Time Stamps:
Opening (0:00)
Finger-Pointing - A Two-Way Street (3:32)
What if Actual Security is Vulnerable? (5:44)
A Bloodbath For American Consumers (8:50)
What About the Asset Managers? (9:59)
For some time, tensions between China and the United States have appeared to escalate. Navigating the digital age and the cyber-security issues involved is the educational process of our time.
As the Trump-era Wikileaks data dump was released, the late John McAfee had this to say:
It's clear now that we're living in 1984. The only difference is we're free to walk around, so far. But we are spied on by everything from our TVs to the cameras in the streets to our smartphones.
This is now true of all major governmental bodies, foreign and domestic. Opportunities for nation-states, the data sales industry, and everyday hackers are endless. Potential victims are widely unguarded and practically doomed to fall prey on one level or another.
Finger-Pointing - A Two-Way Street
The fog of war - hot and cold alike - has gotten more complicated, even for seasoned observers.
Perhaps you're familiar with the phrase “confession through projection.”
And maybe you're familiar with the tactic of accusing your enemies of everything you're doing.
According to recent revelations, then-President Donald Trump had authorized the CIA to conduct a covert operation of disinformation on Chinese social media to turn the population against their government.
China, of course, bears its own hostility towards the West.
The Department of Justice has alleged that seven Chinese hackers targeted businesses and politicians in an espionage operation.
From the press release on March 25:
An indictment was unsealed today charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
The group, APT 31 is now facing sanctions for a long-running espionage scheme that spanned over a decade.
The treasury office named two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, affiliated with the Wuhan company, for cyberoperations that targeted US critical infrastructure sectors including defense, aerospace and energy. It also listed these threats as part of the cyber hacking group APT 31, which stands for “advanced persistent threat” and includes state-sponsored contract hackers and intelligence officers.
What if Actual Security is Vulnerable?
During this time, the United States had its share of domestic drama between Hillary Clinton’s use of an unsecured private server for official national security purposes, and Donald Trump's presidential campaign being spied upon under false pretenses and flimsy oversight by the FISA courts.
Today, both major presidential candidates have generated controversy with improper handling of classified documents.
For years, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, had a Chinese spy fundraising for his campaign and making staffing recommendations. Fang also had a political relationship with Ro Kanna and Tulsi Gabbard, and even romantic relationships with two Midwestern mayors.
The hackers indicated by the Department of Justice have also perpetrated the UK. Hawkish politicians in particular found themselves targeted. Is hawkishness on China becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy?
And if so, how much trouble would it save us to concentrate on strengthening - not weakening - our commercial ties? Though undoubtedly, they have their own problems, economic ties mean economic strength.
Just look at where countless showings of “military strength” has gotten us: Iraq. Afghanistan. Yemen. Russia. Israel. Libya. Syria. Cuba. Vietnam. Cambodia.
All justified by one false pretense after another, and ending in one failure after another. What if the American way truly is commerce with all nations, and entangling alliances with none?
Hat tip to Thomas Jefferson.
If we're going to talk about a literal “bloodbath,” that's where to go.
A Bloodbath For American Consumers
What if Donald Trump is only energizing his base with bad economics at the end of the day, when he is confronted with hysteria instead of any thoughtful objections?
Again, it's true that there have been problems with America's commercial relationship with China. Hollywood often answers to the demands of the Chinese Communist Party. There are well-founded concerns about China's tech ambitions and vulnerabilities of US cybersecurity.
Has anything remotely constructive been tried, or are tariffs and espionage operations the only acceptable measures to consider for the powers that be?
To put it in Trumpian terms, what if all they've done is build a wall, and forced American consumers to pay for it?
China already has a “Great Wall,” and apparently, walls represent “greatness” in both cases to ruling class actors.
What About the Asset Managers?
Let us also consider this, both from a cultural and strategic approach. The American media is ultimately run by six mega-corporations that dictate the Overton Window.
Let's name names:
Comcast
Walt Disney
AT&T
Paramount Global
Sony
Fox
The largest stockholders of every last one of them are the world's largest financial firms. Vanguard, Blackrock, State Street. And the media is but one industry of many where this trend persists.
It's even worse than most people think.
Their CEOs and board members ultimately set the perimeters they find acceptable in an increasingly activist-driven brand of state capitalism.
It may well be good news then to know that their commercial agenda with China is having more difficulty than they anticipated. Vanguard, for example, has openly spoken of closing their office in Beijing.
Richard Nixon's approach to China is rightfully cited as the most pronounced pivot, vis a vis US-China relations. At the time, even Henry Kissinger thought the idea was nuts. Yet, it drastically weakened the security threat of China's ties to the Soviet Union.
Here we are again with Russia and China moving closer together in spite of their historically antagonistic relationship.
But there is little to be argued in favor of Blackrock and Vanguard having their power over American consumers artificially inflated. Competition is the tool that ensures that capitalism can function and face corrections through market discipline that is presently lacking.
External Resources:
Beijing Responds to Trump's Covert CIA Operation Targeting China by Aadil Brar
DOJ charges 7 Chinese spies with targeting US political leaders, major businesses by Matt Lamb
Seven Hackers Associated with Chinese Government Charged with Computer Intrusions Targeting Perceived Critics of China and U.S. Businesses and Politicians by the US Department of Justice
US and UK unveil sanctions against Chinese state-backed hackers over alleged ‘malicious’ attacks by Nick Robins-Early
Britain says China hacked electoral watchdog, targeted lawmaker emails by Andrew Macaskill and James Pearson
Here’s What We Know About Rep. Swalwell’s Connection To A Suspected Chinese Spy by Nicholas Reimann
The Real Reason So Many Asset Managers Are Struggling in China by Hazel Sheffield
Donate to Mr. Menger:
Tip with Buy Me a Coffee
Tip with Cash App
Share this post