China looks at its economic relationships purely in terms of national interest, and I guess that's properly so. But it ought to give pause to US firms so eager to build plants there and form joint ventures - and, more to the point, to those in the US government charged with conducting foreign policy, a big part of which is discerning what nation-states in the world understand US concern about palpable and immediate threats, and which ones don't.For the specific trade deals in question, China may very well be in compliance. But it turns out there are some holes in the rules big enough to drive a truck through. And in this case, the truck is full of textiles in the form of cheaply produced shirts, pants and other garments. This new report from Reuters claims that China’s trade with North Korea this year not only hasn’t backed off, but it’s actually increased. While they throttle off certain goods which are prohibited under the sanctions, China is taking advantage of cheaper labor across the border among the destitute people of North Korea and having them produce the goods for them.Chinese textile firms are increasingly using North Korean factories to take advantage of cheaper labor across the border, traders and businesses in the border city of Dandong told Reuters.The clothes made in North Korea are labeled “Made in China” and exported across the world, they said.Using North Korea to produce cheap clothes for sale around the globe shows that for every door that is closed by ever-tightening U.N. sanctions another one may open. The UN sanctions, introduced to punish North Korea for its missile and nuclear programs, do not include any bans on textile exports.First, we would be remiss if we didn’t point out the rather obvious irony of China outsourcing their manufacturing to find cheaper labor. That’s been the complaint in the United States for as long as I can remember and I’m no spring chicken.
Monday, August 14, 2017
China may be complying with the letter of the latest UN sanctions on North Korea; the spirit, not so much
Looks more like a case of keeping a keen eye out for what it can still get away with:
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I thought mouthing fire & fury would scare the Bejesus into all of them commie dogs.
ReplyDeleteGuess not
ReplyDeleteYet the Trump water bearers think he's gonna make quick work out of a nearly 70 years long struggle. I think he's getting played myself. One cookie thinks he is so very very smart is actually very very dumb about stuff like this.
ReplyDeletehttp://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/the-game-is-over-and-north-korea-has-won/?utm_content=buffer11ac9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
All commentary on North Korea these days basically comes down to the same basic point: All good options are gone.
ReplyDeleteYou praised the UN sanctions last week the day before Trump just had to run his mouth.
ReplyDeleteStill think they were a good idea, even though I knew Kim would respond badly
ReplyDeleteWho cares about Kim? It was a so-called bloodless volley.
ReplyDeleteUm, yeah, sure. Who cares about Kim? I mean, what does he have to do with anything?
ReplyDeleteI don't care how badly Kim responds and you don't either, is what I meant by that.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather not see any cities in the world get incinerated. That could really disrupt the vibe I'd established for the day.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, ground war with them yellow peeps not too cool either. Check out that ambush at that reservoir back in 48 where 40K UN troops were surprised by 300,000 Chinese. This ain't no party, this ain't no disco...
ReplyDelete