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Insincere Denials of the Great Powers
Dec. 8th, 2018 05:12 pmThe CFO of Huawei was arrested at YVR a few days ago. I'm really not up on what the issues are, other than something to do with espionage, but it did make me notice something odd.
China is, by any measure, one of the great powers, and has been for awhile. That means they engage in all the great power actions - dominate their neighbours, maintain a large military in case they want to rough someone up, and espionage. Lots and lots of espionage.
But here's the thing, when they deny doing these things, they still sound shocked and offended that someone would suggest it. I mean, of course they're going to deny it. Still, it seems like they're genuinely hurt by the accusation.
By comparison, the USA generally makes a flat denial. The Russians are even better - they usually deny it with a wink and a nudge that suggests "What are you going to do about it?". These are the guys who go after their enemies with nerve gas and radioactive chemicals when a knife in a dark alley will do. They want you to know it was them.
I wonder why the Chinese government are like that. Do they just play the game really well, or do they really think everyone else is that dumb?
China is, by any measure, one of the great powers, and has been for awhile. That means they engage in all the great power actions - dominate their neighbours, maintain a large military in case they want to rough someone up, and espionage. Lots and lots of espionage.
But here's the thing, when they deny doing these things, they still sound shocked and offended that someone would suggest it. I mean, of course they're going to deny it. Still, it seems like they're genuinely hurt by the accusation.
By comparison, the USA generally makes a flat denial. The Russians are even better - they usually deny it with a wink and a nudge that suggests "What are you going to do about it?". These are the guys who go after their enemies with nerve gas and radioactive chemicals when a knife in a dark alley will do. They want you to know it was them.
I wonder why the Chinese government are like that. Do they just play the game really well, or do they really think everyone else is that dumb?
