Roujin wrote:

I think China is already investing in African states, so they will maintain control of production once it becomes viable in those areas.

They absolutely are. Just one example, but they have been funding road and telecommunications infrastructure building in Kenya for decades.

GooberTheHat wrote:

Roujin wrote:

I think China is already investing in African states, so they will maintain control of production once it becomes viable in those areas.

They absolutely are. Just one example, but they have been funding road and telecommunications infrastructure building in Kenya for decades.

They've been funding big public infrastructure in Africa for decades. It's mostly for access to rare earth minerals etc...

Industry will eventually move away from China, it already is to a degree, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand will be used and then Africa etc...

That whole interview was pretty interesting.
His tone was very much of China being in control and the opinions of the UK not being of much importance.
(Which let's face it is the reality)

The assumption in the West was that integrating with China economically would encourage them to open up and steer them towards a more liberal set up. It’s apparent now that’s not happening so they’re trying to realign the power balance a bit. I’ve only caught the gist of that Andrew Marr interview this morning but I don’t think he’d have been allowed to ask the Chinese ambassador about the Uighurs until very recently.

The EU has finally agreed on non-repayable payouts to the countries most affected by Covid, which is great news for Spain and Italy. It shows the Union working as it should in some form of solidarity anyway, despite fucking Holland being curmudgeons.

Made a point way back pre-Brexit (or maybe after) about the Dutch in the EU - they’re socially conservative when it comes to the EU, despite what people may think due to Amsterdam, and tend to dislike “federal” EU movements. Not a surprise they didn’t want this.

Also a de facto tax haven.

Even since his move to Liverpool?

Minnesänger wrote:

Deffo not an “ever closer union” loving country.

You’re right there. Even Amsterdam is a strongly anti-EU city. If the Netherlands ever held an EU referendum, it’d be a landslide for leave.

I only have direct knowledge of Amsterdam (we have a studio there, I’m on video calls with the guys regularly). Basically the Dutch don’t give a toss about the UK. What we do has zero influence on the fact that they already hate the EU. They’re heavily nationalist and individualist. Thankfully, they have a progressive government trying hard to look out for them, despite their idiocy.

From what I’d seen I don’t know if they’d actually vote to leave, despite some common sentiment. They were a good ally for us in the EU and I’d argue that having Euro-sceptic countries in the union is no bad thing - I didn’t mean socially conservative as a slur.

It’s worth having countries like that to push back against the fact that the Franco-German alliance can bulldoze smaller countries. Having the British and the Dutch occasionally being, in pro-closer union eyes, dicks was useful for setting lines and avoiding those two countries having completely free reign.

Oh goody.

Humans really are just fucking stupid. So much potential ruined by a parade of pompous psychopathic cunts.

I wonder if more accurately: power is aggressively acquired by the worst types of people.

We do have a habit in our societies to treat addiction to money and power as positives right up to the extreme then suddenly expect things to change.