Winston describes Chinese EV cars, and the entire Chinese automotive industry, as a scam. And while this is clearly true, the important point, which he infers but does not come out with directly, is that this is how everything in China works. It is not an exaggeration to say that everything in China is some sort of scam.
Here in the Philippines, we are seeing an ever increasing number of Chinese branded cars on the road. I have no doubt that the Philippines is one of the countries where, as Winston mentions, China is dumping cars.
As an aside, recently I saw a new GWM (Great Wall Motor – a Chinese manufacturer that Winston mentions in the video), diesel pickup in a shopping mall. The list price was almost 40 percent less than the very similar Toyota Hilux. Sure this will vary by product and features. But of course, Filipinos are flocking to these brands.
I will add one other thing about the GWM display in the mall. The cars were lavishly decorated with the most beautiful women, er...product specialists. When the feminists chased Don Draper out of New York, he fled to China. And as Don likes to say: When you place a beautiful woman next to any product, people tend to forget the most important questions.
Because electricity is so expensive here, most of these vehicles are not electric. But we do see some. To the best of our ability, we never park near one of these.
No, you cannot avoid all Chinese products. But we have a strict rule regarding Chinese products. We do not buy anything made in China that has the potential to kill you. So, no food, no cars, no lithium batteries, etc. But yes, the fly swatter I bought last week was made in China.
We will make an exception to this rule if the product is an American brand. For example, Apple is not going to damage its reputation because of Chinese shenanigans. So sure, much of their stuff is made in China; but under closely supervised quality control. I am less sure of some American firms manufacturing in China. Are Chinese-manufactured Doritos safe? I would assume so, but why take the chance.
Now if you think this perspective is a bit harsh, here is a Shawn Ryan clip, about six months old. Really, the whole country is just a great big scam, and often dangerous. I have written about this before. So how should we handle China? We should isolate them like any other pariah state. Maybe this cannot be done diplomatically, but we can certainly isolate them economically.
The Chinese cannot do anything on their own. They need to steal, and scam, and cheat. This is deeply ingrained within their culture. If we do not allow it, they will flounder. All we have to do is: Nothing. Just stay out of China and stop buying Chinese goods. The world will be a better place.