The phrase “He needs a long spoon who sups with the Devil” is an allegorical English saying that advises caution when dealing with someone who is devious or could harm you. The phrase dates to the time of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare. The allegory suggests that keeping your distance from them is important when dealing with devious people. While it’s necessary to maintain open communication with both friends and adversaries, it is equally important to be able to distinguish between the two.
Lessons from World War II
During the beginning of World War II, American companies sought to find a balance between profiting from business with the Nazis and turning a blind eye to their actions. Once we entered the war, some of our most prominent corporations saw their CEOs caught up in this “dance with the Devil.” The lesson we should learn from their saga is that our country’s interests should always come before profit. This is especially true when you see a foreign country behaving in ways that can damage our nation. Corporate reputational damage by dealing with a possible adversary is a real concern, but it should always be secondary to the potential damage to our country. When CEOs and corporations knowingly deal with adversaries, they risk losing on both counts, the national stage and the corporate level.
It has been almost eighty years since World War II ended, but the lessons learned from it remain relevant today. Our corporations’ long-term reputation and our country’s safety should never be compromised in pursuit of short-term profits. It is important to remember that today’s corporate CEOs and titans are the grandchildren of those who fought and sacrificed their lives in World War II. Time has made those lessons seem distant, but it is not an excuse to prioritize profit over patriotism.
Having Dinner with the Devil
Last week, we saw a repeat of the decades-old issues with Germany as many corporate leaders showed poor judgment and gave President Xi a standing ovation at an exclusive dinner. Shareholders in these companies should be aware of and concerned because CEOs showed poor judgment on three levels. Attending the meeting was terrible enough. Paying up to $40,000 for the “privilege” of sitting with Xi was on another level. The standing ovation was not a courtesy but an embarrassment, and the wrong signals were sent. We can only speculate how the Chinese read the ovation from our corporate “titans.” In geopolitical maneuvering, optics matter, and this event was a failure for the United States and a win for China.
I don’t care if our tee shirts and toys are made in China. It is the constant assault on our intellectual and technological assets, and the lackadaisical response toward these assaults by our CEOs that is one of our greatest challenges. The dinner cost is not a great sum to any of these corporations, but its signal is an issue. China needs our business; we do not need theirs.
The group of up to three hundred guests was divided into two categories. If the corporation paid $2,000, they could attend the reception and dinner. If they wanted to sit at the table with Xi, the price tag was $40,000. Which companies paid $40,000 is a bit murky, but multiple sources confirm these five corporations: Apple (Tim Cook), Blackrock (Larry Fink), Blackstone Group (Stephen Schwarzman), Bridgewater Associates (Ray Dalio), and Citadel Services (Peng Zhao). It appears that technology and venture capital firms were on the appetizer list.
In the speech, President Xi declared:
“China is ready to be a partner and friend of the United States. The fundamental principles that we follow in handling China-U.S. relations are mutual respect, peaceful co-existence, and win-win cooperation.”
Xi Jinping November 16, 2023
It seems to me that it is difficult to square his comments with military provocations, threats toward Taiwan, fentanyl chemical sales, support for Russia in the Ukraine War, ignoring all climate issues, spy balloons, working to remove the dollar as the reserve currency, flooding our youth with mind-numbing social media, and constant theft of intellectual property. Where do these issues fit into the “win-win” playbook? It is in China’s and our best interest to be “frenemies,” but that is all. Communism is incompatible with democracy, even with a well-defined firewall.
We are reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s thoughts:
“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
An Iowa Chill
Also in attendance at the dinner was Gary Dvorchak from Iowa, who knew Xi back in 1985 when he was a young Chinese official visiting Iowa. Mr. Dvorchak said it was a savvy move allowing the Communist Party to show Xi’s appeal to regular people.
“It humanizes him, and it gives him an ability to show a connection to the American people and bypass the American media.”
Gary Dvorchak November 16, 2023
Mr. Dvorchak’s comments reference the person Xi was as a young man, not who he has become. The leader of the largest communist nation does not deserve unfettered access to the American public. Bypassing our media has often proven to be disastrous in our history for domestic and foreign politicians. Communism cannot thrive where free speech exists.
Unfortunately, History Always Repeats
In the 1930s, many in Britain sought some form of mutual agreement and accommodation with Germany. Some looked at Hitler as a political figure who had restored order, economic vitality, and pride to Germany in the aftermath of World War I.
“The German Government wishes to come to a peaceful agreement with other nations on all difficult questions. They know that in any military action in Europe, even if completely successful, the sacrifice would be out of all proportion to any possible gains.”
Adolph Hitler May 17, 1933
The image of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin waving his Munich Agreement of 1938 to a crowd as he landed in London should be burned in all our memories. Chamberlin was one of several Prime Ministers who had taken the appeasement path and was the last to fall for it leading into the war.
Once the war began, it was obvious to all that if you thought you could make friends with the Nazis, you were sadly mistaken. Giving in to Nazi territorial demands and looking the other way when their stated domestic and foreign policies were not in alignment with their actions became a fool’s errand.
Today’s Long Spoon
For the world’s sake, we must all hope that world tensions calm and nations return to economic and technological competition, not armed conflict. For that to happen, world leaders must have their actions match their rhetoric. Our corporations and their leadership need to take a long, hard look at their actions and begin to place the Country over short-term profits. Until then, I will keep my long spoon handy.
Resources Used in This Article
10 US Companies That Worked with Nazi Germany, by Carl Seaver, History Defined, historydefined.net, 2023.
Apple CEO Tim Cook spends $40K on Xi Jinping dinner, Elon Musk attends $2K reception, by Shannon Thaler, New York Post, nypost.com, November 16, 2023.
Apple, Qualcomm, Broadcom CEOs among those attending dinner with President Xi, contributed by Jessica Kuruthukulangara of Seeking Alpha, seekingalpha.com, November 16, 2023.
Apple’s Cook, BlackRock’s Fink among CEO guests at Xi dinner, by Gabrielle Coppla, Bloomberg Staff, eastbaytimes.com, November 16, 2023.
Biden to embrace Asia allies, and meet Xi in San Francisco, by Editor, The Straits Times, straitstimes.com, November 14, 2023.
Chamberlain Declares “Peace for Our Time”, Christopher Klein, History, history.com, January 3, 2020.
China’s President Xi Jinping Extends Hand of Partnership to U.S. Executives at APEC, by TheStorkDork.com, November 16, 2023.
Chinese leader Xi gets standing ovation at banquet with US executives, by Miranda Nazzaro, The Hill, thehill.com, November 16, 2023.
Chinese President Xi Jinping offers cooperation, reassurance during US business dinner with detente on the menu, by Igor Patrick, South China Morning Post, November 16, 2023.
Chinese President Xi’s ‘siren call’ to US business hits great wall of skepticism, by Gavin Bade and Phelim Kine, Politico, politico.com, November 16, 2023.
Coca-Cola Collaborated with the Nazis in the 1930s, and Fanta is the Proof: The not-so-sweet history, by Josh O’Connor, bunkhistory.com, August 2, 2017.
Dance with the devil, Dictionary of Idioms, idioms.thefreedictionary.com, Last accessed November 22, 2023.
Dine with the devil, Dictionary of Idioms, idioms.thefreedictionary.com, Last accessed November 22, 2023.
Dining with US firms at APEC, Xi says China is ready to be a partner, by Michael Martina, Reuters, reuters.com, November 16, 2023.
Dinner date with Xi: US firms hope for business as usual with China, by Bhagyashree Garekar, The Straits Times, straitstimes.com, November 14, 2023.
Full List of Business Leaders Said to Have Spent $40K To Dine With Xi, by Newsweek Editor, Newsweek, newsweek.com, November 16, 2023.
Highlights: Joe Biden and Xi Jinping talk military cooperation, climate and Tawain, by NBC News, nbcnews.com, November 15, 2023.
House GOP wants answers on CEOs paying $40,000 to dine with Xi Jinping, by Haisten Willis, Washington Examiner, washingtonexaminer.com, November 16, 2023.
House Republican Demands Names of U.S. Executives Who Attended Dinner Where Xi Received Standing Ovation, by Ari Blaff, National Review, nationalreview.com, November 16, 2023.
How Coca-Cola became Hitler’s drink of choice, by All About History Team, History of War, historyanswers.co.uk, January 28, 2015.
How IBM Helped The Nazis Carry Out The Holocaust, by All That’s Interesting, edited by Savannah Cox, allthatsinteresting.com, March 25, 2018.
Laura Ingraham calls Biden’s dinner with Xi “one of the low points of American capitalism”, by Media Matters Staff, mediamatters.com, November 16, 2023.
Making friends with Hitler: Britain’s pre-war admiration for the Nazi dictator, by History Extra, historyextra.com, January 28, 2021.
The High Cost — $40,000 for a Filet Mignon — of Dining With Xi Jinping, by M. J. Koch, New York The Sun, nysun.com, November 14, 2023.
Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Steve Schwarzman spotted at Xi Jinping dinner with U.S. CEOs, by Eamon Javers, CNBC, cnbc.com, November 16, 2023.
Tricky politics on menu for China’s Xi at US business dinner, by Michael Martina, Reuters, reuters.com, November 16, 2023.
U.S. biz groups selling $40K tickets to dine with China’s Xi Jinping: ‘Unconscionable’, by Caitlin Doornbos, New York Post, nypost.com, November 14, 2023.
U.S. business leaders meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, by Richard Escobedo, CBS News, cbsnews.com, November 15, 2023.
US CEOs line up to woo China’s Xi in San Francisco, by Christian Datoc, Washington Examiner, washingtonexaminer.com, November 16, 2023.
U.S. Executives Get Little Reassurance From Xi on Tougher China Business Environment, by Lingling Wei, The Wall Street Journal, wsj.com, November 17, 2023.
What does “He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon” mean?, english.stackexchange..com, Last accessed November 22, 2023.
What one CEO wants to see from the Biden-Xi meeting, by Morgan Chalfant, SEMAFOR, November 15, 2023.
Xi to Meet US Business Leaders for Dinner in San Francisco, by Shawn Donnan, Bloomberg, Bloomberg.com, November 7, 2023.
