Now, you know what they were ready to take over TSLA as private and why Elon was not ready to accept that offer 
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Their big card is our military base there. They are the only ones in that region thatâll allow us to have one. If they said close it and leave, then it would make things much harder for us. Granted, I wish weâd be less involved in that region anyway.
With oil getting less relevant, shouldnât USA be planning to leave? Unless there are other geo-political reasons to be there.
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Iâm in agreement. Iâd rather see us have a much small military. Trump even recently said he wants to have talks with Russia and China about reducing military spending.
As a percent of GDP, our military spend is pretty low in historical terms. However, it dwarfs what other countries spend. We spend 9x more than Russia, so the idea that Russia is a military threat is insane. Their threat is nuclear weapons, so defense against nuclear missiles matters. Itâs pretty irrational to think theyâd use nuclear weapons, since our response would wipe them off the planet. The idea that theyâd be a military threat in an actual war is a joke.
Thatâs depend on the political cost of being struck. US might be able to wipe Russia off the planet but if Russia can wipe a few cities off US, politicians and Americans may feel is disastrous. Hard to know what Americans would do should a few cities are wiped off.
If he would have gotten the same deal why would he need to criticize MBS openly and lose an ally. Because folks here would have hailed his Moral standards. Same folks who believe that all that China is doing today is fair? Lol⌠I am glad their opinion doesnât matter to DT.
Plus you are assuming that we have seen all that was given in return. Thats a big assumptionâŚ
Itâs Americaâs brand thatâs at stake. If you are fine with US having the same reputation as China then sure do whatever. But do you really think Saudi would cease to be an âallyâ because Trump said bad things about MBS? Does it mean we should give MBS a free pass to do whatever?
Interesting⌠so we should do that for our brand sake. Thought we are already the bad boy. The bully. Isnât it? Lots of post here that call us that. So now we should stick to some standards to maintain the brand or else we will be called⌠a bad boy⌠rightâŚ
But China is not accountable to anything because they are lifting dozens out of poverty, connecting the world brought BRI, helping poor nations like North Korea take on the bullies like US⌠no standards for them. They donât need a brand I guessâŚ
World is not black and white. There are different shades of gray. America is a bully, but until Trump came to power it still mostly played by international rule and norm. Itâs mostly seen around the world as a beacon of liberty and prosperity. As the sole superpower in the world itâs held to a higher standard, and rightly so.
âWith great power comes great responsibilityâ.
Another word for âbrandâ is âsoft powerâ. Americaâs soft power is not doing too well lately. You can hold the short term view that it doesnât matter. I disagree. It matters a great deal.
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Since China will be replacing America as the pre-eminent superpower, we will only see Chinese soft power grow and American soft power wane. We are already seeing this effect. Many struggling developing nations are looking at Chinaâs economic model for growth, as opposed to whatever America has to offer.
Also, my brother already went back to China. I donât think he will ever come back. Definitely not something my family could have imagined when we ditched China 30 years ago.
US side:
This is the land of immigrants, absorbing people from all over countries, allowing money flow from all over countries to grow and benefit mutually !
I am talking economy & structure (not politically) how US framework enables every one to come here, work, growâŚetc
We are all like bees (creme of people) all over the world coming here, creating honey nest sharing the success with others in this community.
China side:
I think restrictions are there (I really do not know) and I am hearing most of those government owned or controlled.
It is hard to break it until this framework is changed.
IMO
If framework is changed, people will go out of USA (mass exit) like your brother. At that time, it can happen.
As long as immigrant influx is more than people exiting USA, this status quo will continue.
Above all, Trumpâs corporate tax reduction to 21% attracts like tax haven (compare Chinaâs 55% corp tax) and lot of money influx will continue to grow.
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People should study US history before they comment on it. Start with the CIA and their laundry list of transgressions. The US also spent decades providing arms and fighting wars across the globe agaisnt any communist leader who threatened to take power in a country.
Oliver Stoneâs documentary on Netflix is pretty good. It also make you realize tensions now are nothing compared to prior generations. The idea the US is more divided than ever is a media narrative since fear sells.
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Correlation does not imply causation. Soft power has a lot to do as well with how admired a societyâs brand is, and the values that the society stands for. I would argue that No one admires the values of modern Chinese society - âme first, perpetual whining/grievance, economic theft, and amoral behavior.â
Now the society in the US itself has its work cutout for itself - it is sliding in the same direction.
Arguably speaking, Canadian society and soft power has been quietly growing at US expense. Further, the values of society in Taiwan and Singapore are a better representation of what Chinese society could strive to become.
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Canada has too small of a population to make any difference. China will become as rich as Taiwan and Singapore in due time.
You are conflating money with everything else.
Give your money to me then if you donât want it.
Blah, blah, blahâŚâŚâŚ
The American farmers are doomed! They wonât have the luxury to wait for a compensation from China buying their grains since the liar in chief destroyed them in 9 months of mumbling jumbling stupidity.
The end!
âtrade overall is up 6.4% from the same point last year, pushing Kuehne + Nagelâs World Trade Indicator to 143.7, the highest level since records began.â
I wonder what this means to the big freight movers of the world - Evergreen, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, etc. Didnât Hanjin nearly go belly up in 2016?
Thank you thank you.
How come not HK 
Btw, Singapore is a multi-racial nation, is a model for how races can live together harmonious 
and many true rag2rich Singaporeans. For example, we donât call ourselves Chinese Singaporeans, Malay Singaporeans, Indian Singaporeans⌠Just Singaporeans. Singapore is a nation, not a race, why qualified it with a race?