China begins to take control of U.S. banks.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well stated!

I'm not an isolationist by any means. Global trade over human history has opened the world and expanded horizons exponentially. I support it fully as long as it doesn't jeopardize our national sovereignty or security.

China can't be trusted... true story: a large global brand partnered with the Chinese government to do business and production within China (that's how you have to do it). Large global brand invests time, money, and builds infrastructure for new business expansion into China. Once completed, the large global brand ramped up production and trained Chinese labor force to run factory. At that point, Chinese government said, "thank you" and took the business over from the large global brand and dismissed them. Large global brand says nothing, because that is how the game is played - they want to be able to sell their other product lines in China and complaining would not be productive.

China operates and conducts business in its interest alone, we can never forget that.

I don't disagree, Jimbone. Almost all countries (and companies) conduct business primarily for their own interests. I've worked with Chinese companies and also Eastern European companies; tricky shit. The trolls of international business, as it were. BUT, it can be done.

That's beside the point, however. My post was is in regards to multi-national treaties and pacts, not private or 1-1 business exchanges. We gotta play with China, imo. For China, Eastern Europe and all nations, including the US (yeah, we're sneaky little fucks ourselves) to enter into a multi-national agreement with an independent governing body, it's essential that the roles, the stipulations, and the penalties for breach are clear and that the enforcement criteria is absolute and serves as a huge deterrent. Then, if one nation tries to screw the pooch, there's a lot at stake - they're essentially cutting off all partners which is national suicide in relation to the intererts covered by that particular treaty/pact.

For the most part, I think we agree? A balance between being leaders in globalization and protecting domestic rights and benefits is prudent for the future. We should be alert and cautious, but not so distrusting that we refrain from leadership/participation and later find ourselves out in the cold.