Trade War with China

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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

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related to recent 'Belt and Road' posts here is what I've now read which is this
Opinion: Belt and Road: How Western media miss the point
2018-08-28 17:54 GMT+8
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The Belt and Road Initiative has been growing and thriving despite the doubts and suspicions hanging over it ever since its birth. As we mark the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), doubts from some Western media outlets seem to be getting louder.

The most recent evidence the doubters in the Western media have cited to justify their concerns about the Belt and Road Initiative is the decision by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to cancel three cooperative projects with China, namely the East Coast Rail Link and two pipeline projects worth a combined 20 billion US dollars. Quite a number of reports have drawn the conclusion that this is a major setback for the Belt and Road Initiative.

But this conclusion is the result of hasty reasoning, if not deliberate misinterpretation. Mahathir chose China for his first official visit outside the ASEAN member states since taking office, and making the announcement in Beijing was a demonstration of the mutual trust and understanding between the two countries on how Belt and Road projects should be managed.

There were nothing unilateral or behind-the-back tricks in the cancellation of the projects. After meeting Chinese President Xi, Mahathir said: "It is not about the Chinese." He said Malaysia welcomes, supports, and will continue to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, and he welcomes China's enterprises to invest in Malaysia.

As China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said, it’s unavoidable for problems and differences of opinion to emerge when two countries cooperate. When differences have arisen over specific infrastructure projects, both sides have shown that they are willing to resolve them through communication and consultation, which is reflected in the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries.

Rather than being a cause for concern or criticism, the collaborative management of the projects in Malaysia is a fine example of why the Belt and Road Initiative has gained widespread recognition and support.

At a recent symposium in Beijing to mark the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, President Xi said the next priority of jointly advancing the initiative is to realize its high-quality development, and stressed that projects should continue to be developed in a way that protects the environment, helps to address social needs, and minimizes financial risks.

China has accumulated experiences and learned lessons over the last five years. In the future, China or a country taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative might decide to reassess the benefits and risks of a given project and redefine the deliverables through negotiation. This is how the Belt and Road Initiative continues to be a sustainable approach to development.

An increasing number of countries are participating in BRI projects. More than a hundred countries and international organizations have entered into 118 Belt and Road cooperation agreements with China. China's total trade with countries along the Belt and Road in the past five years exceeded five trillion US dollars, and combined direct investment has amounted to over 70 billion US dollars. Eighty-two overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have been established, attracting nearly 4,000 enterprises, creating two billion dollars of tax revenues and a quarter of a million local jobs.

In China, consumers are enjoying a greater variety of commodities that have come to China from along the Belt and Road. For instance, the first cargo train linking Madrid in Spain and Yiwu in east China went into service in November 2014. Spanish exports to Yiwu have since increased by more than 300 percent, as the new rail link delivers food, machinery and equipment, and timber products from Europe.

Over the past four years, the China-Europe freight rail service network, a crucial part of the Belt and Road Initiative, has expanded exponentially. More than 10,000 trips have now been made along its tracks.

The expansion of trade that has been facilitated by the BRI is especially welcome amidst the backdrop of growing trade protectionism and isolationism elsewhere in the world. The Belt and Road Initiative is continuing to act as an effective way to increase connectivity, widen access to markets, and foster openness and inclusiveness. The result has been a boost in investment that has helped local economies to grow and people's livelihoods to improve.

The observers in parts of the Western media who choose not to paint the whole picture of the Belt and Road Initiative, and who exaggerate the growing pains while ignoring the gains, not only risk losing their credibility as analysts, they also deny their audiences an understanding of the opportunities that are on offer.
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canniBUS

canniBUS

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solarz said:
First, America's drug problem is a result of social welfare. People who don't need to work to survive do not have purpose in life, and thus turn to substance abuse.

Second, the US has a lot of shootings because THEY DON'T WANT TO CONTROL GUNS! There will always be people who are disgruntled in every society. China had people who stabbed kindergarten kids and blew up buses. Even Norway has Anders Breivik.
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Both assertions here are wrong. You can't claim americans are living off welfare when statistics show they work some of the longest hours in the world (probably second only to Chinese workers). Maybe working a job with poor pay and not having future prospects causes people to turn to drugs for comfort. As for mass shootings, it's interesting you brought up China here. China is perhaps the only country where the modern culture is as alienating as america culture. It's no wonder that China is starting to show some of the kinds of violence that have been previously unique to america. Breivik is a poor example of the kind of mass shootings that occur in america, his was politically motivated killing not attacking strangers like we see in america (and I suppose in China too). The fact that americans refuse to control their guns is both related but also unrelated to capitalism. Guns are produced by for profit enterprises so naturally they would bribe politicians and craft propaganda to protect their sales. That in part contributes to the prevalence of guns, but like you said, if there were no guns america would see stabbings, arson, and vehicle ramming attacks instead. It is a social problem not solely attributable to guns. And yes, wealth does come from screwing people what a single capitalist has done is unimportant. Look at the capital flight from China. According to you, patriotism is getting rich off of your fellow countryman's labor and stashing the ill gotten gains in america or canadian real estate. They took the years of productive life from Chinese working people and handed it to (argubally) an enemy state.
 
solarz

solarz

Brigadier
canniBUS said:
Both assertions here are wrong. You can't claim americans are living off welfare when statistics show they work some of the longest hours in the world (probably second only to Chinese workers). Maybe working a job with poor pay and not having future prospects causes people to turn to drugs for comfort. As for mass shootings, it's interesting you brought up China here. China is perhaps the only country where the modern culture is as alienating as america culture. It's no wonder that China is starting to show some of the kinds of violence that have been previously unique to america. Breivik is a poor example of the kind of mass shootings that occur in america, his was politically motivated killing not attacking strangers like we see in america (and I suppose in China too). The fact that americans refuse to control their guns is both related but also unrelated to capitalism. Guns are produced by for profit enterprises so naturally they would bribe politicians and craft propaganda to protect their sales. That in part contributes to the prevalence of guns, but like you said, if there were no guns america would see stabbings, arson, and vehicle ramming attacks instead. It is a social problem not solely attributable to guns. And yes, wealth does come from screwing people what a single capitalist has done is unimportant. Look at the capital flight from China. According to you, patriotism is getting rich off of your fellow countryman's labor and stashing the ill gotten gains in america or canadian real estate. They took the years of productive life from Chinese working people and handed it to (argubally) an enemy state.
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Ummm, no. According tot he OECD, Mexico has the longest working hours at 2250 hours per year per worker. The US only has 1789 hours, just slightly above the OECD average of 1763. That average is certainly boosted by the presence of immigrants (both legal and illegal) who are not eligible for welfare.

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The only thing unique about American violence is the high prevalence of gun crime in a developed nation. China is not even remotely comparable. I don't know where you get the gall to post such blatantly false assertions. Do you even have the faintest idea what China is like??

Even more laughable is the attempt to differentiate Breivik's attack with American mass shootings.

The US doesn't control guns because they have a gun culture, not because of capitalism. There are plenty of capitalist countries that have strict gun control.

Finally, you discount what Alibaba has achieved in China, and continue with your dogmatic view that wealth comes from screwing people. That alone discredits your argument about billionaires.
 
2handedswordsman

2handedswordsman

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Here in Greece working is like hell(if you find a job of course) .Salaries dropped to half, most people work without insurance coverage(black employment) ,or you have insurance for working 4 hours while you work 10 for example.and such good things.Pensions dropped to a half also, a total mess is happening...

sorry for the offtopic.

A good thing happened btw, workers of COSCO at Piraeus port went on strike for several days and won a raise and better working insurance
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
2handedswordsman said:
...

A good thing happened btw, workers of COSCO at Piraeus port went on strike for several days and won a raise and better working insurance
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LOL the Chinese connection here?
Cosco Shipping Holdings, parent of China Cosco Shipping, which bought a controlling stake in Greece’s largest port in 2016, was six times more leveraged than the Piraeus Port Authority it bought.
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inside #1733 Jura, Yesterday at 7:56 PM
 
A

AndrewS

Brigadier
Registered Member
solarz said:
What's wrong with being a billionaire? What's wrong with creating jobs?

In fact, what's wrong with inequality?
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I've seen a number of responses to this question, but in a nutshell.

I don't see any issue with being a self-made billionaire, if they have earned that money by their own abilities.

On the other hand, if someone inherits or is given very large amounts of money, they are most likely NOT creating jobs through their own entrepreneurial efforts.

And inequality is actually an issue. The studies show that unequal societies are less happy, less healthy and more crime ridden.
 
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