Tesla rising above geopolitics to serve Chinese market
Youtube video
The 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services, or CIFTIS, is underway in Beijing. It is the first major international economic and trade event held by China since the COVID-19 outbreak with innovation seen as key to adapting to new realities. Both Chinese and foreign companies have showcased their latest products and services. The American firm Tesla is one such company. While Tesla is best known for green energy, electric vehicles and self-driving cars, in China it is known for its Shanghai Gigafactory. As the White House urges decoupling, Tesla is determined to serve the Chinese market. The Tesla Gigafactory is churning out Tesla Model 3s and is on course to produce 150,000 cars this year. CGTN's Tian Wei met Grace Tao, Tesla China's global vice president, at the Tesla Pavilion to find out more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdJrKWJsDnY
Is America a Myth?
By Robin Wright, New Yorker, September 8, 2020.
This article is of interest because the internal conflicts of society and politics are the main source of America’s hostility to China. The following are quotes from the article.
“The United States has deepening political and cultural cleavages—possibly too many to repair soon, or, perhaps, at all.”
“We are very different Americans, each with different origin stories and value sets, many of which are incompatible.”
The country was settled by diverse cultures: Puritans in New England, Dutch around NYC, slave lords from Barbados and the West Indies in the Deep South.
“At nearly every step [in America’s history] it required morally indefensible compromises that only pushed problems further into the future.”
“Since the eighteen thirties [emphasis mine], the United States has gone through cycles of crises that threatened its cohesion”: the Civil War, the 1930s, the 1960s, and now in the present.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/is-america-a-myth
Xi’s Post-Virus Economic Strategy for China Looks Inward
New York Times, September 7. 2020.
The Chinese leader’s latest approach calls for a more robust domestic economy to insulate growth from tensions with the United States.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/business/china-xi-economy.html
The myth of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ and realities of Chinese development finance
By Ajit Singh (2020) Third World Quarterly
In recent decades China has emerged as a leader in international development finance, with the potential to provide sorely needed funds to address major global developmental gaps. However, not everyone is optimistic about this new source of lending. A narrative of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ has emerged to describe Chinese lending to developing countries – most ardently advanced by the United States – contending that China seeks to ensnare smaller countries with onerous levels of debt in order to realise neocolonial aims. This article argues that the theory of debt-trap diplomacy does not accurately describe Chinese finance.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2020.1807318
The China I've seen: YouTuber defends China from anti-China rhetoric
Jerry, a YouTuber living in Qingdao, shares why he thinks it's untrue and unjust to depict China, a country, as a "villain."
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
