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- The second thing was that while they were forging ahead in terms of network platforms, and particularly FinTech, where China leads the U.S., they failed to appreciate (and this was a huge strategic mistake) that they were heavily reliant on the import of semiconductors and would not be able to quickly catch up and become self-sufficient in that area. The Achilles heel of Chinese power is that they have to import the high-end semiconductors from places like TSMC [the Taiwanese semiconductor giant that manufactures for many American firms]. And there is very little prospect, despite the ambitions of Made in China 2025, that China will get anywhere close to self-sufficiency by 2025. In January, I talked with someone from TSMC about the gap between the mainland and Taiwan in this respect, and he said, “You know, they’re five years behind us. But five years ago, they were five years behind us. And five years from now, they will be five years behind us.” That was a really interesting insight. I tried to put this into my Cold War analysis. Unlike the first Cold War, there’s a sense in which this could be a pure tech competition without there necessarily being peripheral hot wars like Korea and Vietnam.
Quatrarius · 1793 days ago · link ·
isn't niall the british empire apologist guy, does he have some qualification to speak better on china than he did on africa/india i thought he was the goy dershowitz
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If Niall Ferguson has ever apologized for anything I'm unaware of it. The basic premise of Civilization: The West and the Rest is that European feudalism was the only style of governance that would ever create a viable civilization AKA capitalism and The Square and the Tower is all about how you'd understand what a badass Kissenger is if your friends had any juice. You have to accept that he won't have anything to say about the Chinese other than they aren't great but true to form, the West has very much gotten to where he was 15 years ago.