Amy announces that today is March 4th, two days after the 52nd anniversary of the day she went to the reeducation camp. She mentions that many of the survivors, some 50 or so, had a Zoom meeting to discuss the meaning of the event. Before the meeting the host sent Amy a list of words she was not supposed to use. Amy was chosen to answer questions on behalf of participants from the United States. There was a “code” to use to refer to sensitive terms.
The first question revealed that many of the participants felt they were sacrificed for the greater good of the country. When Amy was asked whether she felt like she was a hero or a looser, she responded that the rulers of the country were supposed to serve the people. Why would they always want the people to sacrifice? She went on to describe the closing of schools during the Cultural Revolution and the difficulties of recreating the education system a decade later.
She laments that the Cultural Revolution took education away from a whole generation who never recovered. She suggests that knowing the history of the Cultural Revolution will give the audience more perspective on what is happening today.
Nan points out the communist tactic of lionizing sacrifice on behalf of the party and contrasts it to Western considerations for individual liberty. He suggests that the recent generation of the last 20 years was sacrificed to be low wage workers in order to dominate manufacturing, while the next will be a generation of engineers sacrificed to push China’s economy into higher tech.
Nan describes a recent seminar of diplomats in which a member of the audience asked, “Do you think the top five tech companies are US corporations?” The answer was “no”, these companies don’t even think of themselves as US corporations. They think of themselves of global corporations. Nan suggests that Microsoft could move to Shanghai.
Billy introduces the question of the day, “Is China An Adversary Or A Competitor?”
Nan mentions that, as General Spalding pointed out, most of our military and foreign policy establishment see China as a threat, while the business class sees China as an opportunity.
Dick thinks China is pushing for businesses to relocate there and hollow out our high tech industry.
Amy wonders what happened to the concept of decoupling. Billy wonders if China would still have an advantageous economic position even if we did.
(break)
Amy asks Nan to clarify the current US trade policy with China. Nan says Trumps tariffs have not changed yet, but China has sent a diplomatic mission to the US to ask for a variety of concessions. Billy reads a statement for Antony Blinken.
Billy reads a portion of the Executive summary of the 2020 REPORT TO CONGRESS of the U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION and the team discusses it.
Steve calls in to ask about a major oil find offshore. Nan describes many of the Oil based relationships involving China.
Billy asks Nan about the relationship between China and various African countries.
Billy mentions that China has 41.2 Trillion dollars in assets, according to the China Banking And Insurance Commission.
Amy mentions how scary “Unconventional Warfare” is.
Nancy calls in to discuss the effects of Hugo Chávez’ presidency on Venezuela’s economy.
The team discusses various aspects of Globalization.
Nan mentions the 47 Hong Kong democracy movement leaders currently being sentenced under the National Security Law.
