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Friday, December 30, 2022

China - World Leader


 


Icon for China - World Leader.

The best option for USA and the rest of the world is to accept that it is no longer the #1 world power. There is no way to stop China’s rise, unless USA goes to war with China in which case everybody loses.

Well, this is very clear.

But, as always, none of this is reported in the West. So most Americans, Brits and Europeans are unaware of the announcements that China has made regarding their plans and the actions that they are involved in. 

Here’s a summary of the plan.

 

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It won’t be. It will simply lose its #1 position in the world. USA will remain a superpower for many decades to come.

China will overtake USA for the #1 spot, probably within the next decade or two. The reasons for this are many:

  1. China is an unstoppable economic juggernaut. It is already the world’s largest economy by GDP PPP, and it is expected to surpass USA in terms of nominal GDP by the end of this decade.
  2. USA faces numerous and daunting domestic problems such as deep and chronic political division, crushing national debt, crumbling infrastructure, unaffordable health care, unaffordable housing, mass incarceration, rampant gun violence, systemic racism, extreme economic inequality, etc.
  3. USA is failing in foreign policy. Just look at the recent Afghanistan fiasco. Look at Iraq and Syria.
  4. China doesn’t waste money on the military; it uses its money for economic development. USA spends nearly a trillion dollars on the military, more than the next 11 countries combined!
  5. China doesn’t waste energy fighting wars; it hasn’t fought a single war since 1979! USA has fought wars in Afghanistan, Bosnia, El Salvador, Grenada, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, etc.
  6. Countries are starting to move away from the US Dollar, turning to the Euro, Bitcoin, and even the Yuan.
  7. China’s Belt and Road Initiative is gaining massive influence around the globe. In Latin America and Africa and Middle East and Central Asia and SE Asia.
  8. China engages ASEAN countries in trade through RCEP, the world’s largest free trade bloc.
  9. China is pursuing diplomacy throughout the Middle East rather than bombing the shit out of the region. Recently, it signed a 25-year cooperation deal with Iran. And China is negotiating with the Taliban for the future of Afghanistan instead of invading and occupying the country for 20 years.
  10. China has 4X the US population: 1.4 billion people. They are moving towards full development.

USA’s heydays are over.









 

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

US politicians get jittery about TikTok’s tech, rising influence

 


Some Biden administration officials are pushing for the sale of TikTok's US branch, citing the so-called security concerns over the company's operations in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. 

One couldn't help but raise the suspicion that behind the so-called reasons of protecting US national security is the untold, hidden intention to seize Chinese technology.

While a forced sale may just be a proposal for discussion by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, there is no denying that TikTok has been increasingly cornered in the US. This is not because its commercial operation has run into problems, but because it has faced growing political coercion from anti-China politicians in Washington.

At least 15 states across the US have banned TikTok on government devices in the past month. Many federal agencies, including the White House and the departments of defense, homeland security and state, have already banned TikTok from government-owned devices. The latest funding bill passed by the US Congress last week includes a measure banning TikTok from devices used by federal employees. 

Two weeks ago, anti-China senators including Marco Rubio announced a legislation bid to block all transactions from any social media company "in or under the influence" of China and Russia, which could kick TikTok out of the US if the bill were to become law.

All of these bans or legislative efforts are on the grounds of the so-called national security threat. Without any solid evidence or proof, the charge has been frequently used by the US government in cracking down on TikTok for quite some time. 

Former US President Donald Trump once attempted to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to US companies two years ago, but a US federal judge blocked the attempt, and further bids to argue the case were dropped when the Biden administration came to power.

Yet, as TikTok has gained a larger market share amid a challenging business climate, there has been a menacing resurfacing of national security risks, which offers a glimpse into the deterioration of regulatory environment in the US. 

It is doubtful how much US national security is at stake that precipitated Washiington's crackdown on TikTok. Instead, it looks increasingly like a robbery of others' technology. 

A report published by GroupM, a media buying agency owned by WPP, estimated earlier this month that TikTok doubled its advertising revenues in 2022, becoming the only big social media platform to garner rising advertising revenues this year, beating rivals like Meta and Snap.

What Washington cares about is not whether TikTok is free of security concerns, but the sheer commercial interests behind the rapid rise of TikTok. To put it bluntly, the US government never appeared interested in offering any solution to the so-called security problem.

The US use of government power to stigmatize or try to rob TikTok is nothing but a Washington driven effort to maintain its global hegemony. If anything, unfair treatments the company received in the US market have been sufficient enough to hurt its reputation and increase the political risks in the eyes of the investors and advertisers, which will inevitably squeeze the country's future development space. 

To put it another way, it shows that Washington simply cannot allow a foreign company to grow competitive enough to challenge its American peers.

The reason why TikTok has been targeted by the US is because it represents the rise of a new algorithmic technology that has enabled it to become the most successful app in the world in recent years. This is the representative of Chinese high-tech companies gaining an advantage in international markets through their own innovations. 

Indeed, when the former Trump administration tried to push through a forced sale of TikTok in 2020, China introduced a new export regulation requiring Beijing's approval for certain technology transfers, including recommendation algorithms. And it is beyond doubt that China will protect its own core technologies and will not allow technology robbery by any party. 

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Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Malaysia faces brain drain in every skilled sector, officials say

 

 Cause for concern: Dr Noor Hisham said the migration of health professionals was fuelled by many reasons, including economic factors. — LOW BOON TAT/The Star

Migration of health professionals was fuelled by many reasons, including economic factors. PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

 

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PETALING JAYA - Malaysia’s healthcare sector is not the only one facing a brain drain as other skilled sectors are facing the same problem, top officials say, as they responded to comments by a leading academic that the country’s top university loses at least 30 of its best medical graduates to Singapore every year.

New Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa said the brain drain is definitely a loss, but insisted that the right skills be inculcated to ensure that Malaysians continue to receive the highest quality services.

She said she was aware of the recommendations of the Human Resources for Health Strategy of her predecessors, including on the recruitment of doctors, improving the quality of training with clearer career pathways and improving their working conditions.

Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said on Friday: “The issue of brain drain cuts across the workforce. It’s across all specialities, not only in the medical field.”

On complaints by medical students of poor working conditions, bullying, low wages, as well as inadequate training and career opportunities, he said there was no guarantee that migration would stop even if these issues ceased.

He said the migration of health professionals was fuelled by many reasons, including economic factors.

“Singapore’s currency is three times better than ours. Many Johoreans cross over to work in Singapore, so can the same argument be used?

“Even Singapore’s healthcare system has a similar issue with its citizens migrating elsewhere like to Australia,” he added.

The issue of brain loss was raised on Thursday by Professor Adeeba Kamarulzaman, who said the top college, Universiti Malaya, loses at least 30 of its best and brightest medical graduates to Singapore every year.

The professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Universiti Malaya’s medical faculty said in a tweet on Thursday that the brain drain will continue if nothing is done to address issues such as a lack of clear training and career pathways for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals

A male nurse working in Singapore told The Star that working in the Republic provided him the opportunity to gain wider experience.

“Singapore practises international standards and if I want to find jobs in Australia, New Zealand or even the United Kingdom, it will be easy for me,” he said, adding that nurses in Singapore undergo procedure competency courses frequently.

Malaysian Medical Association president Muruga Raj Rajathurai said the government needed to take steps to provide better career prospects in terms of career advancement and remuneration.

“Better pay is among the main reasons the junior doctors are leaving to work abroad. It doesn’t help that the cost of living has gone up in the country.

“Issues such as the contract system, permanent positions and even burnout need to be resolved or doctors will lose hope in the system and leave for greener pastures,” he said on Friday.

National Association of Human Resources Malaysia president Zarina Ismail, who runs a recruitment agency, said her firm found employment for qualified Malaysians such as nurses, doctors, lecturers and oil and gas professionals to work overseas.

“Many of the nurses say they don’t make enough here to have any savings at the end of the month.

“That is why they choose to look for jobs in countries like Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, where they can earn RM12,000 (S$3,700) monthly,” she said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK 

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