
Chinese government policy should be directed to counter this strategy by directing all
profits from “useful idiot” companies into the national champions so that they can’t become effective US collaborators.
The idea of national champions itself is an American, oligarchic, corporatist way of thinking.
This line of thought comes from the fact that most western champions are irreplaceable because they have revolving doors connection to the government, these companies also gained most of their clout by cheating the market through government connection, directly profiting off government actions which they lobbied themselves.
In contrast, Chinese companies are not protected any more than the basic extent of the law, which is made with impartiality and not designed to favor any particular company.
This meant that China had many many more failures than the West, but those companies that did survive in the natural selection, are there not because they're connected with oligarchs, but because they're genuinely that strong, in terms of personnel and innovation.
Hence, what makes China's civilian sector strong is not that it has invincible national champions because the government is good at feeding them, but because the workers which make up each company are on average of exceptionally high quality.
As long as this core group remains, China can maintain the most competitive products, no matter if they're from an old or new brand name.
