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> China is more than willing to manipulate cultural messages with money, so we need some kind of cultural counter to that. No we don't. China may act peeved th
by Aunche 4y ago
> China is more than willing to manipulate cultural messages with money, so we need some kind of cultural counter to that.
No we don't. China may act peeved that foreign companies are virtue signalling, but they'd secretly relish at the opportunity of finding an excuse to boycott or ban these foreign products, so that their wealth stays circulating in their domestic economy. Look at what happened to Nike and H&M after they voiced concerns about Xinjiang. The CPC organized consumer boycotts of these companies, but happily allowed factories to continue to sell their goods to sell to them. China itself recognizes that it only makes sense to virtue signal when it is economical to do so.
The NBA and Blizzard made the correct decision to kowtow to China, economically as well as morally. Getting them kicked out of China does not help Hong Kong, but would threaten to free world as the balance of trade would make us even more beholden to China. In a complicated, globalized world, marginal thinking is the only option.
- pphysch 4y ago> Look at what happened to Nike and H&M after they voiced concerns about Xinjiang. A global company that wastes resources engaging in hysterically overblown State Department propaganda is a company that compromises the credibility of its leadership to make intelligent strategic decisions. We're out of the unipolar era, and companies that are stuck it in it will get outpaced.
- cromwellian 4y agoI think Google proved you can live and thrive without the China domestic market.
- pphysch 4y agoGoogle doesn't have any full-spectrum peer competitors, much less any that are operating in both PRC and USA.
- cromwellian 4y agoApple didn't either (for premium smartphones) until, arguably, basing their manufacturing there helped standup a large infrastructure that could easily be turned around to make Huawei, Xiaomi, and other devices. If Apple had somehow managed to make iPhones in Vietnam instead of Shenzhen, would they really be facing the premium tier competition from Huawei they face in the EU?