I thought this article out of Australia summed up the problems The West and China now face. To begin, I do not believe China is interested in war. I wish it were more interested in improving the quality of life for all it's people rather than ensuring cheap labor. It can become a great country, but, not so long as it practices international corporate espionage.
June 20, 2019
While the drift in most areas of public policy (click here) is becoming alarming, perhaps our so-called China policy is among the most concerning.
Our positions on China virtually blow in the wind. It seems we simply hope to muddle through, rather than to develop and respond in terms of a well thought out and defined longer-term strategy on our relations with China....
When Nixon went to China he never expected Neil Bush to become a wealthy man on computer school software. China has an economic strategy to engage every country in the world by building it's own cranes at every port, but, it was in the belief that is the way things are done. I don't believe there was a lot of strategic planning to defeat The West, so much as believing free trade was an "at will" business model.
What China didn't realize is that in order for it to prosper, the First World economy is based in a strong Middle Class supported by unions. China simply opened it's doors for business and turned everyone loose on it's interior. That is how the USA receive melamine in pet food.
The West, in taking advantage of cheap labor, never told China it's best kept secret, the American Working Middle Class. Instead, the CEOs of major companies found their bonuses well padded by moving labor-intensive work to a cheap labor force, either in China and/or Mexico. When sales of products fell the Republicans simply told China to stock warehouses full of their goods in the USA and sell them 2 for 1. It worked, for the most part, then, "W" told Americans it was very American to have the freedom of working three jobs every week to make ends meet. It was "W" that believed USA labor had to compete against international cheap labor. That is how we founded a well established Working Poor Class. The "W" legacy of cheap American labor continues into today.
China doesn't commit corporate espionage as a plan for the future, it firmly believes that is the way forward for it's economy. I mean, "Everyone does it, right?"
China is posing a threat to the American economy because it was allowed to by Republicans that don't understand the USA economy and how it works. They simply want business to thrive on cheap labor and Americans have to compete with international cheap labor, therefore, unions are worthless to Republicans. That is the paradigm we face today.
Where China impacts USA national security is in artificial intelligence and 5G capacity. It is Russia that has leaned on China regarding the capacity of AI and 5G and it is Russia that is a greater national threat than China. Both countries are communist in governing and they are neighbors. What is good for one is good for the other.
What shows immensely, at least from an environmental point of view, is that China is among the countries leaning heavily into alternative energies while recognizing the pollution in their skies. China belongs to the Paris Accords and has both oars in the water in attempting to achieve far lower greenhouse gas emissions.
I do not believe China is as much as a problem as Russia is in relation to the USA national security. If the unions of the USA were provided a stage to demonstrate how they can iron things out and make it all work for the USA Middle Class, it would set an example for capitalism that would become a sustainable economy rather than bubble and bust. The unions can overcome the impact of Chinese cheap labor. We need a president that believes in unions and set them as an example to QUALITY OF LIFE around the world. The USA needs its Middle Class and it needs other countries like China to have a strong Middle Class as well.
It isn't about trade deals, so much as lifting up others in countries that want to share in the profitability of the USA economy and use a well paid USA Middle Class as an example.
When Nixon went to China he was hoping it would help the Chinese people and not simply exploit them. Nixon believed in democracy in a way Trump does not. Nixon wanted China to be successful, but, because it lifted it's people up in the same way the USA does it's own. It is time to get back on track and demand a well paid Middle Class in China and Mexico and then TRADE with them to increase sales and profitability to satisfy the quality of life.
Nixon didn't lack morality, but, Trump does.
