The two Chinas

There is the big Communist China that builds all of our toys and then there is the Democratic Nation of Taiwan. Big China wants to annex Taiwan. Not gonna happen.

From Bloomberg:

Chinese Military Calls Pompeo’s Taiwan Message ‘Very Dangerous’
China denounced a rare message from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to Taiwan’s president as “wrong and very dangerous,” as tensions between the two sides flared anew over U.S. overtures toward the democratically ruled island.

The Ministry of National Defense said in a statement Wednesday that the military would “take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard” China’s sovereignty, while the country’s foreign ministry separately threatened retaliation. The warnings came after Pompeo broke with past U.S. practice Tuesday and issued a statement congratulating Tsai Ing-wen ahead of her inauguration to a second term as Taiwan’s president.

From Secretary Pompeo's twitter account:

And to rub salt in the wounds - from Aljazeera:

US approves $180m sale of advanced torpedoes to Taiwan
The United States approved a $180m sale of heavyweight torpedoes to Taiwan, the State Department said on Wednesday, in a move that is likely to further strain ties between Washington and Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own.

The US framed the sale as a mutually beneficial transaction.

That ought to get Xi riled up. And the tide is turning - from Bloomberg:

Americans Are Giving Made-in-China the Cold Shoulder
It’s not quite a new Cold War yet. Just the cold shoulder

Some 40% of Americans said they won’t buy products from China, according to a survey of 1,012 adults conducted May 12-14 by Washington-based FTI Consulting, a business advisory firm.

The poll also found:

• • 55% don’t think China can be trusted to follow through on its trade-deal commitments signed in January to buy more U.S. products
  • 78% percent said they’d be willing to pay more for products if the company that made them moved manufacturing out of China
  • 66% said they favor raising import restrictions over the pursuit of free-trade deals as a better way to boost the U.S. economy

For observers of trade policy, that last point is striking because a large majority in the U.S. have traditionally shunned protectionism. According to Gallup, almost four-fifths of Americans embrace international commerce as an opportunity rather that a threat, a number that’s steadily risen over the past decade.

Heh - act like an asshole and get shunned. Simple as that. China really messed up with COVID and it needs to pay. This is just the beginning of a long downfall and a slow rehabilitation. A painful lesson but one that is much needed.