Homework and a sincere request

Good morning. Japan and China are having a row. Given their history in wars, it’s not good when a row bubbles over into military one-upsmanship. Chinese J-15 fighters locked on to Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-15 aircraft while flying over international waters southeast of Okinawa over the weekend, Japan Times reports. The argument stems from remarks made last month by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about deploying Japanese self-defense forces in a “worst case” scenario, such as “a naval blockade of Taiwan.” Any mention of Taiwan and military intervention is enough to bristle the hairs of the PRC, and Takaichi has not appropriately apologized or retracted her statements by Beijing’s standards.

Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash

As for the U.S., we’ve always been leaning toward Taiwan, even though our official “one China” policy remains. For example, when New York Times economics reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin spoke with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the recent Dealbook Summit, the topic of Taiwan brought to mind the scene from the movie Fargo where Jerry Lundegaard tells police chief Marge, “I answered your question!”with a smile.

Bessent said: “The United States is an ally of China. The relationship remains unchanged.” Asked to clarify if he meant China or Taiwan, he said: “And Taiwan,” and repeated that “the relationship remains unchanged.”

We remain strategically careful when dealing with Taiwan, the fount from which Nvidia’s great wealth flows (along with every other customer of TSMC). China sees itself as a peer of the U.S., though an adversary in nearly every domain. They also see us as a cash cow to buy the things they sell us.

In military exercises, the U.S. considers China a “near-peer” potential enemy in a fight. Of course, China and America are both nuclear powers. Japan is not, by choice. If Japan decided to be a nuclear power, it would take about six months for them to get there, and really nothing can stop the world leader in civilian nuclear technology from getting there. I hope you can see why any military tit-for-tatting between Japan and China is simply not a good thing for the United States or the rest of the world.

So I have some homework for you about China, our frenemy.

Chinese everything-maker Xiaomi has made a new EV called the SU7. From everyone who’s driven it’s reviews, it’s a really nice car. But it’s not for sale in the U.S. Your homework is to watch Marques Brownlee’s review of the SU7 and answer for yourself the question: “are we cooked?”

Specifically, should the U.S. allow the SU7 to be sold at the artificially low price set by the CCP? Would it be good for the United States and our consumers to have access to this vehicle at that price, or would it kill the U.S. auto industry like it’s killed our steel and electronics industries? Are we penning ourselves in like we did with shipbuilding and port automation? Has China given us a run for our money, and might outrun us?

I am, of course, going to write about this and contribute my opinions. So use this time to bone up and offer your own takes.

Now, an ask.

I’ve been writing near daily for a dozen years. David Thornton has a similar timeline. We’ve both made a little money here and there, but this site generates zero income. I like to write, and will continue in some form, but I’d like to explore how we can satisfy both the craving to write (and yours to read and contribute) and my family’s need to raise money for various kid-based things that are expensive, like marching band fees, music lessons and the like.

We’ve been doing things like boarding dogs (my wife’s good at it), but we wanted to see if we can expand that since having other people’s dogs in the house tends to limit our own flexibility in activities.

Would you be willing to look at a voluntary fee-based membership? How about if we rebranded? We’re toying with the idea, especially since Matt Taibbi has coopted our name and that creates confusion. Any thoughts on what names or brands might fit (for those who read regularly). Would it be better to offer a different platform, like Patreon, or Medium? Or even go into streaming like Nebula?

Let me know in the comments. I’m open to any good ideas (I don’t know what’s good so even if you think it’s bad, chime in). I am not trying to build a media empire, or become editor-in-chief of CBS News. But I think good writing and the thinking behind it is worthy of some support.

Thanks for everyone’s help, and I’m grateful to everyone who reads The Racket News™️. You are all the best audience I’ve ever written for.

Now go and tell everyone about this site. Spread the word.

And soon I’ll have my take on China and the Great Wall of Electric Goats.