Learning from Years of Accomodating China

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Posted on 01/18/2025 4:39:21 AM PST by MtnClimber

News stories of a China increasingly belligerent both at home and abroad are widespread. But in an attempt to understand how we have gotten into this position, many have assessed the growth of Beijing without fully examining the policies of previous U.S. presidential administrations.

Years of accommodation and so-called mutually beneficial bilateral agreements have all enabled the rise of China. Such is the dangerous legacy of the strikingly identical China policies under the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations that have left us with the short end of the stick and have made the international stage less stable, while presenting novel risks to the homeland.

In the 1990s, the Clinton administration’s democratization project firmly held the belief that free trade with and the integration of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) would bring about change inside the East Asian country, ushering in a period of democracy and international compliance. During this time, the Clinton administration resisted criticisms of the China-U.S. Relations Act of China of 2000, which granted the China a place in the WTO.

Consequently, this trade deal lifted trade restrictions on China by granting it permanent normal trade relations, causing a sharp decrease in U.S. manufacturing jobs and putting American workers at a disadvantage. This outsourcing of jobs only increased rapidly thereafter and has contributed to the $1 trillion in trade surplus that China enjoys today.

All of this was done despite many warning signs of China’s capabilities -- crackdowns on Uyghurs; the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners; and the CCP’s intimidation of Taiwan days before its election by firing missiles across the northern portion of the island. Not to mention China’s relentless covert operations and military/intellectual theft in the years prior.

The Bush administration followed suit, pursuing a policy of engagement even further.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...

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1 posted on 01/18/2025 4:39:21 AM PST by MtnClimber

To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 01/18/2025 4:39:59 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

To: MtnClimber

3 posted on 01/18/2025 4:46:27 AM PST by DownInFlames (P)

To: MtnClimber

4 posted on 01/18/2025 4:50:51 AM PST by nopardons

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