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Mon, 03 Apr 2006

The Lenovo smear: Grossly unfair on all levels

Uh, no, it's not.

Even Mr. Kay admits that Lenovo is 27% owned by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China. The actual percentage may be closer to 40%, but the practical percentage is nearly 82% - which leaves the 18% held by IBM alone. What I mean by "practical" in this sense is those shares that can be legally required to vote with the majority shareholder - which is the Chinese Communist Party.

People here are deluding themselves with the notion that China has "gone capitalist" - what they've done is switched from an outright collectivist nightmare to one of "state socialism with a stock market". Which is a classically "National Socialist" position: China's gone fascist, not capitalist.

It really gets my dander up when I constantly hear how American companies can't compete against foreign firms, when most of those "firms" are owned by a foreign government, with all of the protections and advantages available to it. Remember Japan, Inc. and the television and auto industries? Of course they can't compete in those circumstances: and our government should take measures to insure that they don't have to.

Endpoint Technologies president Roger L. Kay says xenophobia is factor in accusations against Chinese-founded PC maker.

/Politics | 3 writebacks | permanent link

writebacks...

On 4/4/2006 09:28:58
Arwin wrote

Or is it the Whig party

Dave, I couldn't agree with you more on the point that our industries should be given a level playing field (a worn out, but apt phrase.) My question is how does this square with your Libertarian/anarchist views? On the surface both Libertarians and anarchists would say it isn't government's place to protect industries. I probably am not looking deep enough to understand. If however there is a conflict here I'd love to see you start your own political party. Here's to the creation of the Haxtonian party!

On 4/4/2006 14:39:28
Jason Pitzl-Waters wrote

Hear, hear!

"China's gone fascist, not capitalist." THANK YOU. If I hear the arguement that pouring money and commerce into China will "democratize" the country my head will explode. It hasn't gotten more "free", it has just transmuted into something worse.

On 4/4/2006 15:02:22
Dave H wrote

More to follow

Thanks for the comments: you've inspired me to eludicate my views further, as this has become a subject of some concern to me personally over the course of the last decade or so. So, like the title suggest: stay tuned! Be well, Dave H.

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