Gadget Wars

Time to begin to live up to the title of this infant blog and do some real prospecting...on a global scale.

One topic I'd like to touch upon is the increasing political friction between Japan and China . It's no secret these two countries do not like each other. The majority of their vitriol stems from Japan's aggression in Manchuria in 1930 and gradual imperialist expansion along China's eastern sea board through the end of the war. In addition to military expansion, they did some nasty stuff there such as testing the human plague and mustard gas on otherwise healthy (and live) Chinese citizens. Then there's the rape of Nanking, which makes Abu Grab look like a Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World.

Currently tensions are heating up, especially on China's side where the people are protesting, under government auspices, on a scale that is unprecedented for the Communist oligarchy. These protests are taking two forms: a couple thousand Chinese throwing stones at the Japanese embassy, banks and restaurants like Palestinian wannabes, and a massive grass roots driven petition against Japan's ascension as a permanent member of the UN Security Council (11 million Chinese signatures so far).

Anyone in tune with the happenings of East Asia knows that the real reason the Chinese government is allowing these protests and petition movements, and in fact encouraging them, is due to Japan's recent declaration that it will help the US defend Taiwan if China attacks its 'renegade province'. Don't ever underestimate the importance of the Taiwan issue to China. There are some Chinese, especially certain military leaders who hold substantial sway, who would throw away the economic gains of the last two decades in exchange for recapturing Taiwan by force. It is an emotional issue for them, not a rational one.

So anyhow, nothing above is new, just a quick recap on a topic that has garnered a lot of coverage recently. However, one question that hasn't been asked, until this groundbreaking moment, is what happens to our tech gadgets if this tension increases to the point of war? Let's say China invades Taiwan and Japan and the US rush to her rescue? I know what's gonna happen: NO MORE GADGETS.

That means no more LCDs, Plasmas, computer components, micro processors and those cute Aibo robots for us anymore. Nope - We'll have nothing. They're all made in China, and China will be a bad guy for a while. Best Buy's shelves will be empty (not a bad thing if you ask me) and we won't be able to upgrade our cell phones every year.

The rational is simple - take a look at any tech device and it will most likely say made in China, they are the factory of the world. If it doesn't say made in China, such as most LCDs and Plasma displays, then there is a very high probability that the components in the device will have been made in China then shipped Japan or Taiwan for final assembly. If we're at war (by we I mean the US, pardon the provincial attitude) with China, then Congress will enact sanctions against them barring the import of products or products with components made in China. It's that simple.

So next time someone invites you to a peace rally, or to even hug a tree, don't automatically smack them. Think about the gadgets. Think about what happens to them if we go to war. There's too much at stake people.