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President Trump Pledges To Help China's ZTE, After Ban (usatoday.com)

President Trump said Sunday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping are working to put the troubled Chinese telecom manufacturer ZTE back in business. From a report: "President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast," Trump said in a message on Twitter. "Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!" ZTE, maker of Android phones popular with budget-minded consumers, said Wednesday that it would cease "major operating activities," raising questions not only about its survival, but the impact on U.S. consumers who have previously bought or were thinking of buying ZTE phones. The announcement followed a decision last month by the U.S. Commerce Department, which banned American companies from exporting products to the Shenzhen, China-based telecom firm for seven years.

230 comments

  1. MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really, how does this help America? It only makes me suspicious that Trump or some of his buddies want to swoop in and get the stock for pennies on the dollar.

    1. Re:MCGA? by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You must be kidding. Trump isn't out to help America. He is out to help himself. Morally and ethically bankrupt.

    2. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Elect a clown, get a circus.

      Hire incompetent devs, get broken Unicode support.

      Some things never change.

    3. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yep, he's really draining the swamp (by installing a pipeline leading directly to the Oval Office) and disrupting the status quo (by chucking grenades around randomly, forcing everyone to panic regardless of political alignment). #MAGA

    4. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go back to Yahoo Comments where you belong.

    5. Re:MCGA? by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Really, how does this help America? It only makes me suspicious that Trump or some of his buddies want to swoop in and get the stock for pennies on the dollar.

      Yep, he probably bought up gazillions of shares last week when they collapsed. Now he's using his position as President to boost his personal retirement fund.

      --
      No sig today...
    6. Re:MCGA? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Really, how does this help America? It only makes me suspicious that Trump or some of his buddies want to swoop in and get the stock for pennies on the dollar.

      Yep, he probably bought up gazillions of shares last week when they collapsed. Now he's using his position as President to boost his personal retirement fund.

      More likely, the last person who spoke with him (or a Fox News commentator) already owns a bunch of ZTE stock, was getting soaked and advised him to help out -- Headline to read: "Trump Saves Chinese Company" (ignoring why they needed saving)

      Trump doesn't read anything (longer than 140 characters, anyway), doesn't really know (or care to know) anything, has no moral compass, and has the attention span of a goldfish, so he's easily swayed by the last thing he hears. (I love to be proven wrong, but don't think I am)

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    7. Re: MCGA? by cunina · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hey, now â" I wouldnâ(TM)t call the Unicodeâ support âoebroken.â More like, itâ(TM)s a mélange of character sets that donâ(TM)t render the same on every device. The handful of people using iOS should wait until the trusty developers at Slashdot finish their jalapeño tamales and AÃaà bowls, then theyâ(TM)ll fix it.

    8. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump haters are gonna be Trump haters. One possible way that Trump could help ZTE is if they made their phones with American chipsets. And even if some of the chipsets are made overseas (like South Korea) they could still be sourced through American companies.

      Suddenly, American companies win and there is more competition in the cellphone marketplace, driving down prices for Americans.

      But nooooo. There are those that can't see this possibility. Trump can never do any good for those with Trump Derangement Syndrome.

    9. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Way to contrast reality with a nice fairy tale.

    10. Re:MCGA? by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2

      Really, how does this help America? .

      Its a great way to gain some leverage with China. We'll help ZTE if they agree to other stuff that helps the US, like cracking down on other unfair trade practices.

    11. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      News flash: it was not OK to elect a professional con man President of the United States.

      No amount of snark about "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is ever going to change that. You're not impressing anyone but your mother, and even she's starting to wonder.

    12. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ZTE stock stopped trading on 4/26.

    13. Re:MCGA? by Luckyo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Concessions he gets in return. This seems to be something forgotten by generations raised post Cold War era. Power politics are not just about negotiating. They're about negotiating from the position of power.

      CCP's primary reason for economic development is employment, as employment reduces social unrest. Social unrest is the primary boogie man of CCP, which is terrified of its own people. That is why they maintain the steel production in otherwise poor northern China in spite of massive oversupply it is causing on the world markets, and all the anti-China tensions that go with it. Can't afford mass unemployment and unrest it will cause.

      Same applies here. Trump has shown once again that he understands power politics. He has CCP by the balls on this one, and now, he can actually negotiate.

    14. Re:MCGA? by willy_me · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, it is probably why China allowed him to register the "Trump" trade name right after being elected despite being denied for so many years. It is a decision that is quite easy to reverse. If this were about buying and selling stock there would be a paper trail and China (not Trump) is too smart for that.

      This is why sitting presidents should forgo all their business interests when taking on the position of president. Otherwise, it is impossible to not have conflicts of interest. There will always be the desire to work for oneself at the expense of the country they serve.

    15. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      shhh dont let facts get in the way of shitting on trump!

    16. Re:MCGA? by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

      Trump doesn't read anything (longer than 140 characters, anyway), doesn't really know (or care to know) anything, has no moral compass, and has the attention span of a goldfish, so he's easily swayed by the last thing he hears.

      No, seriously -- how do you really feel about him?

    17. Re: MCGA? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Actually I'm with Slashdot on this one, Unicode itself is so broken that it's either bad but functional rendering, or the users can completely break the layout and pull all kinds of shinnanigans.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    18. Re:MCGA? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://www.bbc.com/news/busine...

      "Beijing has made resolving the situation with ZTE, which employs about 80,000 people, one of its demands for striking a broader trade agreement with with US."

      Trump has no choice, other than to burn the whole deal. We know he doesn't like to lose.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump has already lost. He is in a super weak negotiating position. He has to concede on killing ZTE because he has nothing else to give -- China is hurting his base with tariffs and delays of imports, the rest of the world is also against Trump's tariffs, and China has alternate supply chains for everything -- everything except tech IP, which they're actively buying and building their own. To put pressure on Trump, China can do things like completely cut off the DPRK to force KJU to actually go madman, which means Trump has already lost because he's already claimed credit for bringing peace.

    20. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reading the comments here and reading the story about the flat Earth convention makes me think the irrational Trump haters are as crazy as those fuckers.

      What I really see is how fragile the Chinese economy is and how much worse a trade war would be for them than America.

    21. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoosh

    22. Re:MCGA? by RubberDogBone · · Score: 1

      This oversupply situation just kicks the problem into the future, when the markets finally collapse for different goods and none of it can sell. When the layoffs finally DO come, China can blame it all on foreign manipulation, rather than their own overproduction, and all those angry workers could be massaged into a force to go out and fight these horrible foreign countries and companies. Rioting, burning foreign companies, stores, factories, etc, and if a lot of those workers die in the process, it merely culls people who were a burden anyway.

      Meanwhile, it will wreck all sorts of businesses that depend on China and motivate them to come begging with hat in hand for some sort of relationship that will work.

      China is going to come out of it all smelling like a rose and with vastly more clout. And a lot of populace thinking they are a big patriotic force.

      --
      Sig for hire.
    23. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Shrug) It seems to work fine everywhere else.

    24. Re: MCGA? by Pitt64 · · Score: 1

      Flat Earthers are Trump supporters DUCY

    25. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      MODDOWN! ; creimer spam post again!

      creimer wants you to click on his youtube channel, then click on his stupid amazon affiliate link spam on Youtube. There is nothing of value on creimer youtube channel. Only creimer click-bot goes there.

      The tests we ran on Chris have shown that Chris has the intelligence of an ameba:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      So, technically, he is able to conceive some kind of agenda but it will be silly or impossible to follow on a human scale.

      For example, Chris had an agenda to post anything he felt like on Slashdot which did not work well because it was based on his false beliefs that he had an infinite number of karma points as he wrote here several times.

      Several people here explained to Chris that karma maxed out at some level like 50 or so but Chris kept on insisting that his python script had confirmed that he had millions of karma points!

      Oh well, as I wrote before: "It isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody."

      For the valuable /. users that might already have read the following, please note that there is an important update.

      IMPORTANT UPDATE:
      Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education has invested money to buy Chris a new chair:
      http://www.keynamics.com/image...

      Information about Christopher Dale Reimer and autistic people:

      Autistic people have obsessions about things normal people don't care. For example, one of our autistic patient went haywire when he realized that there was a penny missing in his pocket change.

      To calm him down, one of our educator pretended to have found it on the floor and gave a penny to him.

      The autistic patient condition went even worse because he realized it wasn't the same penny!

      Chris has an obsession with budgeting every penny. He doesn't understand that most people do not budget to the penny and have a flexible amount they allow for miscellaneous items.

      I am Nancy Guerrero and I am Director of Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. We use Chris' (a.k.a. creimer,cdreimer) picture in our document because he is the hardest case we have ever had to handle:
      http://www.sccoe.org/depts/stu...

      Our artists were inspired by the low carb diet that Christopher follows scrupulously for the small lunch box and by the picture linked below for the rest. I am sure that you will notice the similarities such as the bump on the side of his chest and more:
      https://ibb.co/gVad65

      Please be easy on Christopher although, I am aware that some of our staff handling Chris post joke comments here and obvoiusly, the Santa Clara County Office of Education disapprove that behavior vehemently:
      http://ibb.co/mRVSaG

      But it isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody.

      Thank You dear users,
      ---
      Nancy Guerrero
      Director
      Special Education
      Santa Clara County Office of Education

      Exactly Nancy,

      It seems like Chris is a victim here. He keeps on reading those SEO, youtube algorithm, basically get rich quick sites. He doesn't realize that he is the fish for them since they make money off him with their own schemes. Then, he wastes his time trying to implement what those sites suggest and he ends up disturbing people.

      I mean, those crooks tell Chris that h

    26. Re:MCGA? by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 1

      One possible way that Trump could help ZTE is if they made their phones with American chipsets.

      Ahem. The whole source of LTE's problems is that they made their phones with US components they cannot get anymore, due to an embargo that was specifically issued against LTE. The reason is violations by LTE against the Iran embargo, the embargo against LTE is meant to be a punishment for that.

      Now Trump could certainly revoke that embargo, but it would make him look weak. Something politicians really don't like.

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
    27. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not usually no. Go read the flat earth society forums. They have been since 2016, trump haters and Hillary supporters in the main

    28. Re:MCGA? by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      I'm genuinely curious why it is that you think that "propaganda efforts" would be unsuccessful if this didn't happen in a country with central control over all media?

    29. Re:MCGA? by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Because ZTE uses American technology, under license, in order to make their shit? Because Google is an American company, which gets a taste of app purchases through the Google Play store, made from ZTE devices? Because the Qualcomm processor and radio inside each ZTE device was manufactured for and sold by an American company to ZTE?

      Do you think that ZTE grows it's phones on trees, or that there might be a logistics operation behind sourcing their parts, and licensing software and technology - of which a good slice goes to American corporations, which dodge^H^H^H^H^H pay American taxes, and create jobs.

      Also, probably because someone told Trump that if he keeps fucking over China with his trade war horseshit, China is in a pretty good position to economically anal rape him and make sure he's a 1-termer. Some tariffs are expected, and just the cost of doing business - China factored that in long ago and was probably surprised it hasn't happened until now. But setting one off underneath one of their biggest electronics companies and essentially forcing them to shut down - that's too far and would result in very ugly retaliation that doesn't play well with the narrative he's trying to build - that he's a 'dealmaker' who is the only one that can make good deals and put these other countries where they belong.

      China closes up and starts turning American goods away at the harbor and all that turns into the rankest horseshit you've ever smelled, even to his blissfully ignorant base.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    30. Re:MCGA? by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

      Your whole argument falls flat on it's face when you realize Trump had NOTHING to do with the ZTE sanctions. The initial sanctions were enacted by the Obama admin and when ZTE violated the consent agreement it was the Bureaucracy that reacted and put in place the ban for violating the consent degree, not Trump.

      I actually think the opposite happened here, after the bureaucracy reacted Xi called and threatened Trump and he buckled under just like he did the last time Xi talked to him. Hell maybe the Chinese have the same stuff on him that the Russians do.

    31. Re:MCGA? by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      So by your own admission, he has everything to do with actual sanctions. He just has nothing to with with events that started the chain which now resulted in sanctions.

      Bending logic backwards like this just so that you can produce an expected outcome of "Trump is [negative descriptor]" is a good sign of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

    32. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VGA all the way. I need multiple video pages.

    33. Re:MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'The Chinese government is extending a $500 million loan to a state-owned construction company to build an Indonesian theme park that will feature a Trump-branded golf course and hotels.
      A subsidiary of Chinese state-owned construction firm Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) signed a deal last week with the Indonesian firm MNC Land to build an “integrated lifestyle resort,” as part of Beijing’s global influence-expanding “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative.'

      https://www.nationalreview.com/news/china-contributing-500-million-trump-linked-project-indonesia/

    34. Re: MCGA? by Brockmire · · Score: 1

      Wtf?

    35. Re: MCGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firefox and derivatives on Android do not submit badly-encoded characters on slashdot. Apostrophes and other "sensitive" characters submitted in a comment display properly.

  2. WTF? by TiberiusKirk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Literally, What The Fuck?!!! He's a fucking buffoon with no coherent plan for anything.

    1. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Didn't Trump want a trade war with China? This is how he does it, by personally overriding decisions made by his own administration?

    2. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you are saying...

      1) make a ban or create sanctions...
      2) feel bad for those you made the sanctions against...
      3) profit....

      ?

    3. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He may be a buffoon but he already got concessions or is making this conditional.

    4. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm just arguing with myself here

    5. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, it is not a win/win.

      He is like the big bully in the playground. Razing other kids sandcastles and then takes all the credit when they have to rebuild a brand new one.

      The fact that he has to reverse something means that he did it wrong the first time. If he wanted ZTE to do what they now are doing, he could have THREATHENED with a ban to put them out of business.

      Trump isn't offering olive branches. He is setting peoples houses on fire and then he is "greeting" them when they come running out. "Look what a welcoming and nice guy, giving you a hug when you come running towards him."

    6. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes we are, isn't I?

    7. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny how all the libs are out for blood, when itâ(TM)s a Republican offering an olive branch.

      If what ZTE was so bad--selling goods to Iran against US sanctions--that they ban sales of ZTE for seven years, why turn around and give them an olive branch? The US is insane business friendly, slapping Wells Fargo on the wrist for pretty horrendous practices upon its customers. I guess it makes sense then that the US would do whatever it takes to keep ZTE alive. Just like the big US auto makers. US policy and US power be damned.

      PS - If the ban is what's crippling ZTE, then how will anything the US do short of reverting the ban actually help? Are they going to prop them up for seven years? Are they going to subvert their sanctions by using a third party subsidiary in another country? Basically, is theUS going to do precisely the things that were so bad that ZTE got banned? If that doesn't disgust you, what will? This sort of subversion of the law is precisely the argument made why France couldn't be trusted with the run up to the second Iraq War. But, yea, whatever. Libs should want to olive branch companies. Fuck giving olive branches to actual people, though.

    8. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > when it's a Republican offering an olive branch

      This is more of a "you broke it, you bought it" situation.

    9. Re:WTF? by Kohath · · Score: 1

      When there’s a detour because of road construction, do you continue to drive straight ahead at full speed, mowing down the road crew, because that was your original plan?

    10. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Good cop, bad cop doesn't work when its only one cop. Trump is playing both sides as if he has split personality disorder. Actually, it is his pathological lying that is the problem.

    11. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If a buffoon can win a presidential election, I can't imagine how incredibly stupid his detractors are.

    12. Re:WTF? by Joce640k · · Score: 0

      Literally, What The Fuck?!!!

      He's a fucking buffoon with no coherent plan for anything.

      His "plan" might be to short a few million shares in ZTE before each presidential announcement.

      --
      No sig today...
    13. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you people retarded?
      It's called carrot and stick.
      First you kick them out, and then you make a deal with terms to let them back in.

    14. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I might if I was powerful enough make the construction workers get out of the way for me.

      A US president probably could do exactly that.

    15. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God you Liberals are idiots. Look up the phrases "carrot and a stick" or "good cop, bad cop."

      When liberals play "good cop, bad cop" everyone gets a participation trophy after the mandatory group hug at the end

    16. Re:WTF? by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 1

      Dumpsterfire would. Fuck anything but his wallet and his praise. The Chinese must be paying him well.

      Drain the swamp my ass.

      --
      "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    17. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If a buffoon can win a presidential election, I can't imagine how incredibly stupid his supporters are.

      FTFY

    18. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, I see the confusion. You thought Trump was on America's side? Nope!
      The Commerce Department will sort it out, as a duly elected and appointed set of.... privately owned and operated lobbyists?

    19. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you trying to make yourself go out of style?

    20. Re:WTF? by Peter+P+Peters · · Score: 2

      Literally, What The Fuck?!!! He's a fucking buffoon with no coherent plan for anything.

      You say that like it's a surprise?

    21. Re: WTF? by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1

      He could have just threatened them,and maybe they would ignore the threat and assume he was bluffing. Now they know he wasn't,and fully realise how much power he has over them.

    22. Re: WTF? by CriticalYetLazy · · Score: 1

      Of course mindless destructive measures should always be favored above diplomatic measures. Right.

    23. Re:WTF? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Trump is many things but neither a buffoon nor an animal associated without a coherent plan. He's intelligent and out for blood. Better described in the animal world as a weasel.

      Don't confuse his ramblings as senseless or incoherrent. He's never said anything that hasn't been solely for his own personal gain. The trick is understanding what he cares about (Hint: Not Americans .... unless they can increase his wealth).

    24. Re: WTF? by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1

      I didn't claim it was the best strategy, or even a good one. But the Chinese definitely know he means business, and is't just carrying a big stick. He proved he can wield it effectively.

    25. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After the 6 years of what conservatives and the Tea Party did to America and what they continue to do. You can shove your "olive branch" up your ass. The right wing extremists haven't changed and are still wrong on all of the issues.

  3. I guess those new Iran sanctions won't mean much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If violating them doesn't result in any kind of punishment

  4. Got to save those ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Chinese Jobs

    MCGA!

  5. Well, he did promise... by GerryGilmore · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! He just didn't mention that they would be Chinese jobs.

    1. Re:Well, he did promise... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No shit. I'm surprised he did this (as in I figured there was a limit of his incoherent methods) given since day one he was all "AMERICA FIRST!".

    2. Re:Well, he did promise... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His "Trump" brand merchandise have always been explicitly clear where his job creation takes place. China and Mexico.

    3. Re: Well, he did promise... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does an idiot keep utterly surprising people?

    4. Re:Well, he did promise... by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      Whether it is Trump or Obama, but either way, currently jobless rates in the US are very low.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  6. Good? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is good that unwise snap decisions can be reversed to the benefit of both the Chinese and the US. To err is human to correct the error is wisdom.

  7. Excuse... excuse... by hackingbear · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Making up excuse to punish ZTE in the first place. And now making up excuse to back down failing to get more from negotiation.

  8. ZTE knows the magic numbers... by MostAwesomeDude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...specifically, the routing numbers for Michael Cohen's checking account~

    But seriously, did any money have to change hands, or is this just Trump showing his admiration for Xi's continuing march towards tyranny?

    --
    ~ C.
    1. Re:ZTE knows the magic numbers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ...specifically, the routing numbers for Michael Cohen's checking account~

      But seriously, did any money have to change hands, or is this just Trump showing his admiration for Xi's continuing march towards tyranny?

      I remember quite clearly how he complimented Putin, who is apparently responsible for various deaths of his political opponents, while at the same time insulting Obama, claiming Putin was just so much better than Obama.

      He truly does seem to have a fascination for strong men. I don't think its because the examples are unethical. I just don't think Trump thinks in terms or right and wrong. He seems to care more about whether or not it worked. If it worked, and didn't put him in jail, then obviously it was a correct decision.

      I'm guessing this is similar to the North Korean thing. Basically if buttering up a questionable leader gets him what he wants, even if it is mostly just splash without substance, then he will do it. Once again, it is not about ethics. It is about it advancing Trumpism and Trump himself. Oh he probably does actually want to "make American great again" on some level, but his definition of great seems to be somewhat close to my definition of ruin.

      Simply put you can't have a country based on common values if all the politicians are lying or supporting liars. It's like trying to build a house on a hill of sand. It may look good from a distance, but sooner or later the foundation is going to crumble.

      As far as ZTE specifically go, I tend to think they are somewhat not that important in the grand scheme of things. What I'd like to see is to have cell phones like personal computers, where at any time I can easily, without any special hoops replace the core OS. Sure, maybe there is a hypervisor and some non user accessible code to deal with the software defined radio, but the bulk of it should be easy to replace by booting from a usb device. Once you have that, it is easier to screen the rest for backdoors and such, though by no means is it easy.

    2. Re:ZTE knows the magic numbers... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      But seriously, did any money have to change hands, or is this just Trump showing his admiration for Xi's continuing march towards tyranny?

      Um ... China is already a communist dictatorship, and has been for many decades.

    3. Re:ZTE knows the magic numbers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dictatorship doesn't imply tyranny. I mean, they tend to go hand-in-hand in almost all cases, but that's facilitation rather than implication.

  9. Smells like BS by fred911 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ZTE had been a major international producer long before entering the US market. I doubt elimination from the US market makes it insolvent by any means. Whereas the US market may have possibly been the most profitable, they didn't play nice and got kicked off the playground. Boohoo, wake up, they're just another arm of the party.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    1. Re:Smells like BS by postmortem · · Score: 4, Informative

      It is not about US market, it is about now being illegal for US companies to license software (like Google Play) and hardware (like CPU chips) to ZTE.

    2. Re:Smells like BS by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Illegal for any US company to do business with them period.

    3. Re:Smells like BS by PPH · · Score: 1

      Some object lessons here:

      1. Foreign manufacturers need to secure alternate sources for components.

      2. Software manufacturers need to hold their licenses overseas.

      Exposing your business to the vagaries of totalitarian regimes is not a viable strategy.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    4. Re:Smells like BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Chinese manufacturing rids themselves of US suppliers. The purchase department asking for 'guaranteed US-free supplies'. Following suit is the rest of the world, no-one wants to be hampered by this trigger happy kind of behaviour.

      Who's winning?

    5. Re:Smells like BS by Kohath · · Score: 1

      US companies can't do business with them. It's impossible to make telecom equipment without inputs from US companies.

    6. Re:Smells like BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is not about ZTE, it is about how the US can deny any Chinese company to buy any IP from US companies, first sale doctrine be damned.

      Trump fucked up and did not go for the kill.

    7. Re:Smells like BS by quantaman · · Score: 1

      ZTE had been a major international producer long before entering the US market. I doubt elimination from the US market makes it insolvent by any means. Whereas the US market may have possibly been the most profitable, they didn't play nice and got kicked off the playground. Boohoo, wake up, they're just another arm of the party.

      The problem is if you're going to build high end tech it's really hard not to have some of your supply chain come from US companies.

      For the hardware they might be able to circumvent the sanctions with resellers but I suspect the US companies would be reluctant to sell to them and circumvent the sanctions so blatantly.

      And the software is even tougher since you can't exactly sell a phone full of pirated software.

      I'm a bit curious about the whole sanctions punishment in the first place, it sounds like the charge of "selling US goods to Iran" is based on the fact that ZTE sold products containing US components, but does that mean the moment the US announces sanctions on a country they now extend downstream to everyone using US components?

      I wonder if this plan to help ZTE has more to do with helping US companies, if I was a big international firm I'd be looking at contingencies in case I was told I could no longer use US components. Trump might be realizing that he also sanctioned the US.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    8. Re:Smells like BS by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      Exposing your business to the vagaries of totalitarian regimes is not a viable strategy.

      But where? Panama or some other tax haven? Are you sure those can be relied upon?

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    9. Re:Smells like BS by PPH · · Score: 1

      The EU, Britain, Switzerland. Pretty much any one of those has more respect for a rule of law, a more equitable tax system and less inclination to bully other nations around.

      ell, maybe not Britain. They have a bad habit of crippling their domestic R&D and handing it over to the USA. Because we bailed them out in some stupid war 70 years ago.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    10. Re:Smells like BS by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      a more equitable tax system

      Those large companies with IP portfolios to move don't want a more equitable tax system. They want the option to pay zero or close to zero taxes.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    11. Re:Smells like BS by PPH · · Score: 1

      more equitable tax system ... zero or close to zero taxes

      Same thing. At least the rest of progressive western society (with the notable exception of the USA) has settled on a flat tax rate.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    12. Re:Smells like BS by jrumney · · Score: 1

      3. Politicians need to realize that their kneejerk actions have diplomatic consequence, and they're probably going to be forced to eat their words later.

    13. Re: Smells like BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was never about the phones but about the back-end stuff like routers and base stations. Whoever makes this stuff can tap all traffic through it. The NSA was fearing to loose access when their lap-dog Cisco was massively loosing market share.

    14. Re:Smells like BS by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 1

      I'm a bit curious about the whole sanctions punishment in the first place, it sounds like the charge of "selling US goods to Iran" is based on the fact that ZTE sold products containing US components, but does that mean the moment the US announces sanctions on a country they now extend downstream to everyone using US components?

      The US seem to think so. At least, EU countries (at least Germany) are now worried about the US business of EU companies who are trading with Iran.

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
    15. Re:Smells like BS by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      1. Foreign manufacturers need to secure alternate sources for components.

      Any clever suggestions? Specifically we're looking for chips that are compatible and act as a PHY interface to a world of technology locked behind US patents. Got a list of alternative suppliers?

    16. Re:Smells like BS by PPH · · Score: 1

      Good point. So I guess I'll have to add:

      3. Remember back when you (China) were just getting into the mobile phone business. And you proposed developing your own standards. And the US threw a hissy-fit because you weren't going to use theirs? You should have told them to go shove it up their bum.

      Lesson learned. Maybe it's not to late to re-start that effort.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    17. Re:Smells like BS by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Exposing your business to the vagaries of totalitarian regimes is not a viable strategy

      So when you stated that you were just kidding. It seems you're actually a backer of totalitarian regimes such as China, and want them and their enterprises to succeed. Well then. . . that would seem to make you a fan of bum ideas. . . in more than one sense.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    18. Re:Smells like BS by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Exposing your business to the vagaries of totalitarian regimes is not a viable strategy.

      ZTE is a Chinese company, and China ...CHINA is the totalitarian country in this discussion. It is a little late for ZTE, although selling to other totalitarian countries under sanction was a bad idea. Is that why you seem so agitated to try to prop them up?

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  10. Makes sense! by forgottenusername · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ZTE repeatedly violated the US sanctions against Iran, and lied to the government while in remediation. Now that the US has broken it's international agreement w/Iran & is threatening sanctions against our global partners who were also part of the agreement, the only logical 5d chess move is to get ZTE back in the business of selling security-compromised devices to Americans. Using the Dept of Commerce, paid for by American tax dollars.

    I would be shocked if this was a backroom quid pro quo deal with China to expand the Trump brand business interests. Shocked I say.

    tl;dr Jobs Jobs Jobs!

    1. Re:Makes sense! by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Could also be a quid-pro-quo deal in this tariff crap.

    2. Re:Makes sense! by mrclmn · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's almost as though Trump thinks ZTE is a Russian company.

    3. Re:Makes sense! by MMC+Monster · · Score: 1, Insightful

      ZTE repeatedly violated the US sanctions against Iran, and lied to the government while in remediation. Now that the US has broken it's international agreement w/Iran & is threatening sanctions against our global partners who were also part of the agreement, the only logical 5d chess move is to get ZTE back in the business of selling security-compromised devices to Americans.

      I'm sorry, but the U. S. government's behavior is just getting schizophrenic.

      I can understand banning ZTE because it went against US sanctions.

      I can understand banning ZTE if there was evidence of Chinese backdoors in the hardware (even if it isn't released, if releasing the evidence may compromise US security issues).

      I can understand banning ZTE to help promote other non-Chinese brands, particularly US and allies brands.

      The only way trying to help ZTE makes any sense is if the US government finally realized the global supply chain involved and the loss of US jobs when a company like ZTE goes under. That being said, this is an awful time to do this, as the US is going to re-initiate sanctions against Iran.

      --
      Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
    4. Re:Makes sense! by Duds · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The giveaway here is that Breitbart have chosen to pretend it never happened. If even they can't spin it, you know he screwed up.

    5. Re:Makes sense! by forgottenusername · · Score: 1

      Yeah. I saw someone comment asking how the WH was going to spin this. Simple, they don't have to. A couple "I'll get back to you on that" from Sanders and the next nutty thing will have caused everyone to forget.

      It's nearly impossible to remember all the totally nutso things that have happened. Part of a strategy, one would imagine.

    6. Re:Makes sense! by hey! · · Score: 1

      Possibly ZTE is an Essential Consultants client?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    7. Re:Makes sense! by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, but the U. S. government's behavior is just getting schizophrenic.

      You expect rational and long-term planning from the current president of the USA? I have a bridge to sell you.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    8. Re:Makes sense! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry, but the U. S. government's behavior is just getting schizophrenic.

      As you grow up, you will begin to learn that some things aren't simple and one dimensional.

    9. Re:Makes sense! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll never forget her smoky eyes.

    10. Re:Makes sense! by shanen · · Score: 1

      Can you explain the joke? I seem to be missing it.

      For all we really know, Putin might be one of the largest shareholders in ZTE... His dark fortune is mostly unknown, with estimates ranging from $20 billion to $200 billion.

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    11. Re:Makes sense! by shanen · · Score: 1

      Good points, especially the last one, and I lament the lack of mod points to give you.

      You did make me wonder how owners of ZTE phones feel about this mess. Maybe they were never popular? I've considered getting a ZTE a couple of times, but never did...

      Hmm... Perhaps I should snatch one up in a liquidation sale? Out-of-production sales are usually the best prices, though the normal push is from the new models coming in.

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    12. Re:Makes sense! by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      Under China rules, all companies doing business in China must be mostly owned by chinease nationals. Foreign companies must construct local companies to do business there. ZTE is based in China, therefore it is mostly owned by chinease nationals.

    13. Re:Makes sense! by shanen · · Score: 1

      Are you saying there is a parent company somewhere else? I always thought it was a Chinese company?

      Let me see what Wikipedia says... Near as I can tell, it's as Chinese as it gets (though I didn't know how high it ranked). So the joke was that Trump didn't know that?

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    14. Re:Makes sense! by GrimSavant · · Score: 1

      You're overcomplicating it a bunch, it's simply a joke that Trump is too nice to the Russians. Not that ZTE is actually a Russian company, he's just acting inexplicably favorably towards them like with the Russians.

    15. Re:Makes sense! by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

      . . . the only logical 5d chess move is to get ZTE back in the business of selling security-compromised devices to Americans. Using the Dept of Commerce, paid for by American tax dollars.

      I would be shocked if this was a backroom quid pro quo deal with China to expand the Trump brand business interests. Shocked I say.

      I take it you're not a big 5d chess player either.

      We now know why Trump suddenly reversed course on sanctions against a Chinese tech giant

      President Donald Trump’s decision to reverse sanctions on Chinese telecom giant ZTE was part of a larger trade agreement, according to a new report.
      - In exchange for easing the restrictions on ZTE, the Chinese government will not impose tariffs on US agricultural products like pork and wine.
      - The agricultural tariffs were imposed by China in response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
      - The deal is not finalized yet and details still need to be worked out.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    16. Re:Makes sense! by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      It seems the thinking and operation of real estate investor/developers is beyond your ken.

      We now know why Trump suddenly reversed course on sanctions against a Chinese tech giant

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    17. Re:Makes sense! by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

      You got me curious with that statement, so I checked. It seems you're wrong in more than one respect. Breitbart carried a story on it, and there seems to be a bigger game at play.

      Kudlow on Administration’s China Trade Actions: ‘Don’t Blame Trump, Blame China’

      We now know why Trump suddenly reversed course on sanctions against a Chinese tech giant

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    18. Re:Makes sense! by Duds · · Score: 1

      Fair enough, I scrolled their entire front page at the time of posting and either it was not there, or I didn't spot it.

  11. China's corrupt telecom biz can suck it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wouldn't pass any classified data / intellectual property, let alone stream Netflix, through ZTE (or Huawei or any other Chinese firms) hardware.

  12. Follow the money? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Who shorted ZTE before the ban?

    And now who has long positions?

    Could it be Trump? Or any of his buddies?

    The Shadow knows.

  13. Xi offered him a wing in the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Forbidden City if Trump does his bidding.

    Since the Chinese are going to own America soon enough anyways, it seemed like an excellent idea. All those fancy floor tiles will go well with his lavishly gold room trim.

  14. DRAIN! THE! SWAMP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump will get 'er done!

      If it's one things Americans can't have, it's another Red-Party-owned spying machine going out of business! MCGA!

  15. Third World Assistance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let me guess, this help comes in the form of giving bribes to him and a cut of the profit, not as the standard form of corporation taxation but in paying bribes? In exchange the problems go away?

  16. Now with a proud US backdoor! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Which is what this was all about.

    Wanna bet?

  17. Backroom Deals by Stomper_Stoddard · · Score: 2

    This has backroom deal written all over it, although I am not sure why Putin wants ZTE propped up.

    Trump is not draining the swamp, he is drinking from the swamp.

    1. Re:Backroom Deals by Kohath · · Score: 0

      Yeah, that’s how you run a secretive conspiracy: on Twitter. Are you a producer at CNN? How does Stormy Daniels figure into the ZTE/Putin/Trump cabal?

    2. Re:Backroom Deals by Stomper_Stoddard · · Score: 1

      Okay, fair enough, so explain to me why the President wants to now prop up a company that we know was illegally selling banned products to Iran? Isn't Iran the enemy? Aren't companies that ignore trade sanctions by definition bad actors? Don't we want them to go out of business as a lesson to other companies considering doing the same thing? From a geopolitical stand point, this makes no sense. But from the stand point of a Corrupt President is making money off the deal, it makes plenty of sense.

      You can make all the conspiracy comments you want, but just remember, you guys are the ones who still think Hillary Clinton murdered Vincent Foster and runs a child slavery ring out of pizza joint.

    3. Re:Backroom Deals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Putin doesn't want ZTE propped up, he wants America discredited and destroyed as an international political force.

      In that, between the trade war, pulling out of the pacific trade partnership, ripping up the Iran deal, pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, support for tearing apart the EU, and potentially ripping up NAFTA their experiment with Trump couldn't have been any more successful. At this rate there's no doubt that at the end of Trump's presidency that the US will be a well and truly discredited force on the world stage.

      This is just another successful attempt at making the US look more fucking stupid than it already is.

    4. Re:Backroom Deals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, that’s how you run a secretive conspiracy: on Twitter.

      Stop pretending the prezidunce is a genius. Trump can't keep his mouth shut when he's excited about something - he says exactly what's on his mind. This is the guy who admitted on camera that he fired Comey because of "the russian thing."

      The guy has zero impulse control which is why his people have prevented him from doing press interviews with anyone other than the knob-gobblers at fox. Even then, Fox & Friends had to rush him off the air because he was revealing too much:

      Finally, Kilmeade stepped in to politely cut Trump off and to offer him a graceful closing. “We could talk all day but looks like you have a million things to do,” Kilmeade said, and brought the interview to an end. Trump has only one event listed on his public schedule for the day.
      Donald From D.C. Calls in to Fox and Friends

    5. Re:Backroom Deals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, that’s how you run a secretive conspiracy: on Twitter.

      Oh, look: China Contributing $500 Million to Trump-Linked Project in Indonesia

      The corruption is right out there in the open. That's how trump rolls. He actually likes to get caught just as long as quislings like you let him get away with it. That's how he proves to the world he's got the biggest dick - he can break the law and nobody will do shit about it.

    6. Re:Backroom Deals by cold+fjord · · Score: 1
      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  18. Simple: US backdoor in Chinese devices. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The lack of total world domination was all this was about.
    Funny though that the US still had the strong arm. I thought these times were long gone.

    USA #1 ... I guess?

  19. I don't know what's worse by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    the rampant corruption, the back pedaling on all his campaign promises (backed down on Carrier, supports Guest Worker programs & TPP, just gave Big Pharma a big present, filled his cabinet with Goldman Sach's folks that embody the swamp... I could go on) or the fact that no matter what his poll #s don't budge from 38-40%.

    The first year of this crap I could chalk up to the news cycle catching up with folks who don't watch politics. But at this point folks are sticking with him out of either stubbornness or a desire to see those "coastal elites" mad. That's some mighty fine face spiting right there, Lou.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:I don't know what's worse by whoever57 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I am convinced that Trump supporters will continue to support him, irrespective of what he does, as long as he enables their xenophobic and racist tendencies.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    2. Re:I don't know what's worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His only job is to do things that help his supporters imagine Democrats getting angry. As long as he appears sufficiently incompetent everything he says and does will be heaped with praise by people boasting about how angry they imagine Democrats got because of it.

    3. Re:I don't know what's worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still haven't figured out how you endured the same 8 years of crap from the Obama administration (rampant corruption, back pedaling, outright lies AND selling out the US) and YOU continued sticking with him.

      Perhaps you should look in the mirror.

    4. Re:I don't know what's worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I am convinced that Trump supporters will continue to support him,
      > irrespective of what he does, as long as he enables their xenophobic
      > and racist tendencies.

      “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
      Lyndon Baines Johnson

    5. Re:I don't know what's worse by Stomper_Stoddard · · Score: 1

      I still haven't figured out how you endured the same 8 years of crap from the Obama administration (rampant corruption, back pedaling, outright lies AND selling out the US) and YOU continued sticking with him.

      Perhaps you should look in the mirror.

      Admittedly Obama did back pedal on on some campaign promises when it became obvious he would not be able to get them done, but other than that, everything else you said is BS. But you will probably not except that truth because you are likely one of those people who still believes Obama was born in Kenya, was a secret Muslim who attended a radical Christian church, Michelle was actually a man and they kidnapped their children.

    6. Re:I don't know what's worse by GrimSavant · · Score: 2

      We've always been at war with Eurasia.

      I also find it remarkable how stable the level of support is in face of this madness. The administration has told us that 2+2=5 so many times that the opposition can't believe anything it says anymore, and so when you get reversals like this on ZTE's violation of the Iran sanctions the conclusion jumps straight to corruption, because even if there is a reasonable justification for playing nice with the Chinese there is absolutely no apparent coherence to what Trump is doing.

      And on the other side, his supporters seem to love him shouting at us that 2+2=5 because that triggers snowflakes, and nothing seems to matter anymore. Rather depressing since sometimes reality likes to assert itself in extremely unpleasant ways, whether it be after a trade war with China starts blowing up businesses both here and there, or worse if it leads to shooting war with someone like Iran.

    7. Re:I don't know what's worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      except = accept

    8. Re:I don't know what's worse by GrimSavant · · Score: 1

      Even if you didn't like what Obama was doing, at least it made sense. This stuff just does not make sense.

      I mean, Trump was trying to start a trade war with China, just busted out of the Iran nuclear deal, and now he is talking about how bad it is that ZTE's troubles as a consequence of such sanctions is causing too many Chinese jobs to be lost? Might as well start talking about Chewbacca.

    9. Re:I don't know what's worse by shanen · · Score: 1

      You got me to look at the AC comment. What are the opposite of congratulations?

      Why are you feeding the troll? Your closing sums up the situation well enough, but you're not even likely to earn any funny mods in that context.

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    10. Re:I don't know what's worse by Stomper_Stoddard · · Score: 1

      except = accept

      I spell like caveman most days.

    11. Re:I don't know what's worse by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      I know, right? I mean its like, whatever.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    12. Re:I don't know what's worse by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Rather depressing since sometimes reality likes to assert itself in extremely unpleasant ways. . .

      Agreed.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  20. Lol, only morons never change their views. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In the US, there seems to be this silly view, that only the most persevere idiot who clings to a view no fuckin matter what, is the great leader, and anyone who EVER dares to let new information change his actions because the situation changed, is a flip-flopping moron. (Making any proper scientist the latter.)

    Trump certainly is a moron and quite nuts,
    but the main damn reasin he was attractive to the fellow redneck out there, was precisely that, for all that, at least he was still *human*!
    With flaws and goofy sides and everything.
    Unlike every other potitician and corporate leader out there, who seem to belong exclusively to the species Homo Psychopathis.
    That is what people like you didn't get. His flaws actually were a plus! They made him human!

    I, myself, still of course agree that Trump is hopeless. But I think he also shows exactly what those people picked him for here.

    And for the record: I would have officially gone with Sanders, but inofficially have long stopped seeing politicians as any more than psychopath fascist corporate lobbyists. So I would have had my influence via lobbyism too instead, not even considering the entire political distraction theater as meaningful.
    But I'm not from the US anyway, so ... oh wait, that does not stop me, lol. ;)

    1. Re: Lol, only morons never change their views. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sanders was a corporate lobbyist. Just different corporations tha Trump.

    2. Re: Lol, only morons never change their views. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Human?

      If Trump is human...then people are hateful shitty creatures.

    3. Re: Lol, only morons never change their views. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      have you not seen fucking slashdot?

    4. Re: Lol, only morons never change their views. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or just go on a Chinese game server and talk about how great Japan is.

    5. Re: Lol, only morons never change their views. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point of the action against ZTE was to hurt ZTE.

      Bonus: crushing ZTE creates demand for products American companies also make.

      Now that he has reversed the actions, here is what you get: Toothless american foreign policy threats that will be less effective in the future, ZTE still doing the same thing they did before, american companies with a huge Chinese competitor still in existence, and an idiot manchild who doesn't back up his threats in the oval office.

    6. Re: Lol, only morons never change their views. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Oh, yeah. All the Chinese people who were buying ZTE phones will go 'huh' and buy an American brand phone instead.

  21. Re:I guess those new Iran sanctions won't mean muc by quonset · · Score: 0

    Considering the con artist did business with an Iranian bank which funds terrorists, while Iran was under sanctions, and didn't get penalized, you are correct.

    The same when the con artist did business with Cuba while it was under sanctions. No penalty.

  22. This makes no sense by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let me be clear - I do not agree with Trump’s short-sighted and backwards-thinking trade war. But isn’t the whole point of a trade war to put the hurt on the companies and consumers based in the other country, which increases the pressure on the other government to make concessions?

    Trump is basically giving away his leverage - so instead of both countries being hurt by the trade war, now it’s Americans who’ll take the brunt of the pain. Good job, “master” deal maker.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:This makes no sense by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The ZTE ban has little or nothing to do with any trade war. It's a straightforward consequence of the pre-existing sanctions against Iran. ZTE sold US technologies to Iran.

      Whether we should be sanctioning Iran, or trying to build a better relationship with them (they're horrible, but in some ways they're one of the least horrible regimes in that region - still, compared to Saudi Arabia, who isn't moderately better?) is another question. But it makes little sense to have sanctions and then say "Hey, it's OK, no biggie" when someone actually violates them.

      Also worth noting: ZTE is also implicated in some spyware stuff, that's bad enough to ensure ZTE phones are banned by the US military. It's not like a friendly company committed an oopsie.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    2. Re:This makes no sense by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, this is a different war. It's about Iran sanctions. I think the reason this is happening is they're actually trying to contain a possible Chinese trade war.

      It's brinksmanship, and when you're on the brink shutting down a billion dollar Chinese company with 75,000 employees might send you over the edge. He needs China's leadership to swallow its pride and make some trade concessions.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re: This makes no sense by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Yeah. Sometimes you don't have to hurt them, you just have to show that you have the power to hurt them.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:This makes no sense by Peter+P+Peters · · Score: 1

      Trump is basically giving away his leverage -

      No he's giving away America's leverage, probably in exchange for a new hotel deal

      Good job, “master” deal maker.

      Well if you take the view that he personally will gain (which has been his life story) then yes it's a good deal for him.

    5. Re:This makes no sense by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Let me be clear - I do not agree with Trump’s short-sighted and backwards-thinking trade war. But isn’t the whole point of a trade war to put the hurt on the companies and consumers based in the other country, which increases the pressure on the other government to make concessions?

      There may well be something about this that you and I don't know.

      If this were a story about NASA, and you had posted "WTF, why didn't they design their rover this way instead, blah blah", someone (quite possibly me) would be replying "whew, thanks, I'll get right on the phone to NASA and straighten this out".

      We don't have all the facts.

    6. Re:This makes no sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Also, exporting to North Korea. Also, actively redacting the fact that they did so in internal records. So not only did they do the criminal thing, they knew it was criminal and hid the fact that they did it in order to gain business.

      Then, after agreeing to a settlement agreement, which suspended the ban, they violated the terms of the settlement agreement, which made the ban immediately come into force.

      It's almost like Martin Shkreli, but with enforced penalties for the actual crime.

    7. Re:This makes no sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ZTE sold US technologies to Iran.

      Which of the technologies in shitty android cellphones could really be described as belonging to the US in your opinion? Is it Linux, ARM or whichever laughable mobile telephony standard you came up with that nobody else has ever wanted?

      The sooner Iran get nukes, the fucking better.

  23. What an asshole. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What an asshole.

  24. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump is required to keep the Chinese happy, since the Chinese provided the financial bailout money. The US is owned.

  25. Yes you do. by skam240 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "When there’s a detour because of road construction, do you continue to drive straight ahead at full speed, mowing down the road crew, because that was your original plan?"

    You do if the whole point of driving by the detour was to smash into the road crew.

    These sanctions were supposed to have the effect they are having on ZTE. They were supposed to hurt them a lot. Now he's reversing course because the sanctions actually worked? What type of example is that supposed to set for the future? "Sure, the US might put crippling sanctions on us over our actions but if we apologize they'll make it all better!"

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    1. Re:Yes you do. by Kohath · · Score: 1

      These sanctions were supposed to have the effect they are having on ZTE. They were supposed to hurt them a lot. Now he's reversing course because the sanctions actually worked? What type of example is that supposed to set for the future?

      You don’t know what conditions ZTE will have to abide by to get back in business.

    2. Re:Yes you do. by skam240 · · Score: 1

      So did we just win the trade war with China?

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    3. Re:Yes you do. by Kohath · · Score: 2

      There was no trade war. It’s a negotiation.

    4. Re:Yes you do. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't win a thermonuclear war if just one bomb doesn't completely destroy the adversary. The only track record for a win is using two bombs.

    5. Re:Yes you do. by skam240 · · Score: 1

      I realize this is happening completely separate from Trumps clearly announced trade wars (including the repeated naming of China as a primary target) but it sure seems incredibly odd put in that context.

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    6. Re:Yes you do. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      These sanctions were supposed to have the effect they are having on ZTE. They were supposed to hurt them a lot.

      Yes, the sanctions are hurting ZTE. But they only convince China that the USA can't be trusted, and to make the Chinese more determined than ever to become independent of the US as soon as possible. See the "Made in China 2025" plan. They will probably succeed in this, as they have the wealth, a ton of engineering talent, and overwhelming determination.

      Due to these advantages, China will likely dominate in high technology in the long run. Obama's supercomputer ban and Trumpey's ZTE hits will be cited by future historians as the moments that convinced the Chinese to start distrusting the U.S., and the shots that the U.S. fired at its own feet.

  26. Let me translate from the original by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The bribery check cleared, Trump is now our friend.

  27. America first ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... after China.

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  28. optimistism vs pessimism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    apart me wants to think punishing ZTE and hwawei was a way to get leverage on NK over china but thats being optimistic about trumps intelligence.

  29. On the plus side, don't think a chinese agent. by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

    I think russia has something bad on President Trump so it colors my reaction to his actions which favor russia and literally meeting with Putin and his staff without another u.s. citizen present (not even an interpreter).

    But in this case, I think he just adores dictators/strongmen and china flatters Mr. Trump and he sucks it up. At least I don't suspect he's a chinese agent.

    --
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    1. Re:On the plus side, don't think a chinese agent. by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      The Russians are paying his bills. So long as he keeps them friendly he doesn't go bankrupt while in office.

  30. Visible part of Deals going on by DejaBu · · Score: 1

    Interesting to see what deals are going in the background. It will be a bit of a tightrope renegotiating the 800 billion+ yearly deficit with China. We have manufacturing jobs returning to America, though it's been historically very difficult to do deals within China without having to sign over IP etc. While that seems to be changing, I don't think we have enough 'high-margin' areas yet-opened up with China, either in terms of reciprocal tax rate or being able to have substantial ownership of Chinese side companies. p.s. Seems to be a bit of a poltical DNC advocate storm on this page - If you're simply posting 'drumpf bad', don't bother.

  31. Want to war with China, and then back down ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After I bought all these popcorn to enjoy the nuclear fireworks in China, everything canceled

    Trump was so GUNG HO in wanting to nuke China back to the kingdom come

    And then when China manages to get North Korea to play nice, suddenly no nuking China no more

  32. Rest of the story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stay tuned. I very much enjoyed PBS rest of the story side pieces about smaller related aspects of various events, that typically are not headine material.

    The China relations very complicated and the ZTE deal will unfold and hopefully we will get a semblance of the truth. I am not sure what to make of it, just yet.

  33. Corruption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why? Why do people still keep beliving this asshole? Farmera are losing money from the fact the biggest importer of crops isnt buying after the tariffs. Accuse the company of being corrupt...ban then...but say you're going to help them.

    Anyone who believes he's trying to help America is a goddamn fool.

  34. It's the whiplash with a touch of insider trading by shanen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Where is the insight in that tiny bit of fluff? There is an obvious peculiarity here: "Trump says America first, but NOT if it will hurt ZTE!" Not that the lie or self-contraindication is peculiar as regards Trump. The peculiar question is "Why?" Two obvious answer candidates:

    (1) Trump is begging Xi to lean on little Kim Jong-Un to play nice next month. I do think Kim is insane, but not nearly insane enough to trust Trump, and it is possible that Trump realizes how embarrassing this fiasco could become. Libya model indeed.

    (2) Someone is making money on this scam. Who did Trump telephone about this course reversal? Hint: Look for "sharp" investors who suddenly bought up a bunch of ZTE shares. In this case, we're back to the question of whether or not Trump got his own beak wet.

    Actually reminds me of the ongoing Cohen fiasco. Was Cohen keeping all the loot, or was he kicking some back to Trump? In either case, it's going to be really hard to pardon him (which means Cohen is going to flip and drag ALL of Trump's skeletons out of the closet).

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  35. Re: I guess those new Iran sanctions won't mean mu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't blame Trump for being a lying con. Do hold accountable anyone in government who is supporting him as he does it, especially those "values voters" who have proven themselves hypocrites by backing him.

  36. Maybe this is brilliant? by MobyDisk · · Score: 2

    Maybe this is a brilliant move to show China that the US can win a trade war. He found an opportunity to bring a bring Chinese company to the edge of disaster, then calls up his counterparts in the Chinese government and says "Ya know, I *could* save ZTE, and those of us in the know could make a lot of money now that the stock sank, but here's what I want in return..."

  37. It's up to us to help ourselves out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think it matters what Trump does or doesn't do. He's a bobblehead. If you want to prove him wrong, then find the brands that are still Made in America and buy those. Or buy South American. Stop buying into Made in China. It's simple.

  38. SImple retaliation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess he got the message from China that retaliation is on it's way.

    One crazy way to do it:
    1.) declare sanctions against Israel for having nukes, ask for denuclearization.
    2.) sanction all companies worldwide (and especially US ones) that continue doing business with Israel & ban them from producing in China or obtaining parts or IP from China (also for everything made in China)
    3.) see sanctions against ZTE lifted
    4.) Back down only partially, Trump owned

    4a.) create antitrust laws that enforce fair licensing for technology that is offered in the Chinese market. So nobody can refuse ZTE. Thus put US companies in the lose-lose position (pull out of the market, be fined, or convince USA to back down from sanctions against ZTE).

  39. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    > Who did Trump telephone about this course reversal? Look for "sharp" investors who suddenly

    The trump crime family has a lot of business in china (for example, most of ivanka's merch is sourced from china). The "sharp" investor here could be trump himself, fishing for bribes that will be routed through his subsidiaries in country. It would not be unprecedented, almost immediately within a month of inauguration, china granted his family trademarks that they had been stalling on.

    Also, it should be pointed out, that ZTE was banned because they violated the sanctions on Iran. That's about the most damning proof that Benedict Donald DGAF about actually containing Iran.

  40. Re:MAGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you really that stupid that you cant understand the goal here? Its not like Trump hasn't been shouting that this was what he would do for the last 18 months...

    ZTE getting banned and Trump magically saving them are 2 ticks in a bigger plan of the China trade war. Trump gets the leverage he needs to get China to A) eliminate import tax's for US goods, and B) force the removal of Chinese state security back doors in ZTE US hardware. To make sure its in compliance, ZTE will have to relocate some US manufacturing to the US.

    You are so full of hatred and stupidity that you cant see the wood for the trees

  41. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe Trump realizes the American people benefit from cheap phones.

    > ongoing Cohen fiasco

    Which Michael Cohen? That lawyer revealed financials from a Canadian Michael Cohen.

  42. European countries take notes. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

    So, from various news sources, the U.S. Commerce Department banned American companies from exporting products to ZTE for seven years because:

    The U.S. government accused ZTE of violating a March 2017 settlement in which the firm pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.19 billion for illegally shipping telecommunications equipment to Iran and North Korea.

    Now, after Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, he threatens European countries with sanctions if they continue the nuclear deal with Iran (w/o the US). Is he going to stand by that or fold if/when companies complain? How about if ZTE starts shipping things to Iran again? (Of course ZTE isn't a country or in Europe, but Trump doesn't know that.)

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  43. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Kohath · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hint: Look for "sharp" investors who suddenly bought up a bunch of ZTE shares. In this case, we're back to the question of whether or not Trump got his own beak wet.

    ZTE stock has not traded since April 17th, when the ban was announced.

    Also, you should grow up and stop making up stories.

  44. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Yeah, it should "remind" you of the Cohen fiasco. That is what I was referring to. This is more of the same. He is out to help himself TO America.

  45. Public masturbation of 38547 by shanen · · Score: 1

    Z^-1

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  46. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    It helps America because China made it a condition of the new trade deal. That deal will benefit America.

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  47. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by shanen · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I still think Trump's primary focus (and desperate hope) is to get Xi to lean on Kim. I read Trump as desperate to get something out of the June 12th meeting, but the most likely scenario is that Kim is teeing Trump up for a YUGE punt. Actually, Trump already defined a game of reverse chicken, by claiming he will "win" by walking out if he can't get what he wants. Under the terms of Trump's own game, I'm expecting Kim to walk out first and claim the win. China's next response to Trump will go along the lines of "Tut, tut, tut, Little Donald. Let's not do anything rash."

    That's predicated on the theory that China basically likes things as they are now. I think China sees a strong and unified Korea as a probable nuisance and possible threat. Unless China sees some substantial advantage in an actual peace treaty, they might as well leave things as they are. Meanwhile Bolton keeps braying about the "Libya model" and Kim knows exactly how that one worked out. No sane dictator would give up his nukes to follow Qaddafi's lead.

    My reasoning certainly could be flawed. I actually expected China to make a move before this. I figured the Chinese would offer Trump a deal of North Korea for Taiwan. I still think China is confident that they can integrate Taiwan with little problem and enormous profit, while South Korea would be kept busy for decades trying to heal and integrate North Korea. The lack of official peace in Korea has been mostly harmless, but the establishment of an independent Taiwan would really piss them off.

    However the troll did raise an interesting point regarding the insider trading, though I certainly can't take it on his say so. So how else could smart insiders profit from their phone calls with Trump if they don't want to be so obvious as playing with ZTE? Future contracts? Gambles on related companies, both suppliers and customers?

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  48. Public masturbation of 196126 by shanen · · Score: 0

    Z^-2

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  49. So much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Better than Obama! Obama was an anti-american piece of shit. Trump, who is far from perfect, but loves America, is running circles around Obummer.

  50. Re: It's the whiplash with a touch of insider trad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The easiest money would be the related companies, IMO. ZTE suppliers took a hit in the stock market and immediately saw a swing up after the Commander in Queef backtracked and helped convince the world his foreign policy bluffs are just that, toothless showmanship.

  51. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Peter+P+Peters · · Score: 1

    I still think Trump's primary focus (and desperate hope) is to get Xi to lean on Kim.

    Seems like a foolish move. North Korea is the jewel in China global strategy crown. It is is one of the main reasons they can get away with Taiwan, Tibet, Spratly Islands, Africa etc. and give them a big security lever to allow their expansion plans. They will not give that up easily, and they already have Taiwan so it's not a big enough carrot.

  52. Re: It's the whiplash with a touch of insider trad by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1

    Everyone's merchandise is sourced from China, it's kind of their thing.

  53. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by currently_awake · · Score: 1

    The crackdown on China phones could be to force them to install surveilance and bugging software for the NSA. Once that is accomplished the pressure would be removed.

  54. Re: It's the whiplash with a touch of insider trad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the problem with having a president who doesn't divest. Jimmy Carter, our one and only actual evangelical president, divested from his goddamn peanut farm when he became president.

  55. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by shanen · · Score: 1

    I'm kind of unclear on your point. Most of your comment seems to be about the relative value of Taiwan versus North Korea (and I think I agree with your assessment there), but you quoted the part of my comment that was narrowly focused on the meeting next month.

    Let me clarify that I think Xi could put enormous pressure on Kim to do various things, but I'm pretty sure he won't. In fact, one possible explanation for what is happening is that Xi wants to reduce Trump to Kim's level on the world stage, sort of a noisy nuisance that no one takes too seriously. (Same as Trump always was, but he never understood that and Trump is now living in total denial of reality.)

    However I am sure I disagree with you on the last part. China does not "have Taiwan" the way they want to have it. The trade ties are important, but they know they could get a much better deal with a few divisions stationed there. Also that would take care of any mumbling about independence.

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  56. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by shanen · · Score: 1

    I think that theory has crossed into conspiracy terrain. It would be much easier to get the malware integrated into the components at the American end. Actually, they probably wouldn't add the malware itself, but the hidden capability to trigger the installation of malware at some later date. That way they could avoid exposing anything to the Chinese, but all of the devices made with the components would be ready to go whenever needed.

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  57. Interesting the unpredictability of Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1- He was lobby by Qualcomm, Acacia and other ZTE suppliers to lift the ban in face of losing business in China.
    2-He reach some sort of concession with Xi in trade.
    3- He is playing the stick and carrot approach.
    4-He don't know nothing about the ZTE case.

    People forget that Trump is not a politician he is a business man who happen to be the President of the U.S., for Trump EVERYTHING is about business.
     

    1. Re:Interesting the unpredictability of Trump by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      People forget that Trump is not a politician he is a business man

      Failed.

      He is a failed businessman, who clearly demonstrates that he doesn't know how business works.

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  58. MakeTrumpGreatAgain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here, fixed it for you.

  59. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Profit while suspended. EASY.
    ETF's in Telecommunications sector, Futures contracts, and option trading. The a bridge construct betreen US and China based ETF's in that sector.

    Now remember, that's punishment for breaking sanctions - oh wait a sec, diplomacy can trump that.

  60. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by LostInTaiwan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Given China lackluster record in "integrating" the hearts and minds of the Hong Kong residents, who were basically tossed to the wolves by the British after 99 years of dutifully generated revenues for the British Empire. Despite some last minute electoral reforms by the British prior to the 1997 hand over to China, Hong Kong was basically a colonial subject of the Crown without a tradition of electing its own executives.

    Taiwan, on the other hand, thanks to continuous US intervention since WWII, has blossomed into a fractious democracy, along with the requisite shares of protests, counter-protesters, counter-counter-protests.... and etc. Streets protest is almost a national past time, enjoyed by all demographic, from the young to the old, regardless of sexual orientation, or ethnic origin. Not to mentioned that unlike Hong Kong, Taiwan has its own military.

    Whether or not Taiwan's military that is being rapidly eclipsed by the Chinese military can hold its own against the Chinese is a vexing question for the island residents. However, the strategic value of loosing Taiwan to China mean loosing our pave paws radar in Taiwan, loosing our first island of defense against China and allowing China to control the sea lane that connects Japan and Korea to the half the world and their oil supply.

    Taiwan also has a fairly globalized semiconductor sector. Any disruption will be felt across the world. Any damage to Taiwan's infrastructure means rapid price inflation for anything good with semiconductor inside. Fab equipment aren't usually the type people can buy in quantities immediately.

    Given the rise of authoritarian China, the long term strategic and short term financial importance of a democratic Taiwan to people who enjoy free speech, especially in the digital medium, cannot be overstated.

    Sadly, to our smarter-than-thou president, it's all tl;dr. He is just happy to have found his NK mini-me.

    SAD . . .

  61. The Real Issue by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    China already used the ZTE announcement to encourage moves to create their own chips and chip architectures, basically accelerating what is already happening. That's not good for US jobs! I believe ZTE buys 10% of Qualcomm's annual volume, but imagine if China ceased to use US chips altogether.... they don't need the US. They can license direct from ARM or make their own..

    Always think of the big(ger) picture!

  62. Trumo pledges to help Qualcomm by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    There, fixed the title for you.

    ZTE wasn't banned from doing anything, Qualcomm and Intel were banned from selling stuff to ZTE.

    Memo to non-American companies: If you don't want to get fucked around by Trump don't buy American.

    MAGA: Make America Grate Again.

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  63. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 1

    My reasoning certainly could be flawed. I actually expected China to make a move before this. I figured the Chinese would offer Trump a deal of North Korea for Taiwan. I still think China is confident that they can integrate Taiwan with little problem and enormous profit, while South Korea would be kept busy for decades trying to heal and integrate North Korea. The lack of official peace in Korea has been mostly harmless, but the establishment of an independent Taiwan would really piss them off.

    Interesting. If the Chinese could pull off such a deal, it would be quite brilliant. Getting rid of the embarrassment of Kim, while getting Taiwan which they always wanted.

    There are a few caveats though:
          -It would require Trump to betray Taiwan big time. Possible, but even Trump might think twice about that. Breaking agreements with an opponent (Iran) is one thing. Throwing a long term ally under the bus is another.
          -It presumes that Kim does not panic and attack everything in range. That is, with nukes and the artillery North Korea has still aimed at south Korea. Some of that can reach downtown Seoul.
          -Integrating Taiwan might take decades. But I think China is capable of taking the long view on that, they strike me as thinking longer-term than western politicians.

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  64. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Also, you should grow up and stop making up stories.

    Honest question - why the fuck should he? See if you can construct a convincing argument as to why this is a bad thing.

  65. SImples - contract time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ZTE is going to get single supplier status to rejuvinate North Korea's telecom infrastructure.
    China will do the usual debt finance deal that they tend to do for Aficran nations.
    US will ensure ZTE have a backdoor so they can monitor what is going on at key installations.
    China will instruct ZTE as they do for all the "privately run" companies.

  66. Why even have laws with that president? by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 2

    So this means as a company you can break trade embargoes, then whine loud enough, and then Trump will bail you out? Why bother with laws and abiding to them if they become utterly meaningless under this president?

  67. Re: It's the whiplash with a touch of insider trad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    DPRK is one motivation, and avoiding reciprocal treatment for US companies is another

  68. Damage To US Companies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If it is possible to take time out from the 15 minutes of hate then we should try. What was done to ZTE also hurt its US suppliers. It is in the interest of the US to reverse the original flawed decision. This shows a more sophisticated and nuanced view of reality that I am surprised to see from the Trump administration. We can only hope to see more of this in the future.

  69. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 1

    Given China lackluster record in "integrating" the hearts and minds of the Hong Kong residents, who were basically tossed to the wolves by the British after 99 years of dutifully generated revenues for the British Empire. Despite some last minute electoral reforms by the British prior to the 1997 hand over to China, Hong Kong was basically a colonial subject of the Crown without a tradition of electing its own executives.

    This is quite right. Wish I could mod this up instead of having to comment. The UK wasn't interested at all in letting Hong Kong people have a big say in their own government and tried to get that snuck into the handover agreement where China rightly pointed out that it was kind of late in the game for the UK to want Hong Kongers to have a say in their local government because the UK sure wasn't interested in that at all prior to having to negotiate the handover.

    Taiwan, on the other hand, thanks to continuous US intervention since WWII, has blossomed into a fractious democracy, along with the requisite shares of protests, counter-protesters, counter-counter-protests.... and etc. Streets protest is almost a national past time, enjoyed by all demographic, from the young to the old, regardless of sexual orientation, or ethnic origin. Not to mentioned that unlike Hong Kong, Taiwan has its own military.

    This is quite right as well, not to mention that Ronald Reagan, patron saint of the Republican Party, stated during his presidency that the USA would not negotiate between China and Taiwan to settle the question of Taiwan. So frankly, Taiwan is not Trump's to bargain away. Taiwanese people are mostly not interested in joining China at any price and would rather live with their fractious democracy than enjoy the bliss of a one party state.

  70. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by shanen · · Score: 1

    There seems to be some confusion here. I am NOT advocating that the Chinese communist form of corporate cancerism is superior to any other flavor. This is actually a separate topic, but I would argue that both capitalism and communism are dead and might as well be buried. Actually, there's a good argument that Taiwan is closer to capitalism than most countries these days, but it's the cancers that rule now.

    My point is about the real-world politics of power-based negotiations. Trump wants to "win" against North Korea, which is not likely even though North Korea is objectively extremely weak. Kim is basically holding two cards: (1) All the hostages in Seoul, and (2) China's support. Trump is trying to offer ZTE's survival to Xi as an inducement to lean on Kim, and I don't think it's going to work. Yes, Xi is probably pissed about the ZTE fiasco, but it isn't that important to him. It might even be to his advantage to blame Trump for the declining growth rate in China rather than admit the uglier reality that high rates of growth are never sustainable.

    Then again, maybe someone isn't talking to me. Some parts of this discussion seem pretty confused, even if I started the branch.

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  71. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by shanen · · Score: 1

    I can speculatively address your second point. I was speculating that China would invade BOTH of them. As long as the US stayed out of it, I think China could overwhelm and control the little ones. After the fact was accomplished, they would just take the nukes and leave North Korea for South Korea to clean up, while focusing their own cleanup on Taiwan.

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  72. Wrong Question by prefec2 · · Score: 1

    How much as ZTE payed to Cohen?

  73. Ah. So trump helps china more than usa by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    Seriously, trump does more for china and Russia than he does for America. We layoff here and too bad. China business layoff because Chinese gov owned business was giving American secrets out all over, and trump has to save them.

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  74. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by mikael · · Score: 1

    A Chinese company suspected of putting spyware in their mobile phones, sells those phones to Iran. I could see some benefits here.

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  75. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

    ZTE was not publicly traded. You can trade stock off the exchange. And if you were arranging a payoff to a Trump associate, that's exactly how you would do it.

    I'm not accusing anyone of that happening in this case, but I'm saying if it did, your counterargument is pretty nonsensical.

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  76. damn autocorrect by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1

    and it isn't just

  77. Re: It's the whiplash with a touch of insider trad by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

    Short on the way down, go long at the bottom. It's the insider trading / market manipulator way.

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  78. lay off teh crack pipe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What secrets were they giving out? Just more bullshit from you?
    How much of a tax cut did he give rich Chinese people? Did he stop Chinese people being forced to pay for Obamacare?

  79. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

    Two obvious answer candidates:

    Three actually:

    (3). It's Trump. He'll say one thing one day, the opposite the next, and something else again on the third day.

    How long has he been president and you still haven't noticed this?

  80. Trump bans a company... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then promises to help said company.

    Sounds to me like fake news.

  81. Found the Bribes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  82. Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi by shanen · · Score: 1

    I've noticed. Actually, I think one of Trump's most amazing characteristics is what a terrible liar he is. It's kind of like political humor. The joke depends on understanding the reality, and Trump can't lie well because he can't recognize such basic concepts as truth and reality upon which to base more sophisticated lies.

    Time for my little ontology of lies, but let me see if I can just dig up a link... That's extremely interesting. I know exactly what to look for and I know that I've published it in many places on the Web, and yet the google doesn't return ANY link to my writing. I even pushed it by adding my name to some of the searches, and still came up dry. However, one of the early hits is from someone else, who is an Internet acquaintance and who is citing my ontology as the first part of his comment.

    https://plus.google.com/104092...

    Hey, if the search engines [I double-checked with Bing] can't find it, then that's the same as never having written it these days.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.