On this episode of China Uncensored,
here comes the pain!
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
For years, the Chinese Communist Party has engaged in
unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft.
Which leaves us with a very important question…
“How do you get the Chinese to change behavior?”
“Pain.
Got to give them pain.”
And President Trump is dishing out the pain.
I know, but believe me,
this graphic could have been a lot worse.
Anyway, Trump has taken another step
in his trade war with China.
At the end of May,
Trump announced the US was putting
$50 billion dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods.
And now, Trump is threatening to bring that total
to more than $450 billion dollars.
That’s basically the same price tag
as the total value of goods
the US imported from China last year.
For that kind of money,
Trump could buy 90 million Chinese fidget spinners.
Or 9 of those golden toilets from Hong Kong.
Those would go well inside
Trump’s golden New York Penthouse.
I know I should be impressed,
but all I can think about is how you can buy
multiple castles in the French Riviera
for less than Trump’s New York apartment.
But this week,
Trump backed new measures against China.
So whether you like Trump or not,
we can all agree,
he’s bringing the pain.
“Senior officials saying the administration
is getting behind bipartisan legislation
that passed yesterday in the House
on a 400 to 2 vote
that would expand the powers of
the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
It would expand CFIUS.”
We’ve talked before about CFIUS.
It’s a group of government agencies
led by the Treasury Secretary.
It’s supposed to monitor foreign investment in US companies.
But CFIUS doesn’t have the resources or authority
to deal with all of the recent investments from China,
where big companies usually have ties to the Communist Party.
That’s a big deal because Chinese leader Xi Jinping
has been promoting Chinese investment
in American tech companies
as part of his “Made in China 2025” plan.
He wants China to become a world leader
in cutting edge tech—
and one way to do that is by buying
or even stealing it from American companies.
So if Congress approves the new measures
Trump is pushing for,
it would strengthen CFIUS by expanding
the types of transactions CFIUS can review.
Trump said in a statement supporting the legislation,
“We have the greatest technology in the world,
people copy it and they steal it,
but we have the great scientists,
we have the great brains,
and we have to protect that.
And that can be done through CFIUS.”
Chinese state-run media have responded
the way you might expect.
“State media blasted the Trump administration
in an editorial titled
‘Protectionism symptom of paranoid delusions...’
The paper said it reflects the damage
being done to trade with China
by the, quote, ‘crusade of Trump and his trade hawks.’”
Trump does not like the term “trade hawks” though.
He prefers trade...golden eagles.
But anyway, state-run China Daily
said it would be the US that would “feel the pain.”
Aww, it’s so nice that state-run media cares about
how the US feels.
My favorite state-run media the Global Times said,
“It’s time for China to take further self-defense measures.”
For example, they’re going to come up with a safe word.
Actually, because of fears of a trade war,
the Chinese economy is already dealing with
some potentially serious issues.
For example, one state-backed Chinese think tank
warned in a leaked note of potential “financial panic.”
The leaked note was obtained by Bloomberg.
Why could China have financial panic?
The note cited bond defaults,
liquidity shortages and the recent plunge in financial markets
against rising U.S. interest rates and the trade war.
It doesn’t stop there.
As you know,
the Communist Party loves to censor things—
from critical voices to Winnie the Pooh memes.
But now there’s a new thing to censor—
China’s own economic plans.
Since CFIUS has gotten everyone talking about
Made in China 2025,
Chinese state-run media has apparently
decided to go the opposite way.
“The government has instructed Chinese state media agencies
to avoid mentioning Made in China 2025 in their reports.”
So all in all, it looks like the Trump administration
is making China feel the pain.
It’s still too early to tell exactly how
this trade war will go down,
but one thing’s for sure.
The biggest loser in this war is going to be...
vape nation.
And before we go,
it’s time for another question
from a China Uncensored supporter.
Shane Butler asks:
“What would your first question be
if you did land an interview with Xi Jinping?”
I’d ask Xi Jinping the hard-hitting questions
that viewers want to know.
Like, “Why do you wear your pants so high?
Is it a stylistic choice?
Or is it a medical thing?”
Thanks for your question, Shane.
What?
What do you think I should ask him?
Leave your comments below.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.
Trump may be bringing the pain,
but he won’t be bringing you the latest China news!
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Not that I’m bitter or anything.