China vs USA advantages & disadvantages

Pretend you are the leader of China's army. The Americans are enlarging their bases in Australia, trying to stir up trouble in the Philippines and Vietnam, and lifting an embargo against Burma. America also has a defense pact with Japan. The Chinese depend on oil, copper, and iron, all imported commodities. What would you do to protect your border? 

The tensions in Asia are real and rising, and could cause a market panic, just like the financial crisis Felix discussed. The Chinese have decided to shrink their government's share of the economy and make markets freer. Everywhere in the industrialized world, you find the opposite.

China has a dark side, too. In the U.S., someone can be highly critical of the government and stay alive. If you write something negative about the leadership in China, you can be put in jail for a long time. There is only one Nobel Peace Prize winner behind bars -- Liu Xiaobo, in China.



Contrarian Investor Dr.Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.