China's new world order

[Joe McCarthy]

Originally Posted by Monolith
Yep, and they know they're in a position in which they can get away with that. The US is pretty much powerless here, and is bound to remain powerless unless whoever rules your country acquires some bargaining chips.

The US is far from powerless. China's economy is fueled by exports, and we're their main market. They are also dependent on our distribution channels to move their products. They also need our technology. These are hammers we can use at any moment. Even the weakness of the dollar is of no use to them, as sinking it will only devalue their dollar denominated holdings. In fact, the amusing thing is that the weak dollar, which they're stuck with, is stunting their growth.

Your peoples' economies have become so intertwined that it wouldn't probably be that different from nuking your own country.

Trust me, if we nuke China, they'll get the worst of it.

[Monolith]

The US is far from powerless.

Of course. There's always something that can be done, but I think in this case China has the upper hand.

China's economy is fueled by exports, and we're their main market. They are also dependent on our distribution channels to move their products. They also need our technology. These are hammers we can use at any moment.

It's a lose-lose scenario.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english201...c_13736221.htm

Even the weakness of the dollar is of no use to them, as sinking it will only devalue their dollar denominated holdings. In fact, the amusing thing is that the weak dollar, which they're stuck with, is stunting their growth.

Sure thing, but that's also endangering it's role as reserve (or anchor) currency. If you ask me, the US dollar was doomed to fail as the world's reserve currency the moment the US started accumulating trade deficits with Japan and China, effectively enabling them to slowly drain most of your gold supplies.

Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triffin_dilemma

Trust me, if we nuke China, they'll get the worst of it.

I'm sure they would, but your economy would be devastated as well. That's beyond any doubt, really.

[Joe McCarthy]

The US-China relationship is best understood by who gets what. We get cheap goods, which while good, pales in comparison to what they're getting - reserves to build up their war machine and exert their influence globally. The post-war international system is based on mutually advantageous free trade, with the understanding that everyone plays by the rules. China plays by its own rules, so that means we must apply a new set of rules to them - isolation and containment to blunt their rise, employing trade barriers and alliances. We did much of this, I might add, for over twenty years after the founding of the PRC, only to be undermined in our effort by certain Europeans doing business with them. We need not even necessarily pay for higher goods in doing these things. We can just move plants to safer locales, which will happen once we slap tariffs on Chinese goods.

[Baron Samedi]

Apparently they don't have one pound fruit cups.

That's why they are FUCKING COMMUNISTS.

[Joe McCarthy]

Apparently they don't have one pound fruit cups.

That's why they are FUCKING COMMUNISTS.

Such frivolities mean little to the Communist Party. They're after power mainly, not cheap crap. We'd better start thinking in similar terms, or else.

[Curtis24]

China's main problem is that the loyalty of their bureacrats - the people responsible for running the government - is contingent upon being paid lots of money. If China experiences some sort of economic downturn, these bureacrats will accept bribes from Western corporations to act in the interests of those corporations. The result will be a fracturing of the Chinese country along regional lines, and the undermining of China as a political entity.

[Joe McCarthy]

China certainly has a problem with corruption, and it would certainly be beautiful to watch the country fragment and break up. In fact, the West had just that idea for the post-war world, but our good buddy Uncle Joe vetoed the idea. Communists...