[lrhegeba]

china can get all mentioned resources (fertilizer, pig iron, food, steel) from their neighbors (esp. russia). no way to cut china off. the days of low-quality are long gone. semiconductors and some other hightech are the only pressure points still available, and the US tries to use these.

[aardvarkr]

Which is why they are stuck being friendly(ish) neighbors. They may not be dependent on the USA but they sure as heck are dependent on their neighbors. That’s what happens when you’re resource poor.