Gongol.com Archives: July 2025
July 30, 2025
An American banking executive from Wells Fargo has been told she can't leave China because of a shadowy "criminal" investigation. What is the case about? What is the purported "involvement"? These things seem to remain unknown -- which doesn't necessarily make them untrue or pretextual, but it definitely doesn't serve to alleviate concerns that they are. ■ The Economist published a compelling podcast on China's use of arbitrary imprisonment as a tool of intimidation against foreigners. Much injustice can be done under the false flag of "the law", and there's a plainly evident track record to that effect in China. ■ Wells Fargo has suspended all employee travel to China as a result of the ongoing incident, a decision which seems utterly belated. Under current conditions, it's hard to see what rewards are great enough for any American whose background or profile could raise any attention at all to be motivated to go to China for the foreseeable future. ■ What could be worth the non-zero risk of being used as a game piece and facing a thousand days in a Communist prison? The reputational damage deserves to last for a generation. In this conflict, there is a lesson for America, China, and the rest of the world: You can't be rich all alone, and you can't have the protection of rules all alone, either. ■ Both conditions are dependent upon sharing with others. They simply aren't durable without the consent and the participation of others, and to the extent that anybody tries to keep them to themselves, they risk losing them altogether. ■ Adversarial relationships -- like those that require beating up on rivals in order to get rich, or that depend upon flexing dubious "legal" authority to put others in their place -- are inherently unstable and unsustainable. They can rack up short-term victories, but they can't achieve lasting success. Constructive cooperation doesn't afford a lot of opportunities to feel like a victor in combat, but it's the only way to really reap the benefits of strength.
