I don’t want to admit it, but there is one unavoidable truth in human affairs.
That there can be no good results without sacrifice...? To put it a bit nobly. In blunt terms, it means you have to grind something up and pour it in if you want good results.
The United States, having poured in money, is widening its overwhelming technological lead day after day and receiving the full weight of global investors’ expectations.
Its technological prowess is beyond compare. While rival companies are fighting over electric vehicles, it alone is selling flying cars. While rival nations are worrying over talent, it is developing AI as smart as a PhD...
In fact, not as smart as a PhD, but smarter than a PhD. There are about six months left now. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry will be swept clean by AI developers.
If you don’t have money, people will do.
China is using talents who, had they been born in America, would have become millionaires, for dirt cheap, and is closing in on American technology.
In truth, the word “Communist Party” hardly suits China anymore. Clocking in at 9 in the morning, leaving at 9 at night, and working six days a week is the current Chinese labor environment—the 996 schedule. Compared to Korea, Korea is more communist, so I don’t know why they still insist on calling themselves communist.
They’ve turned capitalist down to the bone...?
Taiwan, under similar conditions, is likewise a hell for workers.
Taiwan also takes the 996 schedule as its default. Going one step further, while China’s legal limit for overtime is 36 hours per month, Taiwan allows 46 hours per month, and up to 54 hours in certain industries.
Then are Taiwanese workers receiving fair compensation for the amount they work? Working that hard, have they all become rich?
Unfortunately, the redistribution of wealth does not seem to be functioning well.
Taiwan recently surpassed Korea in GDP per capita, but its median income falls far short of Korea’s. Korea’s median income is roughly 3 million won, while Taiwan’s is in the low 2 million won range.
Not only median income, but no matter what economic indicator you compare—starting monthly salaries for college graduates, minimum wage, PPP, and so on—Taiwan’s middle class lives worse than Korea’s.
In other words, only the ones making money are making money. It means the redistribution of wealth is completely broken... To borrow the phrasing of many economists, it means class dissatisfaction will run rampant and a social revolution will break out.
However...
[Breaking News — White House: “TSMC Tariffs Deferred!”]
[WSJ: “Taiwan has technological capabilities America lacks... Even for the United States, semiconductor tariffs will be difficult.”]
Instead, it turned a madman into a perfectly sane man in one stroke, and thanks to that, Taiwan has now become the country most at ease among major nations regarding U.S. tariffs.
Looking at things like that, growth and distribution seem to be concepts that have difficulty coexisting. Surprisingly, the countries currently receiving attention for their technological prowess are all countries that squeeze people dry.
At times like this, it would be nice if Europe at least performed well economically, but I don’t know why those warm-hearted friends keep falling behind in global indicators.
To truly grow, must distribution be smashed apart?
Does technological progress only come from overworking laborers?
But if only the vested interests live well, does development have any meaning?
Well... since it’s a problem with no right answer, I suppose that’s why political circles are always fighting so fiercely.
[Breaking News — Donald: “Korea is a cash machine! A country with a severe free-rider problem! Defense costs should be raised tenfold, and tariffs should be imposed at about 25%! Investment in the U.S. must be at least 500 trillion won! Invest wherever we want, no matter what! Ninety percent of the investment returns are ours! Make America Greeeeat Again!”]
How regrettable.
If that man did not wield hegemony so recklessly, Korea would have competed moderately, supplied goods moderately, and been satisfied with its current rice bowl... It won’t be easy, but it seems we need to possess technology America does not have.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
As I was looking out the car window and listening to CNN news, Meilin asked me that.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not nothing, is it? What scheme are you plotting this time?”
“Haha...”
“Shall I guess? You were thinking about how to bring this self-driving taxi to Korea, weren’t you?”
Meilin smiled brightly, like a child visiting an amusement park for the first time.
She and I were currently riding in an unmanned taxi operating in Beijing.
“By the way, this really is amazing. It really drives even without a person!”
“Is this your first time riding one too, Ms. Meilin?”
“Yes. Actually, it hasn’t been approved for very long, so even Chinese people probably don’t know this exists. Wow—look at this. Since there’s no driver inside the taxi, couples riding together might start getting all lovey-dovey and stuff. Right?”
I smiled bitterly.
I remembered that there had actually been articles like that. Because of it, I also remembered that juvenile delinquency issues arose in China and related laws were enacted.
“Ah, but I guess that would be difficult. Looking closely, they’re monitoring passengers with CCTV. If your face gets caught by facial recognition over there, you’ll be caught by Tianwang and seized by the public security police, so I suppose the side effects won’t be as bad as expected.”
“...How did you know?”
“Huh?”
“...That’s actually what happens.”
I was genuinely surprised. Was Meilin a regressor too?
“What’s so impressive about that...? Chinese people would all think like I do. The Tianwang system is notorious even in our country. It’s gotten so bad that people even say heaven knows, earth knows, and CCTV knows.”
“Ah... I see.”
“Hmph. How bland.”
Tianwang refers to China’s social control system, where simply having your face captured by CCTV causes your personal information to appear in a long list. Because of that, countries in the free world constantly criticized it as Big Brother.
But China, where twenty years ago you could get robbed blind with your eyes wide open, now has better public order than the United States and Europe... so I’m not sure what’s right.
In any case, after COVID and the emergence of Donald, the humanism, economic thought, and international order I knew were all twisted beyond recognition.
Europe was not such a romantic place, and America was not such a rational country.
“By the way, what did you talk about when you met CEO Ming? Seeing as you came all the way to China yourself, Sejun, I figured it must have been something serious.”
“You’re quite sharp now.”
“Even a dog that spends three years at a village school should be able to recite the Thousand Character Classic. Hoho. What favor did you ask?”
“I just asked him to invest in places that would be difficult for Korea to invest in.”
“Aha. But I guess the amount was pretty large?”
“...How did you know?”
“CEO Ming contacted me yesterday. He begged me to persuade you if I met you.”
“...”
“According to CEO Ming, it’s money that can only end up being lost... But you still won’t give up, will you, Sejun?”
“...It’s absolutely necessary.”
“Understood. Then I’ll nag him to stop complaining and hurry up and invest.”
“Thank you, Ms. Meilin... In return, I’ll make sure to get you tickets to the X-Boys concert being held in Jamsil next month. I now know exactly what ticketing is.”
“Puhaha.”
I smiled and held out a document.
“Ah, and please do me one more favor.”
“What is it?”
“I wrote down a list as I remembered them... Please look into these companies in China. They’re startups, so they probably won’t be easy to find.”
Meilin examined the list for a moment, then tilted her head.
“Hmm... Deep Think? What kind of company is this?”
“It’s an AI startup. They’ll probably unveil their model soon, so please find out if there’s any way to contact this person. It would be even better if they accept investment funding.”
“...What is that?”
“Ah, AI is something like big data. To put it simply, it’s a system where a computer learns on its own and provides the information the customer wants. But while ordinary big data has the limitation of being unable to go beyond existing knowledge, AI can, based on that accumulated knowledge, think on its own...”
“No, I’m not asking because I don’t know what AI is. I’m asking why you’re investing in a Chinese company for that. Isn’t that something only America can do?”
I scratched my head.
There probably wasn’t anyone who wasn’t shocked. It was like a Chinese developer had reached with a shovel the amount of work that would take ages even if you dug with an excavator—a high-performance superchip.
How much did Nvidi’s stock price plummet on the day the model was announced?
“That’s not how it turned out...”
Of course, that did not mean AI semiconductor companies collapsed in an instant.
No matter how great a master of the shovel there may be, it does not mean excavators and diggers become unnecessary at construction sites.
“No, then are you saying something like that really gets made in China? And that it competes with America?”
If my memory was correct, yes.
The AI market was firmly held by the G2 powers. Globally, American AI was more popular, but China, as always, thoroughly blocked American AI and nurtured its own AI through the domestic market.
Just like with electric vehicles.
“Yes. That’s why I’d like to cooperate a little. Of course, the technology development is probably already complete, so they won’t need much investment funding, but at the very least, I’d like to scout AI-related talent to Korea.”
“Is that why you asked CEO Ming to introduce you to high-ranking Party officials?”
“Not just that. I want to comprehensively increase investment in China. If there’s technology we can cooperate on, I want to do that too.”
“Aha... But Sejun, you’re just a pension fund investor, aren’t you? How can an investor discuss companies and technology?”
“Once Korea finishes negotiations with the United States, negotiations with China will begin soon. Officially, I’ll probably be involved then.”
Meilin sighed and smiled.
“Phew—fine. But from what I’m hearing, it seems like you’ll need to stay in China for a while. Do you have a suitable place to stay?”
“Well... at a hotel.”
“Oh, come on. How can you live indefinitely in a hotel where you can’t even freely boil cup noodles? Don’t do that. I’ll look into a place for you. Come stay there.”
*
“Minister, everyone from the Ministry of Commerce has gathered. What should we do?”
“Ah, yes. Go on ahead. I’ll attend the meeting shortly.”
Wang Taio, Minister of China’s Ministry of Commerce, rose from his seat with a heavy expression.
This was already the fifth time.
After Donald’s election, the White House had been pouring tariff bombs onto China, and in response, China’s Ministry of Commerce had been holding emergency meetings day after day while making strong countermeasures.
“Director Deng. How are things going?”
But his body did not feel quite so heavy.
“Yes. It seems Japan’s tariff negotiations with the United States have concluded. Korea is next, and most experts expect the terms to be at a similar level.”
No, in truth, his body felt exceedingly light.
If tariffs were being poured only on China, economic damage would be unavoidable, but the United States’ tariff bombs were currently equal for everyone.
“Just why is America doing that?”
Minister Wang began to smile to himself.
With America’s tariff rampage, allied nations that had seemed eternal were slowly turning their backs. And through various routes, they had begun approaching China.
“No, just why on earth is America doing that?”
He didn’t know... He didn’t know what it was, but the world stage kept flowing in a way that was not bad for China.
“This is driving me crazy. Once the major countries finish their tariff negotiations, we’ll have even more friends, won’t we? Hahaha!”