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posted by martyb on Wednesday July 22 2020, @06:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the US-consulates-ordered-closed-in-3...2... dept.

U.S. Orders China to Close Its Houston Consulate in 72 Hours (archive)

The United States ordered China to close its diplomatic consulate in Houston, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, dealing another blow to the rapidly deteriorating relations between the two countries.

In the hours after the Trump administration notified the Chinese of its decision, smoke was seen billowing from a courtyard inside the consulate as employees dumped what appeared to be documents into flaming barrels, according to a video posted by KPRC-TV, a local television station.

The Houston police and fire departments responded to reports of a fire on Tuesday evening but did not enter the building, over which the Chinese have sovereignty.

Also at BBC and CNBC.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:05PM (9 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:05PM (#1025069)

    Can we just get this over with and launch the nukes already?

    Nobody actually wants to fight that war, because both sides stand to lose far more than they stand to gain.

    China doesn't want to deal with the economic fallout of losing the biggest market for their goods on the planet. That's why they keep on propping up the US government and the US dollar.
    The US doesn't and probably couldn't deal with the economic fallout of losing access to China's import goods. That's why they keep on letting the Chinese do pretty much whatever they want.

    And this reasoning goes for both conventional and nuclear warfare. And contrary to popular belief, the leaders on both sides can't just press a button to start it, so as long as there's some not-crazy people in between them and the people who are actually on duty at the missile facilities there's a decent chance that even an insane leader wouldn't succeed in setting off the apocalypse.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by HiThere on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:38PM (1 child)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:38PM (#1025106) Journal

    I just wish we has odds a bit better than "a decent chance".

    --
    Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Thursday July 23 2020, @08:38AM

      by Dr Spin (5239) on Thursday July 23 2020, @08:38AM (#1025345)

      With Trump in charge, you may end up wishing for even an indecent chance (Think of the children).

      --
      Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:45PM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:45PM (#1025109) Journal

    China doesn't want to deal with the economic fallout of losing the biggest market for their goods on the planet. That's why they keep on propping up the US government and the US dollar.

    Agreed. China depends very much on selling to the US to keep their people employed. They have been walking a tightrope for some years now, such that if their economic growth falls below 8%, I think it is, then the social unrest becomes untenable, but if it climbs into the double digits then they risk their economy overheating. They have been trying to buffer that dynamic by requiring investment to target central Chinese provinces and cities, in order to stimulate their domestic market, but that hasn't really panned out and meanwhile they have forbidden the development of civil society like the West enjoys because it's a challenge to government power.

    The US doesn't and probably couldn't deal with the economic fallout of losing access to China's import goods. That's why they keep on letting the Chinese do pretty much whatever they want.

    That's less true now than it was 10 years ago. Companies have begun to branch out from China to Vietnam, the Philippines, and other places with lower labor costs. There are also still plenty of Americans with the skills and desire to start companies in the US to manufacture consumer goods, if only the policy from Washington weren't constantly undermining them. At the end of the day, it really isn't difficult to set up injection molding to mass produce plastic wares, and you can do it affordably if you don't have a union monkey on your back (for example, the cost of the UAW contracts adds something like $5K to every vehicle made by the Big 3 and puts them at a significant disadvantage on price).

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 26 2020, @08:26AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 26 2020, @08:26AM (#1026498)

      civil society like the West enjoys

      Mod that funny!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 26 2020, @08:59AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 26 2020, @08:59AM (#1026502)

        Riotous Portlanders are the exception, not the rule.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday July 22 2020, @10:13PM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday July 22 2020, @10:13PM (#1025161)

    That is all true, and there is also the way the US Navy can go cap in hand to Congress and ask for eleventy-twelve billion more dollars for some new aircraft carriers and missiles, which is what all this sabre-rattling is all about.

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by legont on Thursday July 23 2020, @12:50AM (1 child)

    by legont (4179) on Thursday July 23 2020, @12:50AM (#1025234)

    Nobody actually wants to fight that war, because both sides stand to lose far more than they stand to gain.

    There is an excellent book on economy where the author argues this over 700 pages from all the angles and indisputably proves it right. The war is impossible.
    It was printed just five years before WWI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Illusion [wikipedia.org]
    Highly recommended fascinating reading.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Thursday July 23 2020, @01:22PM

      by gtomorrow (2230) on Thursday July 23 2020, @01:22PM (#1025381)

      ...where the author argues this over 700 pages from all the angles and indisputably proves it right. The war is impossible.
      It was printed just five years before WWI...

      And yet, five years after from this author's POV...the "impossible" happened.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @01:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @01:04PM (#1025377)

    They may not want it but end up getting it anyway. China has definitely become more openly aggressive in the area, and it's not just against the US (Japan, India, etc). All it takes is one serious miscalculation on how far and fast they can push and we could get a war between China and someone that ends up drawing in others.