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And those factions have economic ties. I would expect that the sanctions lists would be exploiting those relationships. In China you have an entire village prod

And those factions have economic ties. I would expect that the sanctions lists would be exploiting those relationships. In China you have an entire village producing something like patio umbrellas or golf carts. This creates systemic risks because the US could wipe out industry of an entire village — takenit offline for six months and you can do a lot of political damage. China may be authoritarian but they are not immune to the will of the people. The Mandate of Heaven is almost an early version of democratic ideals. Lose the people you lose the mandate.

seanmcdirmid 8y ago
Of course. The Chinese government isn’t immune to criticism even if they try to suppress it. In fact, they know that their position is very brittle, which is why they are trying to stave off a crash/recession at any cost. Trump’s trade war is enough I think to set an economic reckoning in motion. However, it also gives the leadership a nice scapegoat if they know they can’t avoid it. That might not be good enough, however.
vfulco2 8y ago
If you look at thousands of years of history, it is the power over-reach that causes a swift loss of the Mandate of Heaven. Tied to human nature. Always has been, always will be. There is no superiority to the system's design.