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by mikrotikker 83 days ago
You're giving up the rest of your country to a geopolitical rival from a separate region, in a separate hemisphere with smiling expansionist goals, even allowing armed Chinese security to protect Chinese installations in country. So why not give the rest of your country to China.

It will help them get a good flank on the USA such that even when that temporarily embarrassed country gets a leader you, and the rest of the world do like, it will be too late to do anything.

A perfect definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face laid bare for all to see.
3 comments
cmrdporcupine 83 days ago
"Temporarily embarassed" doesn't even begin to describe what's happening down there.

We have an American neighbour actively funding and amplifying a formerly extremely fringe separatist movement in Alberta -- shades of the Donbas, North American edition --and a US "ambassador" who has the behaviour of a 4chan troll.

The bridge has been blown up. Americans might think they are a midterm election away from salvation, but we're on the whole not so naive.

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abc123abc123 83 days ago
No, a rational decision based on a crazy man in the US. The US needs to learn, that if it threatens its traditional allies, they go to work with china, the main competitor of the US. If the US wants it allies back, the tariffs have to go, and the childlike rhetoric and threats as well. If not, china _deserves_ the business of the US former allies.
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cmrdporcupine 83 days ago
Right, and we're not just watching the behaviour of the US administration, we're watching the behaviour of the electorate / populace. At the polling booths but also in online comment sections, as tourists, consumers, etc.

And mostly not liking what we see. Encouraged by the No Kings protests, but unless that boils over into a hegemonic and stronger opposition, it still seems like there's a 40% population there that can't deal rationally with the world inside their own border, let alone outside.

Also... When Biden took over after Trump's first term most of the protectionist policies stayed and foreign policy didn't really budge (outside of support for Ukraine). I expect similar if (big if) the Democrats regain executive power.

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zwaps 83 days ago
The US under Trump is politically and strategically almost identical to China, and can be trusted about the same.

And then, compared to China, the US acts overtly hostile: threatening us with war, starting a war in order to collapse energy supplies outside of the US. Opportunistic beyond even China, much more hostile.

Will the US even be a democracy in two years? Is it now?

Nah man, balancing between China and the US is the only thing a smaller country can do in order not to be crushed

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