China, At It Again
Updated: May 16
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Thursday, April 6, 2017, in Palm Beach, Fla.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) *Original Image From this Fortune.com Article Here.
Can we talk about President Trump and China? In his first 100 days, a number of events occurred that come to bear on any discussion linking China and the US President. First, there was cancellation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, negotiated and promoted by the Obama administration. No surprise there, as Mr. Trump had said during his campaign that he thought the TPP was plagued with problems and, at the very least, would cause further suffering for the American worker, who has suffered enough the last decade under Obama without Washington piling on. This may have been the one issue where Mr. Trump found common cause with American Lefties, the unions, and even Hillary. Some commentators of course linked the TPP to an effort by the Obama administration to “contain” China, since as originally intended to be implemented, the pact included most of the Pacific countries, but seemed pointedly to exclude China. What is perhaps most interesting about this particular group of commentators is that many of them pretend to be on the Right. You need go no further than Heritage or AEI to find some of this chatter. Now why a conservative would pretend that he or she could believe that Obama would do anything to left-foot the Chinese (pun intended) is beyond me, so I guess we should be carefully checking the credentials of these self-appointed guardians of right thinking. It may be sufficient to note the John McLame criticized Trump for cancelling the pact. If John doesn’t like it, you can be sure it is a bona fide conservative idea.
Next there was North Korea’s provocative yet timely test launch of multiple missiles designed to reach South Korea (and ultimately Japan and the US Left Coast). I personally loved the way Trump responded to NK at the time—very much in the vein of “new sheriff in town.” However, I remain agnostic on North Korea, waiting to see how this plays out in the real world. I suspect Kim Jung Un will not get the message until a couple of missiles land on Pyong Yang, though being the limp wrist I am, I am in favor of making those missiles conventional rather then nuclear—I am thinking a couple of the bunker busters we used in Afghanistan in April; we do want to make sure we destroy some military targets after all. But using the nukes should definitely be preserved as an option in case there is ever a second time around. Civilian casualties? Sorry, but KYU kills more of his own citizens in a month than we would kill in this attack—and the goal would definitely be regime change, so we would actually save millions of North Korean lives in the end. Good enough for Harry Truman (the last “good” Democrat), good enough for me. And if we really wanted to be swell, we could give them 48 hours’ notice to get the hell out of Dodge. A few of Washington’s feckless chattering types have even applauded the way Trump gave NK hell, but again, let’s see how this all plays out before we start handing out Nobel Peace Prizes (which are reserved strictly for fake “black” mulatto presidents).
But of course, this is where the Chinese come into play. We do not want to appear reckless, so naturally we will want to inform the Chinese in advance of any US missile launch against North Korea (we are after all targeting an asshole who lives only 100 miles from the Chinese border), so they know we bear them no ill-will. (We do of course, but it is important to keep them guessing, since they are a nuke power with ICBMs.) In that context, the follow-on announcement by the administration, that Trump has convinced Xi Jinping to do something nice for us on the trade front, could be perceived as good news. Based on the views of the Main Stream Media (MSM), it is apparently critical that the US prez and the top Chicom have a close personal relationship before we nuke any Chinese allies, or otherwise say anything to the Chicoms that they could interpret as offensive. (Didn’t W look Putin in the eye and “see his soul?” Talk about slow learners, these MSM!)
The latest insanity with China was just a few days ago as I write this, when the White House upgraded the level of the US delegation to China’s ridiculous but sly “OBOR” or “BRI” initiative (depending on which rag you read), where at Western taxpayers’ expense, China is going to build road and rail connections throughout all of Asia, Europe, and Africa to ensure that these benighted peoples remain in thrall to China’s communist leaders. Neat, huh? I would provide more detail here about this outrageous plan, but it is so stupid that I have to let you check it out on the Internet for yourself. Just search “OBOR” and stand back. I would suggest you read sources other than MSM; in particular, take a look at any analysis and quotes from people in South Asia (Pakistan or India), or Southeast Asia (Burma, Laos, or Vietnam). That will give you a good idea of how scared these people are of the Yellow Hordes starting to descend on their countries as we speak. And to think, the US is going to help it happen!
This brings us to the question whether Mr. Trump is as smart as he thinks he is, when it comes to negotiating with the Chinese; and who can get inside his head to answer that question? No one; certainly not yours truly. The way the White House tried to spin the “beef versus chicken” trade announcement (they should have left it to Chick-fil-A!) suggests that the President doesn’t have a clue on trade and international economic issues, but then again, every administration has its share of “political strategists” whose sole concern is poll numbers and making their guy look good, so that may be all there is to it. It was interesting that the Trump organization (no relation to the USG) just won a trademark lawsuit in China (which everyone seems to agree has nothing to do with Mr. Trump’s current presidential status, since the Chinese decision was made long before he was elected); but I admit I would feel better if Mr. Trump had personally negotiated—and then had to operate—a dozen or more hotel deals in China, just to get a reality check about the Chinese. As it is, there is some chance that he is in fact one of those half-wits, like the MSM, who actually believes you can trust anything a Chinese says. Obama took the Chinese at face value, and they played him like a game fish on hundred-pound test line.
For those of you who have not had the pleasure, let me describe very briefly why Chinese “business ethics” are so conspicuous by their absence. As any individual of Chinese origin will be happy to share with you, the Chinese are just better than everyone else. First of course, they were making porcelain and cool weapons, and administering clever admission exams, 2500 year ago, when we Westerners were supposedly still wearing loincloths and using clubs to beat people over the head. That proves how uncivilized the West has always been. On top of that, the modern history of China bears further proof of Chinese superiority: As everyone knows, the only way the West could finally conquer the indomitable Chinese spirit in the 19th Century was with brute force, employing gun boats and other technological paraphernalia, which were only used by “foreign devils” (so basically we were cheating!). Plus, the West had to soften the Chinese up with opium first, so that was why that all that bad stuff happened to the Chinese. Now when you are the master race, you don’t worry about stupid little ideas like “my word is my bond” or whatever. No, you tell any lies necessary to get the deal done and get paid. After all, you won’t ever have to worry about doing business with these round eyes again, right!
This is the essence of the Chinese sense of cultural superiority to everyone else. Now add the ideological component, where that Chinese person becomes a good communist: All of a sudden, not only are you chopped liver culturally speaking, but history has already judged you and found you wanting (you bourgeois capitalist, you!), whereas we good Chicoms are going to inherit the earth. We know, because Marx said so! You see how this works? Of course, in this PC era, you cannot actually mention any of this in public; you might hurt someone’s feelings—talk about micro-aggressions! BTW for the historians in the crowd, the really fun part of China’s history to me is that recent archaeological finds in Central Asia and northern China now suggest that most of China’s ancient military technology—including the bow, the chariot, and certain bronze metal-working techniques—actually came to East Asia from Caucasians who migrated there from the area north of the Caspian Sea, some 3500 years ago. These folks are thought to have been hired initially as mercenaries (as they were fearsome warriors), and then inter-married with locals, resulting in the spread of this know-how. Feel free to check out my review of Christopher Beckwith’s book, “Empires of the Silk Road” at http://www.hoover.org/research/eurasian-exploration.
In conclusion, I will just say that I for one continue to be agnostic on this issue of Trump vs China, since I am prepared to give Mr. Trump the benefit of the doubt for the time being. There is after all no reason to rush to judgment. We will have ample opportunity over the next few years to see how all this plays out. In the meantime, I am keeping my fingers crossed, and I suggest you do the same. So far, Mr. Trump has demonstrated good judgment in a number of important areas related to swamp-draining in DC, and if we are lucky, he will get his one right as well. He will just have to watch his back with the State weenies while it all plays out; if he fails to do that, they will sell him down the river in a heartbeat. Never trust State when it comes to China; there are too many careers at stake in Foggy Bottom.