10/08/2023

Never underestimate the talent of Chinese people

 Never forget what the Chinese warned earlier about making EUV or DUV machines, the size of washing machines, and costing just only as much to sell to the rest of the world. Never say it can never happen.

Decades ago, top category copying machines, made by IBM or Rank Zerox, were the size of a small car and cost a bomb that only big companies could afford. Today, a printer, the size of a small attache case can do printing, copying and faxing all in one, and cost so much less. Or take the case of the mobile phone that came a long way from those heavyweight Motorola monsters that could be used for weight training and costing a bomb. A comparable low end mobile phone today costs less than S$200. Who would have thought it possible?

When there is a will, there is a way. The USA and the West were all the time betting on China not retaliating by using its dominance in the rare earth sector, both in reserves and processing. China did retaliate and now the USA and the West are in sixes and sevens, unable to find enough rare earth resources to extract Germanim to compensate for the control exerted by China. The other problem is that the USA still relies on China's rare earth processing facilities, even for its own rare earth ores, and that is another hurdle to overcome more urgently if the tech war escalates.

Various options were talked about earlier regarding Mongolia's rare earth project with the USA, including trying to coax Mongolia to negotiate with the Chinese to lease part of Tianjin Port for shipping rare earth extracted in Mongolia to be shipped to South Korea for refining. The USA thinks the Chinese are blur sotongs and will just simply allow that. China is never going to allow that. There was even talk of airlifting those ores, which will still need to go through China or Russia's airspace, apart from the cost involved. Both options failed upon inception. Now Mongolia is said to be co-operating with China instead.

The more ridiculous option, which clearly shows the desperation of the USA and the West, was the talk of recycling Germanium in minute quantities from old mobile phones and computers, which was found to be even more expensive to undertake than refining rare earth ores to extract Germanium. There was a need to set up expensive recycling facilities and how to resolve the problems associated with the waste generated is even more taxing.

I believe the shortage of Germanium is now critical for the USA and the West, especially for its military usage and chip production. Hence, the USA is being pushed against the war and is lashing out against Huawei. But China can do a tit for tat, with so many channels it can retaliate. 

Anonymous

5 comments:

  1. Natural for Bhutan to establish diplomatic ties with China - Bhutanese PM

    In interview with Indian media, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering confirmed that a possible exchange agreement between land to Bhutan’s North that is under Chinese control, with Bhutan’s Doklam area, was amongst proposals being discussed. The agreement is of particular concern to India due to its proximity with India’s Siliguri corridor or “chicken’s neck” that connects to the Northeastern States.

    He clarified that the “3-Step Roadmap” signed between Bhutan and China in October 2021 comprises first agreeing to the demarcation of the border in talks on the table, after which the two sides would visit the sites along the demarcated line on the ground, before finally and formally demarcating the boundary between them. “We hope to see a line being drawn- this side Bhutan and that side China. We don’t have that right now,”

    The Indian media asked: Is Bhutan considering a change in its foreign policy too, to establish diplomatic ties with China, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council?

    Tshering says: Every country should have a dynamic foreign policy and adjust according to its interests. For Bhutan, with every change of government, our foreign policy does not change. Theoretically, how can Bhutan (as a sovereign nation) not have any bilateral relations with China? The question is when, and in what manner.

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  2. Successful China-Nepal Railway makes India very angry

    India wants to annex Nepal, a food India thinks only it and no one else can enjoy . . .

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP67ysY1KlA

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  3. Never underestimate the talent of the Chinese people is a lesson the West has yet to learn to appreciate. Arrogance and preventing competition are never going to lead to improvements in innovation. It stifles innovation and is a recipe for retardation. Again never forget the quote - 'Blowing out someone's candle won't make mine shine brighter'.

    The West was concentrating on its war on terrorism after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. They took their eyes off China, totally underestimating the Chinese, thinking they are at best only fit to be chefs and laundrymen, without being allowed anywhere near developments by the West. They were stunned by China's three to four decades of quiet industrialisation and progress.

    The most disheartening realisation of the West was that the Chinese, in spite of being locked out from participation in most high tech experiments by the West, managed to have a space station of its own, landed on the moon and could even land a probe on Mars. While on the ground, the Chinese built their own aircraft carriers, jet engines, hypersonic missiles, mastering drone technology, building supercomputers, excel in AI, built tens of thousands of kilometres of high speed railways that others envy, gaining infrastructure construction expertise that others also envy. Did the Chinese steal all that technology when it was prevented from even coming close to having a peek at such innovation being conspired by the West.

    To top the accolades, China also lifted more than 800 million of its poor out of the poverty trap. Who else could rival that? Did China steal such poverty relief expertise from the USA? The USA could not even lift its own 50 million poverty stricken citizens living on the streets and that says a lot about its bragging rights as the richest country in the world.



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  4. Maldives goes from ‘India first’ to ‘India out’

    With President-elect of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, a known “India Out” backer and a pro-China leader, signalling to steer Male towards a Beijing-centric foreign policy, the Indian foreign policy establishment is set to face tough and testing times in the atoll nation, having immense strategic importance in the Indian Ocean.

    Confirming India’s fears, Muizzu announced to initiate the process of removing Indian military personnel from the island nation from 17 November when he will take over the Presidential office formally, in what is seen as a clear indication that “he wants to get rid of India’s influence and bring China closer to Maldives”.

    Muizzu made this clear in his victory speech, stating that the people have decided they do not want Indian troops in the country. “Those who have deployed (Indian) troops here would not want to keep them here if we don’t want it. The people have decided and don’t want Indian troops to stay in the Maldives. Therefore, foreign soldiers cannot be here against our sentiments, against our will.’’ There was thunderous applause from the audience when Muizzu announced the removal of the foreign (Indian) military forces from the Maldives, a 100-percent Muslim nation.

    Removing Indian troops from the Maldives was a key election promise made by Muizzu. He won the elections defeating incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who had once projected the “India First Policy”.

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  5. India calls Singapore as "Singapur" !


    https://www.deccanherald.com/india/delhi/singapore-embassy-gives-spell-check-first-advice-to-delhi-mcd-after-gaffe-on-signage-2717650

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