12/21/2024
Yesterday, I highlighted the U.S. struggle with strategies like de-coupling and de-risking, using onshoring, nearshoring, and friendshoring.
Two days ago I came across Thomas Friedman’s article, "How Elon Musk and Taylor Swift Can Resolve U.S.-China Relations?" It reveals a profound sense of anxiety.
Friedman begins bluntly: "I just spent a week in Beijing and Shanghai… and let me get right to the point: While we were sleeping, China took a great leap forward in high-tech manufacturing of everything."
He sounds alarmed, noting, "You have to go to China to see it… a lot of people in Washington have missed the country’s staggering manufacturing growth."
This is something new when he mentioned "dark factories." These are factories so highly automated and fully roboticized that they operate day and night without lights, as there’s no need for human presence—aside from engineers occasionally adjusting the machines. As China Daily explains, “Dark factories, also called smart factories, are entirely run by programmed robots.”
China’s independent manufacturing ecosystem is unparalleled, capable of producing and sourcing virtually any component or material domestically. Friedman acknowledges this, stating, "No other country in the world has such a complete homegrown ecosystem."
A Chinese saying captures the rapid development of China, “日新月异” (rì xīn yuè yì), means "transformative changes with each passing day," symbolizing rapid progress and continuous innovation. It reflects China's transformative growth in high-tech manufacturing and infrastructure.
Toward the end, Friedman credits China’s achievements, saying, "We fool ourselves if we believe China’s growing strength in advanced manufacturing is only from unfair trade practices. It’s also because it has people driven to work ‘9-9-6’—9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week—and because Beijing has invested in world-class infrastructure and education, producing countless engineering graduates."
Make no mistake, Friedman’s intent isn’t to praise China but to urge the U.S. to respond urgently to China's technological and manufacturing rise. He proposes an “Elon Musk-Taylor Swift paradigm”—suggesting that the U.S. should focus on Elon Musk-type innovation and domestic manufacturing ability, while China should open its door to Taylor Swift-type American culture, products, food and drink. In other word, Americans should produce and export more while China should import and consume more American goods.
Finally, Friedman warns, without strong industrial efforts, the U.S. risks losing its competitive edge to China’s technological and manufacturing dominance.