this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Only if Germany lasts decades.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

That would be BaSED.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

lol yeah not a guarantee at this point

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

goddammit wanted to make the same joke

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Questionable I think, not because of their intent but because they're a vassal occupied by the US.

"I consent", "I consent" "Isn't there someone you forgot to ask?".jpeg

USA: I do NOT consent. Proceeds to instigate a hot war with China over Taiwan by 2028, drags NATO losers like Germany into it, insists they sanction and hard decouple from China just like Russia to stand up for freedom and stuff, Germany like a good dog complies.

West: Loses. US: Makes sure EU keeps sanctions, tells them China will crumble any-day now, quietly steals their market-share just like with Russia

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

I guess US knows they have to let some companies go to China, but they are getting a lot of business out of this too. For example:

A survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry last September found that 43 per cent of large industrial companies were planning to relocate their operations outside of Germany, with the US being the top destination.

https://www.ft.com/content/5d98bcab-c8bc-49c8-83a0-88522194f64d

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Frankly? If a hot war happens, and if nukes start flying, the US has to be wiped off the map. That's my take on it- the world will never be free without it. It makes no sense to leave the empire of genocide and forever wars intact, to simply continue poisoning the entire world like you describe. If nuclear war (which is likely what said "hot war" will become) happens every bit of the Anglo-American imperial institutions must be uprooted and destroyed in their entirety.

edit- also, either way, the sanctions have been the straw on the camel's back- if the CPC is smart (they are) and if the rest of the BRICS is also (they generally are) they will "de-risk" from Germany and the EU either way. At this point it doesn't matter if the sanctions are lifted; the path forward for China is to perhaps cooperate with the EU where profitable, but to chart its own course with a focus on self-sufficiency and prioritizing actually reliable partners, rather than the slimy imperialists, who will sooner or later try to sabotage them yet again. Same goes for India, Russia, and the rest of the world- frankly, western Europe and its colonial spawn have spent 500 years showing the world the treacherous, malicious nature of its institutions and societies, and thankfully this time around I think the lessons will stick (particularly because other options are now available) for most of humanity.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (3 children)

“It would be a gross misunderstanding to think that it was the intention of this government [to want to reduce trade with China]. We want to further expand trade with China, taking into account the need for de-risking and diversification,” said a German government official.

The more you trade with China, the more "risk" (if China were belligerent) there will be. You cannot both increase the volume of trade and de-risk, unless you reduce trade in critical components and increase trade volume in say, consumer goods. I am not seeing anything about such a strategy, or really, any strategy at all. I don't know if it's just because the articles ain't saying shit, or the Germans just have no plan whatsoever. And even when it comes to trade in consumer goods, the Germans were complaining about solar panels and EVs, 2 sectors where you can easily increase trade volume without risking your economy.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

it's such a clown show in Germany right now

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

It really is. The sheer stupidity and mediocrity displayed by our politicians is mind boggling, and this even goes for those ones who don't act like they were seemingly manufactured in an American NGO's lab to do nothing but be rabid Atlanticists and lick Washington's boots.

If you're in German politics you either are a complete ghoul who enthusiastically supports Germany's total economic ruin and subjugation to US diktat, or you were only allowed to get to where you are because you are too naive and provincial to understand how the world works. Possibly the former are also masquerading as the latter.

At least now i understand how the Japanese must have felt when the US permanently kneecapped their economy with the Plaza Accord in the 1980s. Although i have to assume that it wasn't quite as obvious back then what the US was doing and the effect it would have, because how the fuck would any self-respecting country just knowingly allow something like this to be done to it?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

It's a good analogy, and completely agree that this time around it's very obvious from the start what's happening.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

It's almost like they know all their fearmongering about China is bullshit or something...

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I think what they could mean is that they want to reduce their industries' supply chain reliance on China and at the same time selling more of their shit to Chinese customers which outside of their fantasy neoliberal dreamscape is not possible. They know this too which is why they dress it with jargon like "de-risking" so that the average reader does not catch on to their bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm not so sure I agree.

Even if there is any german company left decades from now they might have sanctioned China by them.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Personally, I don't see how the west can break dependence on China without a complete upheaval of the political system.