Brazil defies US, cozies up to Chinese tech on chip building Brazil took its first tentative steps towards a relationship with China's tech industry this week in defiance of US efforts to dissuade its erstwhile ally from siding with the Middle Kingdom. In a meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping this week, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva agreed to form a working group to …
The problem regarding monopoly is that when China gets involved, (purely based on what I've read) then everything becomes Chinese. Their workers get shipped in, all the profits go their way and contracts with no disclosure clauses then tie up the other country from saying a damn thing about it. Signing with China really does seem to be the modern dance with the devil.
> Brazilian officials have brushed off any US pressure
Not surprising that the economic bloc on the way up should meet another one on the way down.
It was reported (though apparently not in the western press) a couple of weeks ago that when Purchasing Power Parity i.e. how much money it takes to buy the same amount of stuff, is taken into account the BRICS nations now surpass the G7.
I suppose the amount of credibility you assign to articles like that depends on who you believe, or want to believe.
Whether it stands up to rigorous scrutiny or not is probably secondary. But the direction of travel, for both groups, seems credible. If only due to the sheer size of the respective populations.
The fact that the US started semiconductor technology 70 years ago or more has absolutely no relevance to what its doing today. Its a bit like saying that because the British first started using steam to power industry and transport that they should be granted a monopoly on steam technology in perpetuity.
We always have the notion "to the US-led coalition of countries" repeated in this article as if it really is "the coalition of the willing". Its not. Its just countries we can coerce or downright bully to follow our policies. Countries like Japan who once felt our wrath for getting too big for their boots -- Japanese memory manufacturers were suppressed in the 1980s because they were outclassing us.
Brazil has already learned about the US's 'free market' policies. Embraer was starting to compete with Boeing so was 'dealt with'. Even Lua himself was 'dealt with', moved out in a form of coup and replaced by a super-right wing 'hand over the country's resources for a cut' sorts. There can be no friendship with the US, merely the prudence needed to avoid the attention of a powerful and likely very dangerous adversary. Meanwhile progress has to be made and, unfortunately for us in America, that's means working with the Chinese. They're going places, they're not spending all their efforts trying to hold things back to preserve their dominance.
I'm writing this as an American, BTW. I fear that our Federal government is doing more and more harm to us as a nation. Its locked in a bubble of its own creation, in an Alice in Wonderland world which has no relation to the real world. If we weren't so damn dangerous everyone would just plain ignore us.
Even Lua himself was 'dealt with', moved out in a form of coup and replaced by a super-right wing 'hand over the country's resources for a cut' sorts.
I wouldn't call it a coup. Lula's party -- at the time the president was an incredibly incompetent lady of his party -- decided not to let some politicians *of all spectra* get their way and was ousted by a sort of a crime that was committed before, by other presidents, who were more malleable.
You're right about the right-wing idiot, except the cut never came (unless you count all the jewels he got as a present from some middle-east nice guys.
Assholes. We're surrounded by assholes, and we keep electing them.
I wouldn't call it a coup.
Not a traditional coup ie: with local military/power groups overthrowing a legitimately elected government with US State Department support.
eg: Chile and Argentina are the bloodiest examples.
An old (expensive in every sebnse) recipe which has gone way past its prime, so to speak.
Now it is called lawfare and is just as quite effective with the key players and money sources kept from scrutiny.
... was ousted by a sort of a crime that was committed before ...
No, there was no crime, committed or proved on behalf of DaSilva.
Please don't spread FUD, do some research instead. 8^)
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Governments tend to be inward-looking. As a consequence they seldom think of how the real world will react to their decisions. The real world will very often work round the decisions so the achievement is usually at best minimal and at worst adverse.
But realistically what have we (the US) to offer them?
Realistically?
Just more of the same.
As the prime example: check out US State Department involvement in Central (Caribbean nations included) and South America in the 20th. century.
eg: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Gualemala, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru ...
Not to mention the long sharp claws of the IMF with US corporations and investment funds reaping the resulting spoils for peanuts.
And it is not a question of Republican or Democrat administrations as the State Department sees the rest of the continent as their back yard *.
eg: Check out what the commander of United States Southern Command has been up to as of late.
So, you can expect more of that, nothing else.
ie: same shit, just different colour and texture.
* No, Canada is not exempt: the US considers it their front yard and as such, they need to be much more discreet.
At least as long as the UK and France remain their allies.
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"And it is not a question of Republican or Democrat administrations as the State Department sees the rest of the continent as their back yard *."
This is not even remotely anything new. This year will mark the 200th anniversary of the Monroe doctrine, which loosely speaking is saying that it's against US interest to allow foreign influence in the affairs of the Americas (of course the unspoken part of it is that the good ol' US of A is free to stick it's nose anywhere and everywhere from the Bering Strait to Tierra del Fuego).
I'm pretty sure there's a lot of resentment built up in Latin America given that the US has meddled directly or indirectly in any number of coups against democratically elected governments. No wonder the US hates Venezuela and Cuba, the only 2 places that have successfully kicked out US puppets (OK they have been replaced by local dictators rather than stable democracies, but that's partly due to the political backlash + US-led economic sanctions)
You need to realize that just because you believe something is true doesn’t make it true in real life. The truth in that instance is only in your head.
You would also be wise to refrain from speaking, for Canadians, who are quite capable of telling you telling us where they are with their neighbor.
As much as I detest their cozying up to China, Brazil has always had an issue with how the US treats other countries, especially those in what's traditionally called 'The Third World'. Famously, Brazil introduced fingerprinting for US citizens when the US demanded that certain foreigns citizen entering the US had to give theirs (it's described elsewhere on t'Internet), and because they didn't quite have the tech, resorted to ye olde ink pad and paper... leading to a number of Yanks throwing a strop and being promptly deported back to from whence they came.
If the US wants Brazil to not do business with the Chinese, they'll have to come up with charm tactics, but given that it's Lula who was in charge during that fingerprinting palaver, he won't forget and he'll still flip Joe the middle finger (oh, and before the Trumpeteers begin cheering, he would've done the same with Trump because he detests what Trump stands for). Brazil, South Africa and India (the other two letters in BRICS are Russia and China) like to do business on *their* terms, not what some industrialised Western nation demands... Expect some more sparks to fly in future when South Africa cozies up to Russia and China, and India to Russia (they don't like China very much over their border issues up in the Himalayas).
How do you reconcile your stories on the one instance you paint Americans as a cultural backwater who don’t travel anywhere. And then you make them out to be like this nation that travels everywhere and is in everybody’s business. I mean it can’t be one or the other, so which is it?
I always laugh at banning local telco kit, the whole global SS7 (Signalling System No. 7 - latest version is from 1993-03) back end to the whole phone system is so insecure, it does not really matter what the local telco kit is.
Imagine the peak of computer security in 1993 ? Would you trust it 30 years later ?
Imagine the peak of computer security in 1993 ? Would you trust it 30 years later ?
Yes.
Firstly, there would be at most a couple of megabytes of code in total, making it very simple to spot and resolve any potential security issues. Simplicity is a virtue in some cases.
Secondly, since the system would only connect to something else using using RS232 and black magic it'd be unhacakable unless you had local access to the box. ;)
I'll leave this here then https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_System_No._7?useskin=vector#Protocol_security_vulnerabilities
A US senator knowingly agreed to allow security researchers (Karsten Nohl and Tobias Engel) to eavesdrop on their phone calls for one day using SS7. And the researchers based in Germany were able to listen into his private mobile phone conversations in the US.
The front door has great locks on it, but the back door is wide open.
Good ol' uncle Sam abhors the idea of any of its southern colonies, I mean neighbours, having any sort of independence. You know, because when you stop being a vassal, I mean friend, of the land of freedum 'n leebertay, you automagically become an evil, barbarian red commie.
I also find it very intriguing how iphone owners don't have a qualm with banning Chinese goods, despite most of the hardware being fabricated by and in China.
Generally I would agree, but they might face the problem that their backyard has become very crowded with many countries seeking the exit and cooperating between themselves. And having triggered the financial atomic bomb by expelling Russia from the SWIFT interbanking system, without having brought Russia to its knees by that – who is actually increasing its international commercial exchanges worldwide – has given former vassals a direction out of the US serfdom.
And I think THIS is what makes the US so furious at Russia : they didn't loose. They didn't win either, but the mere fact that they are withstanding the full power of US and NATO (EU doesn't even register) shows other countries that it's possible to stand up to the bully. And this is always a very bad omen for the bully.
Sure Russia is still selling oil. Except they’re actually selling it at a huge loss. They are not reaping the margins like they did when Europe was buying it.
What’s really hurting Russia is despite their shrinking demographics, they’re marshaling their youngest and fittest into a meat grinder.
If these people come out of that alive, they are not going to be ever the same. We’re talking scores of young men that have developed serious psychological injury from their experiences. Along with any physical disablement.
"scores of young men that have developed serious psychological injury from their experiences. Along with any physical disablement."
Not to mention that the ones on the front line know that it's an actual war not a "special military operation", and they can see for themselves the welcome of their Ukrainian 'brothers'. Some of them might start to ask questions, even just among themselves: "Maybe we've been fed a lie and sent to the front line to die just so Putin can wave his willy around a bit"
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