More pressure on China over the games and Hong Kong. According to the Chinese, treaties with China don’t obligate China. That’s how the West views it anyway. This is the war-causing confusion between the West and the Chinese…
China believes democracy and religion will destroy the Chinese. Their solution is to remove religion, free speech, and non-Chinese governments. China claims to respect these three, but thinks that they are exploited to China’s misfortune. So, China makes new laws, hoping to protect itself, then tells the West to back off.
But, the West is concerned about trusting promises. People won’t build skyscrapers on land they believe will collapse after ten years. Nor will countries and companies invest in another country if they believe the government might take over the company or arrest the officers. So, the West is concerned about “rule of law”, that laws are made, then don’t suddenly change in a way that breaks trust. As much as some old laws can be inconvenient for a government, losing trust from the world is proving much more inconvenient, as we are seeing with calls to boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
This is where the contradiction comes into play. China believed that Huawei could ignore Western law while their CFO travels to Western countries. When the Huawei CFO was arrested in Canada, China was genuinely surprised. To the Chinese, “rule of law” is a mythical concept, like using English to tell a dolphin what it’s like to walk on land. So, the Chinese were surprised.
With everything happening, China is utterly and genuinely surprised. This is not what Beijing expected.
Trade & Tech
TSMC Rumored To Build $35 Billion 5nm Plant In The U.S. With 100k/month Wafer Output // Wccftech
China
Rights groups target sponsors like Airbnb for Beijing Games // AP
Jack Ma loses title as China’s richest man after coming under Beijing’s scrutiny // Fox Business
An Open Letter to the Fashion and Home-Furnishing Industries // EndUyghurForcedLabour.org
Beijing 2022: China hits back at Canada over calls to move Winter Olympics // SCMP
Taiwan
Experts urge government to increase defense spending // Taipei Times
US encourages Taiwan to invest in defense: official // Taipei Times
China bolsters defense, while saying it would deter Taiwan ‘separatist activity’ // Taipei Times
US reaffirms Taiwan support in report // Taipei Times
Taipei adopts 6 approaches to promoting English education // Taiwan News