By levidesmond69 on Skatehive
When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers; but when they dance, the ground also shakes. Turkey’s red-carpet welcome for China’s BYD in 2024 was more than just about electric vehicles. It was about pride, positioning, and power. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shook hands with Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s boss, as if sealing a new industrial revolution for his nation. Officials in Manisa even dreamed aloud of a “Chinatown,” as though the arrival of Chinese workers would automatically mean prosperity for Turkey. But one year later, the factory site is little more than a dusty plot with a few containers. No cranes, no towering structures, no thunder of industry. Just silence. On paper, the $1bn project was meant to challenge Europe and perhaps elevate Turkey as a global EV hub. In reality, it raises a tougher question: who truly benefits when foreign giants set up shop in your backyard? Turkey’s own domestic EV brand, TOGG, was hailed as a symbol of independence and proof that the nati