Comments by "Yo2" (@yo2trader539) on "China Observer" channel.

  1. No wonder China needs autonomous driving.
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  2. The last line was brutal. I remember Beijing air-spraying grass with green paint when IOC members visited to decide the Olympics.
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  3. ​ @playmakersmusic Confucianism was never big in Japan. It was studied by scholars more as a policy tool during the Edo era. Japanese culture, norms, mannerism, and worldview stems from Japanese Shinto and Buddhist religious beliefs. Taiwan and Korean peninsula received varying degree of Japanese education and cultural influence during Japanese administration. But the impact to people today is debatable. Their behavior is not as bad as mainland Chinese, but still some of their behavior is very different from Japanese people.
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  4. Based on statistics from Japan's Tourism Office, 2.4 mn Chinese nationals visited Japan during Jan-Dec 2023, compared to 6.95 mn South Koreans, 4.2 mn Taiwanese, 2.1 mn HK residents, and 2 mn US citizens. The remaining visitors are mostly from Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada, UK, and Australia. In total, 25 million foreign nationals visited Japan in 2023, and frankly that figure is near the upper limit that Japan can accommodate per year (in terms of capacity of airports, hotels, and other transportation/tourism infrastructure). Currently, there is a ban in place for Chinese group tourism from the Chinese government. I think it was initially introduced as COVID measures, yet it's still maintained probably for political or economic reasons. Ironically, the ban is well-appreciated in Japan by tourists and locals alike since Chinese group tourists have the worst possible manners and reputation. I don't know much about tourist visas, but relatively-affluent Chinese tourists are still able to visit Japan.
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  5. History of China is full of massive floods, thus building dams for flood prevention, irrigation, and hydro-power does make sense. The problem is more with internal distribution of fiscal resources. Too much is allocated for military and overseas projects, robbing necessary financial commitment for domestic needs. That is a byproduct of China's political decision making process and deliberate underinvestment in lands for ethinic minorities.
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  6. I worry about even purchasing mobile batteries made in China.
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  7.  @peterseth3296  Fruits in Japan are generally expensive because of the high quality and cost of producing them. Small watermelons cost about JPY 1,500-2,000 or US$10-15. That is about an hourly wage in fast food industry these days. And Japanese watermelons are really sweet.
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  8. You have no idea how low Chinese products are regarded in Japan. They pay for publicity but the overall brand image of China has been so bad, be it cheap clothing or mobile batteries, Chinese BEVs will never sell in Japan. The only foreign cars that sell in Japan are German ones.
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  9. It's even worse than you think. The application for the Indonesian High-Speed Train by the Chinese consortium was using copies from Japanese application, meaning the people who built and operate the High-Speed Train in Indonesia didn't do their own studies and route planning. High-Speed Railways aren't just about trains, signal system or tracks. It's about knowing the terrain, geological characteristic, and climate of each segment of the railway. Indonesia has volcanoes and earthquakes just like Japan. Chinese-Indonesian consortium have no idea what they're doing, so it's only a matter of time until a serious natural disaster and accident will occur.
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  10.  @coolninjamen  Japanese have zero need for Chinese cars. And the cooperation between Toyota and BYD is for the Chinese market. For Chinese market, Chinese quality will suffice.
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  11. They saw record profits in FY2023 (Apr 2023- Mar 2024).
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  12.  @xipingcao  Most Chinese agricultural products won't pass Japanese food safety standards.
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  13. They cover cremation too.
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  14. Chinese agricultural products often fail environmental regulations in Japan. I think it has something to do with either the water, soil, or fertilizers they use. We have Chinese garlic in Japan, but they are grown in designated fields under instructions from Japanese companies to meet Japanese standards.
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  15. Japanese companies have been diverting investments into Southeast Asia for years. Japanese companies didn't suffer from COVID lock-down in China as much because they already diversified out of China before that. They were far more optimistic and supportive of China up to around the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. But the increasingly hostile policies of Chinese government, and the frequent anti-Japanese riots and political risk, have made them realize that Chinese production facilities can be useful only for domestic Chinese market. As such, Foreign Direct Investment from Japan to China has been on a declining trend for over a decade.
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  16.  @mustaphamond5819  If you ever do business with the Chinese, you'll arrive to the same conclusion.
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  17. Too many violence and sex crimes by enlisted US military personal. In Japan, I don't think Americans are perceived any better than the Chinese or Brazilians. But Kurds by far are hated the most in Japan.
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  18.  @tonyburzio4107  It's not just Foxconn which is doing the final assembly. The entire component and shipping supply-chain was disrupted in many sectors during the Pandemic lockdown. It's why many industries including automakers worldwide couldn't produce enough to meet demand because they were lacking integral semiconductors. Many ingredients, components, and machines are required, and they pass through multiple factories in various countries before arriving at the final assembly plant. I don't think the Chinese government fully understand the implications on the supply-chain when they pursued extreme lockdown.
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  19. Northern regions of the Korean peninsula historically had climate and water constraints for rice production. It's actually why Japan focused more on industrial infrastructure and factories in the north while invested heavily in agricultural infrastructure in the southern regions. Which unintentionally resulted in North Korea having a higher GNP than South Korea before the Korean War. That said, DPRK and PRC have had a strange relationship. Without context it's difficult to understand what is going on in bilateral relations. I have heard of barter trades in border regions of China and Russia, and China and North Korea. So official stats may not be able to capture the actual trade volume. It seems like North Korea is pivoting towards Russia for its survival.
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  20. Watermelons in Japan are an expensive summer delicacy. Small ones sell for JPY 1,500-2,000, and large ones sell for JPY 3,000-4,000. And famous brand watermelons are sold for over JPY 10,000. (I highly doubt you'll be able to find a watermelon for US$ 7 in Japan.) As the Japanese name SUIKA (西瓜) indicates, watermelons originally came from Central Asia via the Silk Road. It's not naturally suited for Japan's climate conditions. Watermelons are most suited for high day-time temperatures and cooler evenings, and they grow poorly in colder climates.
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  21. I would caution against that view. During a previous Taiwan missile crisis, the US carrier battle group deployed near Taiwan "lost" a Chinese submarine, and they had to pull back a few hundred nautical miles for safety. It's pointless to compare and contrast specs of individual submarines, destroyers, carriers, or fighter jets...because they're used together to cover each others weaknesses. China doesn't need a 100 years, nor does it actually need aircraft carriers. They can launch their strikes from air bases, exactly like the saturated anti-ship missile attacks from fighter-bombers that Soviet Union planned. After all, it was why the Aegis platform was developed in the 1970s and 1980s. The war in Ukraine does offer a glimpse to the future. US$1,000-2,000 modified commercial drones are destroying latest tanks and IFV that cost a few million dollars. Iranian drones that cost US$100,000-200,000 per unit are taking out entire electric grids. If Ukraine can use sea-drones to damage the Crimean/Kerch Bridge, imagine what China can do. USS Cole was a manned attack in Yemen. Nowadays, a remotely controlled or pre-programmed unmanned sea-drone will suffice. In fact, what's the point of an aircraft carrier if the future were to be unmanned drone warfare? The concept of an aircraft carrier was to be a mobile airbase to project power far from your homeland. If you have the ability to launch hundreds, if not thousands of stealth drones from your homeland, you wouldn't need a mobile airbase.
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  22. There are only 1 or 2 Chinese BEV companies that make profits, according to Chinese industry association. I don't know which part is false.
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  23. Why would any wealthy Chinese buy these BEVs. The problem is with the Chinese batteries they're using. Foreign automakers using Chinese and Korean batteries will be facing the same problem. All Toyota hybrids and early Tesla models only use highest-grade Panasonic batteries for safety, reliability and longevity. These days Tesla also uses Chinese and Korean batteries to cut costs.
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  24.  @ЕкатеринаХан-ф9ц  Which part is brainwashed? Northern regions of the Korean peninsula has always struggled with agricultural output compared to southern regions throughout most of history due to harsher climate and insufficient water. For the same reason Japan focused on industrial infrastructure like factories in the Northern regions while focused on agricultural infrastructure in the Southern regions during Japanese administration. It's also not a secret that relations between North Korea and China and Soviet/Russia are transactional and extremely delicate.
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  25. ​ @BaggerFood101 Actually, the first war between Japan and China was in 7th century with the Tang Dynasty, the next one is with the Mongol Yuan dynasty in 13th century, followed by Ming dynasty in late 16th century, Qing dynasty in late 19th century, and Republic of China in early 20th century. Which is why we never had good relations in the past 1,300 years.
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  26. Japan's alliances with the UK (1902), Germany (1937), and later the US (1951) all had the same purpose, which was to counter-balance Russian/Soviet expansion into East Asia. For the same reason, Japan had cooperated with Poland before WWII as well. In fact, Japan's war with the Qing Dynasty (1894), war with Imperial Russia (1904), the annexation of Korean peninsula (1910), funding the Chinese Revolution (1911), and Manchuria Incident (1931) were all targeted to keep the Russians/Soviets out of the Korean peninsula and Inner Manchuria (a.k.a China's Northeast Region). Those were the path of the Mongol Invasion in the 13th century, which is why it was the primary military and diplomatic goal to keep the Russians/Soviets far away from Japan as much as possible. Ever since Imperial Russia seized Outer Manchuria (a.k.a Russian Far East) from the Manchu/Qing Dynasty in the 1860s, it became an existential threat for Japan. To date, 1/3 of all Japanese military forces are stationed in Hokkaido, which is the closest island to Russia. During the Cold War, the most important Japanese military exercise was to transport/deploy troops to Hokkaido from other regions, in preparation for a Soviet invasion. But unlike in Europe, nobody in East Asia believed the Cold War ever ended.
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  27.  @paulmcmillan533  I think that was Japanese sarcasm.
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  28.  @tacogodboomdogg  All sorts of food scares have occurred in the past. Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, or O-157 have been detected from agricultural imports from China. It's coming from contaminated water source, soil, local fertilizer, etc. Therefore, food exported to Japan are mostly from special contract farms that follow Japanese food safety standards. If we can, we will try to avoid foreign products as much as possible. But depending on season, product, or price range, we don't have much choice. My local supermarket has bananas from the Philippines and Ecuador, and avocado from Mexico. I don't think we grow bananas or avocado in Japan.
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  29.  @mikewolf-x6t  That's not entirely accurate. There are North Koreans who work in Russia, China, and Southeast Asia to earn foreign currency. North Korea has diplomatic outposts in NYC, London, Beijing, Switzerland, Austria, Brazil, etc. We know from defectors that some in North Korea also watch South Korea dramas and movies. They're not completely cut off from the rest of the world. And people talk.
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  30. ​ @RedRomanov Unemployment rate is low for sure. But it's also true that tech companies have been reducing their staff.
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  31.  @FengJack166  Which part is stupid? Not all Russian families can afford a US$25,000-30,000 new vehicle. Russian Far East has always imported second-hand Japanese domestic cars because of geographic proximity. Actually, there are quite a few Russians living in Japan who're involved in the export/import business. They participate in Japanese car auctions and buy the cars that are popular in Russia. One can purchase a perfectly functioning 10-15 year-old car in Japan for roughly 1/2 to 1/3 of a new car price. Shipping from Japan to Vladivostok is only a 48 hour journey. Japan has a very strict vehicle inspection requirement for every 2 years, so Japanese domestic cars are generally in pristine condition, and repair parts are widely available.
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  32. Obviously, it's not a former English colony. I really enjoyed by business trips to China. The food, architecture, gardens, tea, traditional art, the scenery was wonderful. But again, I can read/write KANJI and there were always Japanese speakers in Shanghai from hotels to restaurants to airports. I remember having done all the hotel check-in entirely in Japanese while I was there. The company arranged the car and interpreter for that day, so I just had to sit and be driven around the Shanghai. While I studied Chinese in college as a second foreign-language, I never really had the need to speak in Chinese...except for bargaining in local gift shops. And even that I used my hand signs more than my mouth.
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  33. How do Chinese people survive in China if there is so much fake products, scams, and misinformation?
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  34. I'm adding "Chinesium" to my vocab, if you don't mind.
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  35.  @kamsunleong6648  Tesla early models only used high-grade Panasonic batteries, which is why they lasted longer. Now they use cheaper Chinese batteries to cut costs, particularly in their plants in China and Germany.
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  36. And the Chinese knock-offs often come from the same factory making the real product.
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  37. How can Toyota and Honda bankrupt when they're having record profits, while almost every Chinese automakers is losing money selling BEVs?
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  38. I'm shocked that Chinese people are shocked by Chinese behavior.
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  39. Honda just had record profits. They are opening a new plant in Canada, as North America is the most important market for them and there is strong demand for hybrid vehicles. In 2024, around 40-50% of new cars sales in North America for both Honda and Toyota are hybrids. Australia is in an uniquely challenging market in which pick-up trucks (i.e. utes) are the top sellers.
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  40. Chinese electricity also depends on foreign imports.
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  41. The irony is that CCP leadership is super rich and hold assets all over the world. Their children live and study abroad. CCP now stands for Chinese Capitalist Party.
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  42.  @Littlepocketrocket81  I don't think it's government, political, or ideology. The source of the problems stem from Chinese culture and norms, which is the basis of government and public institutions and their MO.
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  43. It's because early Tesla models sold in the US exclusively used Japanese, specifically Panasonic batteries (who also uses components from Japanese suppliers). The most expensive component is the battery module, so Chinese EV makers are cutting costs by using lower quality less reliable batteries. Currently, there is no other way to manufacture an electric vehicle for sales price range of US$ 15,000-20,000. (Tesla's replacement battery costs US$12,000 - 20,000)
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  44. They are so environmentally friendly, aren't they? And China burns so much fossil fuel to generate electricity.
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  45.  @GNerdful  It's not China proper. Outer Manchuria (a.k.a Russia Far East) was historically part of Jurchen/Manchu homeland before Imperial Russia seized it from the Qing Dynasty in the 1860s. If I remember my junior highschool history class, before the Jurchen (女真) Jin (金) Dynasty, their predecessor should be Bohai/Balhae (渤海) dynasty from 7th century.
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  46.  @limjan1667  Isn't history why Russian forces are in Ukraine trying to reclaim "Kievan Rus," or why Russians believe Crimea should be part of Russia? Never mind the Crimean Khaganate, Bulgars, Khazars, Avars, Huns, or the Mongol Empire.
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  47. I love your sense of humor.
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  48. For flights between Asia and Europe, Chinese airlines are experiencing a massive competitive advantage as they can still fly over Russian airspace saving hours of fuel, which is 70% of operational cost for each flight, resulting in lower fares. There are many complicated political/diplomatic/economic reasons why Chinese airlines are still losing money while airlines in other countries have returned to profits in 2023 and 2024. (HK-based Cathay Pacific is back in profits, while the 3 mainland flag carriers are still losing money in 2024.) China used to be visa-free for both South Korean and Japanese tourists before the pandemic. And China blocked group tourism to South Korea and Japan for political/diplomatic reasons, so that destroyed a large portion of demand for their most frequent and profitable international flights. I recall seeing China Eastern using a narrow-body plane in their Shanghai-Tokyo flights, which used to be a highly profitable trunk route for both business and leisure before the pandemic. Even Philippine Airlines uses a wide-body plane between Manila and Tokyo, so that should indicate how little there is demand on Chinese international flights. Domestically, there is simply too much capacity.
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  49. You're too funny.
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  50. They print money, US money.
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