Quote:
Originally Posted by westopher
Traum, serious question. Why is the treatment of China such a sticking point for the quality of a US administration. I certainly dislike the politics of the Chinese government, but how much of an effect does US foreign policy (to China or other countries we don’t live in) really have on our lives. I understand it’s different for people with family there, who are likely affected by it, but what can the US really do about that? It would be like me basing my interest in US politics with their relationship with the UK being top of mind.
I’m not trying to criticize, just trying to understand.
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Westopher,
I appreciate the question, and I will do my best to offer my take on it.
At an international level, the biggest problem I see is the "Chinese Dream" / national rejuvenation. China wants to see itself ascending to a world leadership position that has even more influence than the US currently enjoys. And with the way Communist China operates, this is not a good thing for the international community. As a common Chinese saying goes, China wants its international policies to be a win-win situation for the countries involved, but the Chinese definition of a win-win situation means China wins twice.
To fulfill this ascension dream of theirs, infiltration / subversion, state-backed unfair competition in the private sector, and geopolitical control are all part of the plan. Infiltration / subversion is prevalent in a large number of countries, with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada being some of the worst examples, and the US has its fair share of Chinese agents (aka influencial lobbiest). In Canada, google for "Michael Chan" in the Ontario Liberals or the "Hong Guo" Richmond mayoral candidate and you will see some of the things I am talking about. In the US, a recent example is this "Fang Fang" chick, and it is quite a juicy story there.
Huawei and solar panel manufacturing are examples of state-backed unfair competition in the private sector. The standard playbook there is for the state-backed enterprise to gain a controlling market share through state support (vs private sector-only resources), buy out the competition, and direct the bought-out industry to put China's interests ahead of the interests of the others. In Huawei's case, there are economic and privacy concerns. The South China Seas disputes, the Taiwan sovereignty issue (which is really an attempt to break through the First Island Chain), and China's Belt & Road Initiative are examples of gaining geopolitical control worldwide.
So where the US comes in with its foreign policy is, effectively, US is the only body in the world that would stand a chance to stop this madness. The EU could have been an effective body to do this too, but the governance model and the greatly differing interests among its member nations means nothing effective can really come out of the EU.
As an example of how China's ambitions can affect us, the South China Seas is an extremely important international trade route. I don't remember the numbers, but I think it accounts for at least something like 30 - 40% of all internationally traded goods, and over 70% of all Middle East crude oil transports. China has been actively trying to claim the South China Seas as its state-controlled territory, and given what we have seen with the way China operates, if it succeeds with this initiative, they could go as far as blocking all international access to those waters. International trade routes would then have to go around the outside of Indonesia and significantly increasing transportation costs.
As a comparison, it can be said that the US currently controls / maintains international order on (international) sea routes. The difference is, 60+ years of history (since WW2) has shown that the US does not interfere with normal sea route / trade activities. That will not be the same if Communist China is the top dog.
These are just a fraction of the examples that a common person can see, and I feel like I am not doing a good enough job of explaining how our lives can be negatively affected by a China-led world. But this is a superficial explanation of why the US' China policy is important. It really isn't a Trump / Biden or a GOP / Democrat question.