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Embarrassing the US is high value.

• wongarsu 5y ago
  If somebody like China is caught sabotaging JWST the fallout could be immense. They would be accused of trying to hold back human progress, and I could easily imagine high profile Chinese scientists leaving the country and science institutions boycotting China. It's not worth the risk.
  • leephillips 5y ago
    I also don’t think they would want to do this, but I think you’re overestimating the risk. Genocide, stealing the entire South China Sea, and threatening the sovereignty of other nations haven’t inspired such boycotts.
    • adventured 5y ago
      They actually understated the risk by incorrectly assessing where it would come from. The primary risk would be that the US would hit back and attempt to sabotage something important to China (and with China's sprawling global interests now, there are a vast number of soft, highly exposed targets). The US Government can be quite vindictive depending on the context, it will hit you back if it can. The responsible agency wouldn't seek publicity for any successful sabotage, but China would know who did it and what it was for.
  • foobiekr 5y ago
    Schemes like that would involve not taking credit for it - just another example of US failure, not a success by China.