The tense relationship has three aspects — attack, coercion and exclusion — and they all rest on unjustified and unsubstantiated security allegations. Unjustified because the foundation of all e-commerce activity is the collection of personal data. It is the lifeblood of Facebook and all social media. Unsubstantiated because in 2018, the CLOUD Act subjected US tech companies to the same legal requirements of cooperation as China’s 2017 National Security Law.
In a cosmic coincidence, both the Mid-Autumn Festival and China’s National Day fell on the same date this year. According to legend, it is only during the Mid-Autumn Festival that the beautiful Chang’e and her husband Houyi are reunited. This brief encounter is the foundation of an enduring relationship that persists even though they are forced to separate again until the next Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is doubtful that the Mid-Autumn Festival will provide the same opportunity for China to meet on friendly terms with its trading partner the United States, on its 71th National Day. Rather than a friendly meeting under the full October moon, present conditions suggest a worrying increase in the already tense relationship.
