In this world, everyone is a victim. It all depends on where you are coming from. Of course, there are dimensions in victimhood. America accuses China of ravaging its industrial belt regions as jobs move to China. But if you look, everything the U.S. accuses China could be flipped against U.S. companies if you see what Google, Facebook and other U.S. companies are doing globally.
Yes, if Donald Trump has been the president of Gabon, with the same economic viability as the U.S, he could posit that U.S. technology firms, like Chinese industrial companies, are distorting the architectures of global markets to the benefits of the United States. And he could begin a trade war against the U.S!
Simply, China uses its factories to redesign global markets; America uses codes to exert the same influence. In the league of trade wars, the U.S. is fighting China ferociously. Except for the mild slap from the EU, the world has not trade-fought the U.S. despite its tech firms causing huge dislocations globally. What Google and Facebook have done to global media companies are severe. Interestingly, there is no trade war against the U.S. for such impacts because the impacts are not in physical matter you can touch, unlike goods leaving Chinese Ports to the world.
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That takes me to the Apps War where India has banned TikTok. Managing and controlling apps would be one of the major economic wars of this decade. I have called this decade – the Decade of Apps Utility- where apps would be used to redesign many industrial sectors, from logistics to healthcare services. As that happens, nations will begin to understand that what matters may not be the buildings but apps which power the operations of markets, people and firms. And if that is the case, who controls those apps will become more important.
India on Monday said it has blockedTiktok and dozens of other apps mostly from China. The move followed a recent clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers along disputed borders of the two countries in the Galwan river Valley that claimed the lives of about 20 Indian soldiers.
The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology listed 59 apps in total posing a security threat. The statement issued by the Ministry said the technology poses a threat to India’s national security and public order.
“In view of information available, they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order,” the statement said.
India Bans TikTok, Offering Hope of Growth to Indigenous Apps
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No one is trade-fighting the US? Basically the EU is always at war with all the US tech behemoths, the difference is that they style it in ways that make it appear virtuous, while the corporations are the bad guys. Politicians are the same everywhere, you cannot get worse set of humans than them anyway.
The ‘National Security’ is the most sophisticated and ambiguous phrase any country can deploy, you cannot argue against it, you stand no chance. The US always uses against China and its entities; China is arguing same against Hong Kong; India is deploying same against TikTok and China, it’s a tool for all countries to assert relevance!
What is Nigeria’s ‘National Security’ mantra? We need to have our own, we cannot allow foreigners to be entering farmlands, villages, or local mining sites; we can deploy the National Security thing too.