Lingling Wei

And with tech, they're aiming to be self-sufficient in critical technologies like semiconductors and AI, not just to catch up, but to be the global leader and setter of standards.

What do you think, Peter?

All right, Peter, thank you so much for staying up late to answer those questions.

Coming up, the U.S.

and China have been negotiating and renegotiating their terms on critical minerals used to make your iPhones, laptops, military jets and more.

We'll have more questions from my newsletter subscribers after the break.

Welcome back.

Now let's get our question from Ram Ramanathan in Houston, Texas.

Thank you, Rem, for your question.

So let's be blunt, Rem, there is no simple resolution here.

The compromises you see now, those are very temporary measures, essentially for both sides to just buy time to build up their respective industrial independence.

The US is investing billions of dollars in things like trips manufacturing and cutting critical mineral deals with partners like Australia and Canada.

And the goal for the United States is a China-free supply chain for the most sensitive technologies.

And for China, it is simultaneously pouring billions, if not trillions, into its own self-sufficiency.

So in the long run, it appears as though the two systems are simply going to drift apart in the most strategic areas, a managed economic divorce.

I also posed Ram's question to Victor Wong, the founder and managing partner of Aimtop Ventures in Silicon Valley.

Victor's firm invests in early-stage technology startups focused on AI and robotics, among other areas.

So, Victor, what do you think?

So in terms of the Chinese strategy, obviously, in the long run, what they're aiming for is a system that doesn't require imports of a lot of foreign stuff.

But in the near to medium term, they still need