America’s relationship with China seems a bit . . . lopsided. They prop-up our federal deficit and sell us cheap goods. We send them unfathomable amounts of money and put up with their anti-American illegal activities (e.g. faking U.S. IDs, disregarding U.S. patents and copyright, exporting of billions of dollars worth of meth precursors for the U.S. market). Not to mention China’s human rights violations. All of which are, of course, dependent on gun control. And what do we do about it? Help China catch and prosecute gun smugglers trying to arm the regime’s opponents. Nice job Uncle Sam. Not.

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35 COMMENTS

    • +1 the quality of reporting on several issues here seems to improve by the post and started out being good

  2. Globalization is nice, until it bites you in the arse and you wake up one morning with your middle class and industrial base obliterated, amirite?

  3. The article you linked doesnt mention they China supplies precursors, only that it is involved in money laundering, which US controlled banks have done for god knows how long, see BCCI for a classic example, BoA had a 25% stake in it. The article does say it was possible to purchase precursors, but it did not say it happened, or was even probable. It linked to article at Stratfor which is currently broken. Anything is possible, it is possible they are using the laundered money to have smurfs in the US purchase the precursors.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Credit_and_Commerce_International

    • In some respects China has more freedom then we enjoy here. Want a cell phone or GPS jammer, no problem, aliexpress.com. Want a good fake ID, no problem, idchief.ph (based in China). Want to be able to back up your video games in case the discs get scratched, or need a mod chip to play home made games, no problem China has you covered.

      And are fake IDs really anti-American? American youth have been using fake IDs for god knows how long to purchase booze. Isnt it a right of passage to do that, or hire a homeless person, or something? The only difference here is that for once the Chinese are producing a product that isnt crap.

      • Um… ok, the new link doesn’t mention “China” or “Chinese” either. I’m not disputing Mexico makes meth, I love the show Breaking Bad.

    • The CIA even used BCCI to launder money for Iran-Contra and for the Afghan Mujahideen’s drug money.

  4. Also don’t forget about the constant cyber attacks from China for the last few years, as well as them providing tech to North Korea so they can do the same.

    • lol cyber attacks, you what a broad term that is? And everyone is attacking everyone else, since you cant differentiate between civilian and state sponsored attacks. Go read the book The Cuckoo’s Egg by Cliff Stoll, it details how a astronomy student at UC Berkle proved that Russian hackers based in East Germany were stealing our nuclear weapons secrets back in the ’80s. He tried working with the CIA and US Military who either didnt care, or didnt act.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_%28book%29

      • He also tried working with the FBI and NSA. And I was mistaken it was West Germany. The only people who did anything in that case was the German government, even though it was American systems being penetrated. The hacker was eventually convicted for theft of electricity.

      • matt, The Cuckoo’s Egg is one of my favorite nonfiction books of all time. I read both versions — the original, and the reissued version with a new addendum. It’s really an amazing story and absolutely fascinating.

        • Anything good in the new addendum, I’m assuming my copy if the original, I got it from my mom in the mid 90s.

  5. There is no way to defend the economic policies of China. They are using (our) greed and tax policies to destroy the American middle class. On the other hand, I am not sure that would justify allowing people to smuggle guns into China to use (more than just a little) for organized crime.

    Since guns are used for killing people, smuggling guns into a foreign country is an act of war. Let’s make sure we have all our thinking caps on before we decide to repeat half the mistakes of “fast and furious” on a country with nuclear weapons.

    • “Since guns are used for killing people, smuggling guns into a foreign country is an act of war.”

      So you’d agree that since obesity kills people, shipping food to a foreign country is an act of war…yes?

      • That seems like a good analogy to you does it?

        Maybe, I guess. Maybe 51% of those guns smuggled into China were going to be used by honest law-abiding citizens who only wanted them to be able to defend their families.

        And maybe 51% of that food we send to poor nations is really meant to kill them through heart disease.

        But if either example is less than 50%, then you are talking about the least likely use of the product.

  6. This is surprising? How exactly?

    Those icky guns. How dare Chinese citizens have the means, tools and sense to be able to defend themselves against the depredations of the State and those others that would do them harm.

    How much did we budget for this?

  7. “Not to mention China’s human rights violations. All of which are, of course, dependent on gun control.”

    That’s always the case, isn’t that what you guys keep preaching.

    The truth is, since this is TTAG, that’s a self-serving and self-justifying lie. Sadaam’s Iraq was famous for its human rights violations yet there were guns everywhere.

    The one has little to do with the other.

  8. Good writing Robert.

    But what I really want to know. Is that a Mech Tec that soldier is holding in the first pic.

    • Chinese Type 97 submachine gun

      That photo is pretty much iconic, isn’t it? The government will use guns to defend its efforts to burn guns it seizes from private owners. That fellow sure looks like he would welcome an excuse to start shooting!

  9. The Reuters article says nothing about who gets the smuggled weapons, dissidents, criminals or Chinese apparatchiks looking for status symbols. I have no objection to doing harm to the Chinese government of communist butchers (as opposed to the people, who would and do in large measure make good Americans) but would prefer it be done in an orderly planned fashion and not as a happy coincident effect of US criminal activity by among other things a National Guardsman.

    OTOH, selling us poisoned dog food is ample reason IMHO to nuke them, so whatevs.

  10. @mikeb…….yes there was guns in Iraq, in the hands of Saddams Elite and his flunky military!!! Most civilians caught with firearms were dealt with in very unpleasant ways!!!!
    Was in Kuwait and around Bhagdad from 1991 to 1993!!!

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