No manufacturer builds in China because they want to (unless they are Chinese). They build there because they have to to be cost competitive. Low wages certainly has a lot to do with that. Lax controls over everything but your politics also contributes to that. Lower ethical standards does as well which is where quality issues arise from.
Let be realistic, it is not an equal partnership. They can buy our companies, we can't but there's. Tiktok is still here. Google, Facebook are still blocked. Unofficial state support for companies is significant.
People talk about the "benefit" that low wages in China has had on the buying power of Americans. That statement may be true for the people on this forum, but the average IQ is 100, and everyone under that needs to earn a living too and is still American (or European, or Canadian, etc.). If we want to be modelling ourselves, we should at least look to Korea who has at least maintained a good amount of manufacturing.
Saying this is not Xenophobic, or racist, etc. Facts can't be racist. China is not just a financial competitor but an ideological competitor and their idea of how humans should be governed is not how most of us feel. That does not mean we could not learn something from them. I would like to see a whole lot more meritocracy when it comes to picking who our political leaders are. China has a 5 year plan. Ours can't seem to play out more than 6 months. Our parties seem more interested in empire building for themselves than running effective government.
So yes, I do buy American, Canadian, Mexican, European, Japanese, Korean, Taiwan when I can. It is often not a choice for me. Don't blame the factory worker for not being willing to work for $4.00/hour for that. It all starts with politicians.
