Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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A worthwhile exercise before opening a book is to ask yourself what you expect it to address so that you think reading it is worthwhile. For example --


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Question 1

In 1980 did President Deng Ziaoping designate Shenzhen a “special economic zone” which produced a boomtown – 300 thousand in 1980 to 7 million in 2000 to 18 million in 2020???

Answer 1

Perhaps “enabled” would be more appropriate than “produced” – please see Q&A-5 re Taiwan’s Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group).

Question 2

Is the success of Shenzhen built on the manufacturing of iPhones???

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

Which, per the London Financial Times, has turned Shenzhen into the world’s most innovative electronics hub???

Answer 3

Yes – please see their 8/15/2025 article at viewtopic.php?f=880&t=2722&p=3592&hilit ... 70ca#p3592.

Question 4

BTW, is Shenzhen the area just north of Hong Kong which, in 1980, was still a British colony???

Answer 4

Yes.

Question 5

Were two of the most lucrative TAIWANESE business models --

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) WHICH DEVELOPED TAIWAN so that [per The (London) Economist on 3/6/2023] Taiwan produces over 60% of the world's semiconductors and over 90% of the most advanced ones???

• Foxconn (Hon Hai Technology Group) WHICH DEVELOPED MAINLAND CHINA by doing all the work of establishing zillions of manufacturing enclaves such as Shenzhen??? Which were then used by American companies to do their manufacturing???

Answer 5

Yes and Yes.

Question 6

Isn’t it true that the People’s Republic (Mainland) China has NEVER had dominion over Taiwan???

Answer 6

Yes – please read on.

Question 7

In other words --

• The Manchurians ruled China 1644-1912 (called the Qing Dynasty) and were defeated by the Nationalists under Sun Yat Sen in 1912.

• However, Taiwan had already been ceded to Japan in 1895 at the end of the first Sino-Japanese War.

• It remained under Japanese rule until the end of World War II – with BTW military-age Taiwanese males fighting in the Japanese Army against China!!!

• It then fell under control of the Nationalists since it was behind their lines during the Chinese Civil War 1945-1949.

• And following the defeat of the Nationalists by the Communists in 1949, the Nationalist government and military forces retreated to Taiwan – with a million mainlanders joining the pre-existing 7 million Taiwanese. [NB: per the CIA World Factbook, the current population of Taiwan is 24 million.]

Answer 7

Yes to all points.

BTW, Manchuria had been an integral part of China since conquering the rest of it in 1644.

HOWEVER, Western governments did NOT want to admit that the famous “Rape of China” began with Japan’s conquering Manchuria in 1931.

SO DESPICABLY, they called Japan’s 1937 invasion of the rest of China, the “Rape of China”!!!

Question 8

Does this mean the PRC has no more legal claim to Taiwan than it has to –

• Singapore – 74.2% of 6.0 million are Chinese (per CIA’s World Factbook)

• Malaysia – 20.6% of 34.2 million Chinese (per CIA’s World Factbook)

• San Francisco – 37.3% “Asian alone” per U.S. Census Bureau (no further breakdown for Chinese)

Answer 8

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 9

And didn’t China “digest” Hong Kong in no time flat???

Answer 9

Absolutely!!!

Question 10

BTW, has there been languishing in our website’s Sec. 3 (Possible Topics for Future Meetings) since 12/3/2023 “Realpolitik - Has Taiwan Been Prudent Enough To Buy/Develop Sufficient Nuclear Weapons To Deter China?”???

Answer 10

Yes – please see the currently-eighth post in viewforum.php?f=150&sid=004ecdf4a72f26a ... 0e9a1370ca.

Question 11

Does this month’s Reference Materials section include a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Why the China Doves Are Wrong – American business leaders cozying up to Beijing refuse to see that the Communist Party wants us to fail”???

Answer 11

Yes – please see the currently-second post in viewforum.php?f=889&sid=004ecdf4a72f26a ... 0e9a1370ca.

Question 12

Should America’s four-decade-long pre-Trump policy of exporting American manufacturing jobs to low-wage countries such as China be curtailed in terms of legislation???

Answer 12

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

After all, legislation might make the policy last post-Trump.

Question 13

Is there any need to brand American business leaders such as Steve Jobs “American traitors” as implied by the WSJ article???

Answer 13

Please read on.

Question 14

After all, wouldn’t it already be hard enough to curtail legislatively America’s policy of exporting American manufacturing jobs to low-wage countries such as China in the wake of Barack Obama’s single-handedly destroying the 1976-2008 public-financing of Presidential campaigns and making it the private playground of billionaires???

Answer 14

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Re Barack Obama’s single-handedly destroying the 1976-2008 public-financing of Presidential campaigns and making it the private playground of billionaires – please see the first attachment to our 3/21/2020 letter to each of the co-hosts and producers of ABC’s “The View” which is available for download using the link in the next Q&A.

That attachment is the U.S. Federal Election Commission’s Presidential Public Funding Fact Sheet which document’s Obama’s “crime” against democracy by showing –

• Year by year 1976-2016, primary campaign matching funds paid to Republicans, to Democrats, and to Independents,
• Year by year 1976-2016, general election grants paid to Republicans, to Democrats, and to Independents [NB: in order to receive them, the candidate had to forego any private campaign contributions – in the wake of Obama’s “crime” against democracy, Super PAC’s and “Dark Money” organizations (so-called because they do NOT disclose donors) became common].
• Year by year 1976-2016, party convention grants paid to Republicans, to Democrats, and to Independents.

THE SECOND ITEM DOCUMENTS OBAMA'S "CRIME" AGAINST DEMOCRACY SINCE IT SHOWS --

(A) ALL MAJOR PARTY CANDIDATES 1976-2004 FOREGOING PRIVATE FINANCING IN ORDER TO RECEIVE GOVERNMENT FINANCING.
(B) FOR OBAMA'S FIRST CAMPAIGN IN 2008, OBAMA REJECTING GOVERNMENT FINANCING IN FAVOR OF PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS, WHILE jOHN McCAIN ACCEPTED GOVERNMENT FINANCING AND REJECTED PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS, AND
(C) NO MAJOR OR MINOR PARTY CANDIDATES SINCE OBAMA'S "CRIME" REJECTING PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE GOVERNMENT FINANCING.

Our letter to “The View” concluded with –
“It should be ‘child’s play’ for any law school graduate to draft amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act that would –

• Extend public financing to Senatorial/Congressional Campaigns for any candidate who renounces campaign contributions and who can show a modicum of support by the voting public, and
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, provide levels of public financing equal to what would be available to any opponents (and their Super-PAC’s) from campaign contributions, such as gearing it to the amount of campaign contributions being received by competitors (or to recent historical levels if all competing candidates have chosen public financing).

“Indeed, it strikes us that in such a New World, ‘independent expenditures’ accompanied by full disclosure of the sources of such expenditures, would become comparatively insignificant.

“It should be noted that public financing under FECA has NEVER been a ‘Freedom of Speech’ issue with the U.S. Supreme Court because the renunciation of private campaign contributions in order to receive the public grants is VOLUNTARY.”

Question 15

Indeed, when Meghan McCain was still the “token” conservative on ABC’s “The View,” did we write a 3/21/2020 letter to each of the co-hosts and producers of “The View” entitled “Worth The Fighting For – The Honorable U.S. Senator John S. McCain III -- His Dream of Campaign-Finance Reform and What You Can Do To Help”???

Answer 15

Yes – it is available for download at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1910&sid=004ecdf4a ... 0e9a1370ca.

Question 16

Had we previously written to Sen. McCain on 5/20/2018 when he was still alive urging him to “Resurrect and Re-Invigorate McCain-Feingold”???

Answer 16

Yes – please see viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1753&sid=5096b0ba4 ... d021aae593.

Question 17

Was ABC’s “The View” turning its back on campaign-finance reform after our 3/21/2020 plea to help restore democracy in America, LIKE BARACK OBAMA’S DESTROYING OF PUCLIC-FINANCING OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, a bald-faced power grab???

Answer 17

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

[Though, of course, “The View” as a left-wing enterprise would have been grabbing power for the Democrat Party, rather than “The View” itself or for ABC.]

Question 18

Have these questions gone quite far afield from “Apple in China”???

Answer 18

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 19

Are you willing to pardon Yours Truly for doing so because of the importance of the issues involved (starting with preserving democracy – vs. making American elections the private playground of billionaires???

Answer 19

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 20

And perhaps even admit that all of these matters should be addressed by “Apple in China”???

Answer 20

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!