Welcome to the new year where not much has changed thus far but we must continue to educate each other. By educating one another it is assumed that one side is actually listening to the other and vice versa. It is also assumed that you know what you’re talking about…otherwise it’s not educating each other: That is called gossip, scoffing, and it is the opposite of helpful. Also, do not be afraid to crack open a book (or 2, or 100) and spend some time learning before claiming to be an expert on everything in the world because you saw meme on Facebook (my digression is real and I am aware of it). However, the subject of this post is China (the CCP, not the private citizens). China has been siphoning (some call it stealing) technology off the United States for many years. They, like Russia, have also taken advantage of U.S. democracy and citizens in order to further their progress in becoming “the” world power. The Chinese company Tencent has taken large stakes of ownership in U.S. space start-ups Moon Express, Planetary Resources, NonaRacks, and World View Enterprises. This allows them to claim rights to technology that is developed through these U.S. organizations. As the owner of two of the largest social media apps, WeChat and QQ, Tencent acts as an extension of the Chinese government by censoring, monitoring, and reporting communications.
In addition to owning stakes in these companies, China utilizes the United States people and government to fund their own companies. A whopping seven-hundred Chinese companies are traded in the U.S. debt and equity markets. The majority of these companies are state-owned and controlled by the Chinese government. Consequently, the next generation of Chinese military capabilities, space technology, aircraft, etc. will be largely funded and developed through United States citizens. We are openly assisting China in their ascent. While our bureaucracy bangs its’ head against the wall and continues to believe that our diplomacy is the answer, China (and Russia) continues on moving to the next thing. To use a sports analogy, we’re behind in the game and they’re still getting first downs on us. Finally, to those that are screaming about climate change, it must be noted that China is the biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. China is also the world’s largest coal user, and in 2019 it had 121 gigawatts of coal plants under construction (which is more than the rest of the world combined). Somebody should send a 12 year old girl over there to lecture Xi Jinping. Not only do they pollute the world more than any other country, but they also outsource their pollution (in addition to their outsourced funding and tech stealing). They have over 260 coal-fired power plants across Asia and Africa and a Chinese plant in Kenya is the largest source of pollution in that country. Again, while we battle each other within the government, use race as leverage, scroll Facebook, create memes, read the comments, steal podiums (and somehow have time for a candid shot whilst stealing it), we just put ourselves further in a hole. As discussed in an earlier post we are not doing ourselves any favors. It is quite the understatement to say that it is embarrassing to see the things grown adults are doing and saying right now. Let’s get better people. God bless!
Wilks Wroasting 