they would’ve realized that moving all their production to China would have negative consequences for them down the road.
Fair enough, but historically, China’s relations with the west have not been so overall hostile. Even before reform and opening up, China often sided against the Russians. And especially after reform, China has been more than willing to play ball with the west. Only in modern times has China started to become an obstacle to western hegemony. So even though this is a fumble, it is a fumble on a timescale that is difficult for anyone to plan for.
We also see how the war in Ukraine emboldened countries around the world to start kicking out western colonizers, particularly in Africa.
That is certainly a big loss for the west. Won’t argue on this point.
Regardless of how good the relations have been between China and the west, it should’ve been obvious that losing industrial capacity would put the west in a weak position in the long run. I disagree this is something that couldn’t have been foreseen.
Fair enough, but historically, China’s relations with the west have not been so overall hostile. Even before reform and opening up, China often sided against the Russians. And especially after reform, China has been more than willing to play ball with the west. Only in modern times has China started to become an obstacle to western hegemony. So even though this is a fumble, it is a fumble on a timescale that is difficult for anyone to plan for.
That is certainly a big loss for the west. Won’t argue on this point.
Regardless of how good the relations have been between China and the west, it should’ve been obvious that losing industrial capacity would put the west in a weak position in the long run. I disagree this is something that couldn’t have been foreseen.