Welcome to the FIRST edition of Where Stuff Comes From Weekly. Every week this newsletter will break down another facet of our massive ‘stuff-chain’ vulnerabilities.
In this week’s Where Stuff Comes From Weekly: some of the most dangerous and most relevant parts of our ‘stuff-chain’ relationships with the Chinese Communist Party.
Cheers,
Max
How The CCP Seeks To Control America
Over the last 3 months I have become increasingly convinced that the United States and her allies have been fighting an ongoing twenty-first century technology and cultural world war with the Chinese Communist Party for the past decade. The fronts of this war span, cyberspace, critical infrastructure, Wall Street, Hollywood, college campuses, mainstream news media, social media, athletics, etc. Subversion, espionage, financing, and direct digital attacks are all tactics being increasingly employed. Where stuff comes from is a central question in this techno-war. Take the opioid crisis facing the United States as an example (see the next section).
Mexican Cartels Are A Proxy For China To Continue Flooding The United States With Fentanyl.
In a crisis only worsened by COVID-19, opioids both natural and synthetic killed almost 49,860 Americans in 2019 (according to the CDC). Where do these crippling drugs come from? Most if not all of the fentanyl entering the United States either comes either directly from Chinese suppliers or from the Mexican cartels that buy their precursor chemicals from Chinese suppliers. China began introducing this extremely potent painkiller into the United States illicit drug market around 2012. Now, Chinese companies are facing greater scrutiny when they export finished Fentanyl directly to the US, so they are more heavily partnering with Mexican cartels to turn Chinese precursors into Mexican finished products. This moderately different ‘stuff-chain’ has the same effect: get more Americans hooked on deadly drugs and perpetuate a grave threat to the United State’s ability to function as a coherent, healthy society. Final note here: I recommend taking a listen to this podcast for an explanation of how China is leveraging the Cartels to move Fentanyl, people, and other nasty cargo into the United States.
Taiwan And Semiconductors Are A Focal Point In The Techno-War With China
Led by Taiwan Semiconductor, the small independent island nation of Taiwan produces more than half of the world’s semiconductors. More importantly, Taiwan is one of only two countries (the other being South Korea by way of Samsung) that can produce the most cutting edge 5nm and 7nm computer chips. It’s arguable that Taiwan Semiconductor is the most important company in the world right now. A CCP takeover of Taiwan, a more violent version of what we saw unfold in Hong Kong this past summer, is a constant threat to Taiwanese freedom and to supply-chains around the rest of the world. China has been consistently testing the waters by flying attack aircraft right off of the Taiwanese coast and even simulating attacks on US aircraft carriers that are stationed in the South China Sea. President Xi’s rhetoric consistently hints that he is preparing the Chinese People’s Liberation Army for combat, with Xi recently stating “The entire army needs to strengthen its performance so as to do a good job of ensuring a good start to the 14th Five-Year Plan, and of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party.” With US automakers and others facing a substantial semiconductor chip shortage, and the potential for serious geopolitical conflict in Taiwan on the near-horizon, United States companies of all shapes and sizes must start to ask: ‘where do our semiconductors come from?’
China, Taiwan, And The Pineapple Embargo of 2021
Key Quotes From The Article:
- Pineapples reportedly make up about 40% of Taiwan’s total fruit exports, of which 90% go to China.
- Taiwanese pineapples have become the latest victim of deteriorating cross-strait relations, after Chinese authorities suddenly banned imports of the fruit. The ban, which began on Monday and is indefinite, was announced by the Chinese customs office on Friday. The customs office said harmful pests had been detected in recent shipments.
- Taiwan’s government rejected the claim, accusing Beijing of making an “unacceptable” unilateral decision, and urging citizens and international allies to eat “freedom pineapples” in support of the domestic industry, echoing the campaign to support Australia’s wine producers after Beijing imposed tariffs last year.
- The trade hit to Taiwan is the latest salvo in continuing tensions between the two governments. In recent years, particularly 2020, Chinese military activity and sabre-rattling has increased. Beijing has also reacted with high sensitivity to any international behaviour which appears to recognise Taiwan’s sovereignty, including official visits to the island, art and cultural exhibits which refer to it as a country, or even “separatist” cakes at diplomatic social events.
Cornell Faculty Ask “Where does our funding come from?” And Courageously Resist Chinese Communist Bankroll.
Key Quotes From The Article:
- The joint degree program with Peking University seeks to expand Cornell’s footprint in China by catering to mid-level Chinese executives, offering them an American education under the tutelage of Cornell professors.
- China has long been a cash cow for the Ivy League university, which raised $27 million from Chinese donors between 2014 and 2019, federal records show.
- “If we were running a joint degree program with a Nazi university, then we would have said, ‘Well, we shouldn’t be doing that, because they’re committing genocide,'” Professor Eli Friedman, who studies Chinese labor issues, said at a March 10 faculty meeting.
- If faculty members vote against the joint degree program, they might also oppose Cornell’s many other programs in China. Abandoning those partnerships would be disastrous to the university’s bottom line, something Fiskesjö says may be its only choice. “If you carry on business as usual, you end up legitimizing and endorsing what they’re doing,” he said. “You can run a genocide … and it doesn’t matter, we’ll keep opening new exchange programs with you.”
Want More Insights Like These?
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This Meditation on ‘Where Stuff Comes From’ breaks down why you need to immediately dive into where your stuff comes from. This meditation will help you to navigate the rapidly changing geopolitical, business, and human rights environments we face today. It makes sure that you’re not caught flat footed, unprepared, and reflecting retrospectively: “Well, I guess THAT’S where that stuff comes from.”
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