cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/45325294

https://archive.is/XjUjC

Taiwan’s failure to secure a trade deal with Donald Trump before his August 1 deadline has deepened fears that Washington could water down security support for Taipei to smooth relations with Beijing.

Trump on Thursday imposed a 20 per cent tariff on imports from Taiwan. The levies are due to take effect next week.

  • panda_abyss@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    I don’t think the US government has any sort of grand plan more coherent than one of Trumps oily McDonald’s shits anymore.

    • bassomitron@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      100%, this. Not even most of the P2025 ghouls really support Trump’s absurd obsession with tariffs. But it’s the only real weapon he has to threaten countries with that don’t bow down to him. It’s why I’m surprised the billionaires-- I mean Congress–haven’t taken away this toy from him yet, since a fucked US economy will hurt their bottomline eventually.

      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        since a fucked US economy will hurt their bottomline eventually.

        No it won’t. Dollars are just a useful transfer tool for them. Their wealth is in assets. And when the US crashes, assets become cheap. So cheap they can buy the vast majority of them and rug pull everyone.

  • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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    1 day ago

    even taiwan? are they just alienating themselves from the rest of the planet?*

    *(not complaining)

    • BetaBlake@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Oh you should complain no matter how you feel. A Chinese or Russian hegemonic power is not a good thing for anyone, people can’t be that naive

      • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        the current us hegemony, warmongering, genocide and coercion is not good for anyone. while one of the countries you mentioned hasnt been at war for about ~50 years. not complaining, still.

        don’t blame china or russia for usian shortcomings.

        • Impound4017@sh.itjust.works
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          18 hours ago

          Surprise! The world is complex and all three can be not good for anyone, with room for more bad actors besides. Plus, while China isn’t at war with anyone (and hasn’t, as you said, been at war for fifty years), it doesn’t mean that they haven’t signaled their intention to take Taiwan - militarily, if needed, nor that they aren’t abhorrent in just the same way their international peers are (See: Uyghurs, the Chinese surveillance state, excessive force response to protests, etc.). This isn’t a defense of the US, but rather to say that acknowledging the shortcomings of China and Russia (which frankly should not be in the same category as the US and China) is not a way of blaming them for the shortcomings of the US, it’s just being realistic.

          • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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            14 hours ago

            my buddy in christ, only one of these three has killed millions of people, with tens of millions more starved, and hundreds of millions more kept in poverty.

            even if every single bad thing said in the west about china and russia were true, it still wouldn’t come close. there is not a “both sides” here.

            • Impound4017@sh.itjust.works
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              13 hours ago

              If you believe I am “both-sidesing” this, then you have missed the point. I’m not going to defend the actions of the US because, frankly, they are indefensible, but that doesn’t mean that China or Russia as regional hegemons would be a good outcome either, because their actions are also indefensible. I’m advocating for Taiwanese autonomy here, because their right to self-determination is something that is worth preserving, just as is the case for any self-governing nation.

              • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
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                12 hours ago

                its just that i don’t remember the last time china destabilized the entire middle east, is all.

                like, take a little look at the us past man. nothing in history compares.

                • Impound4017@sh.itjust.works
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                  6 hours ago

                  Uhh… yeah. I know? That’s why I said the US’s actions are indefensible? I feel like you’re shadowboxing a point that I’ve never made here lol