As a Chinese-American I am worried by the seemly bizarre statements and actions by the president-elect, Donald Trump.
He is now surrounded by neocon advisors who wish to confront China. China bashing has dire consequences for Chinese-Americans. In fact all Asian-Americans should worry, after all most Americans couldn’t tell the difference between a Korean, Japanese or Chinese.
Back in the late 70s and early 80s Japan bashing was in vogue. Two laid off auto workers killed a Chinese-American, mistook him as Japanese, accusing him of stealing their jobs. There is already an increase of hate crimes targeting Chinese. Today I would not want to work in the defense industry as I did once. I worked on underwater submarine detection, for which I received secret clearance. It was based on using differential magnetometers, a field closely related to my Ph.D. thesis. It is ironic in view of the latest flap of US unmanned underwater drones recovered by the Chinese. Too many ethnic Chinese have been wrongly accused of spying. Worse things could happen to us if the current trend continues.
Ever since the re-establishment and reconciliation started with Nixon’s historic visit in 1972 and later the formal recognition of People’s Republic of China by Carter in 1979, the two countries were on the mend. Under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping China began a long period of growth and recovery. In three decades, its economy grew from a very low base to the world’s second largest today, in part due to its shift to an open market system helped by foreign direct investments. Most of the initial foreign direct investments came from overseas Chinese Diaspora including Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Hong Kong’s manufacturing sector essentially moved across the border. Many Taiwan industries did the same. The bilateral relationship between US and China has been and should be a win-win situation. Chinese workers found jobs and China lifted more than 500 million out of poverty while the rest of the world benefitted from low cost and affordable goods. American lives have improved as a result.
China used its surplus to buy US Treasury bonds thereby lowered US interest rates. The historical low mortgage rates allow Americans to buy homes and put extra cash in their pockets and it kept inflation at bay.
Did China steal American jobs or rape America as Trump claim? Hardly!
American companies have for years had overseas factories in many Asian countries as well as in Mexico. China, unlike Japan, is very open to direct foreign investments. American companies as well as European, Japanese and Korean companies have many factories there. Two way- trades reached US$627 billion in 2015, more than US’s trade with Japan, UK and Germany combined. China is now America’s third largest export market.
With China’s new growing middle class its market is now fulfilling the long term dream of selling to the Chinese. It was once said if every Chinese were to buy an aspirin that would be more than one billion. These days they are buying that and more. GM now sells more cars in China than in the US from cars made and sold in China. By the way those sales are not considered as US exports even though the profits generated belong to GM and its shareholders.
That is just one example. Apple assembles its phones in China with parts mostly from the US and other foreign countries; the total value of the phone is “credited “to Chinese exports thereby distorting the true trade balance. Greater China is also Apple’s largest foreign market though its share has been declining in recent quarters due to local competition. This is a symbiotic relationship that benefits both. Zachary Karabell in his book entitled: Superfusion spells out the mutual benefits of that relationship. That is hardly what Trump and his ill advised advisors want to hear.
China’s “sins” according to America, from Obama now Trump is it’s too successful. China’s slowly but surely rising threatens American domination in the Pacific. Henry Kissinger in his book “On China” stated there are some in our State Department who subscribe to the thesis that a successful Chinese “rise” is incompatible with America’s position in the Pacific and by extension in the world. America has tried to destabilize China for years with its covert support of Tibetans and Uyghurs and openly selling military equipment to Taiwan contrary to the Joint Communiqué between US and China signed in 1972. Even the so called “umbrella movement” in Hong Kong is funded by National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
America encouraged its allies Japan and the Philippines to do its beckoning by stoking aggressive confrontation with China in territorial disputes. How could supporting a revisionist Japan or call the South China Sea, the “West Philippine Sea” promote peace in the Far East? The so called Trans-Pacific Partnership, now seem to be dead on arrival, nominally seeks to manage trade, promote growth, and regionally integrate the economies of the Asia-Pacific region. It is telling China the second biggest economy in the world and a Pacific country is excluded. China is now surrounded by many hostile states.
China’s launching of Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank (AIIB) which will benefit a wide stretch of Asian countries that desperately need improvement in their roads, bridges and ports was spun by the US. In fact it pressured other countries not to join. That effort failed miserably when America’s closest allies starting with UK and then other major European and Asian countries joined. As of today there are 57 founding members with 30 more waiting to join. This leaves US and Japan as the only two major countries looking in. There is universal agreement that this is one of Obama administration’s biggest foreign policy blunders.
Ever since China’s ascent it’s been accused by US as a currency manipulator even though it held its currency steady in the face of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 when most countries in Asia devaluated theirs. Since then the U.S. has continue to print money thereby lowering its value. But it is called Quantitative Easing. There have been many QEs since. How about Japan whose currency has depreciated more than 30%? But Japan is considered an ally and therefore gets a free pass.
Why is the US trying to destabilize China? China is blamed for all America’s woes. It’s not just Trump. After all Obama and his former Secretary State Clinton were the chief architects of “pivot to Asia” a thinly disguised attempt to contain China that fools no one.
So what did China do exactly to deserve all the negativity? Has China threatened America? Does China have military bases surrounding America or send its fleets or planes close to its territory to monitor its activities? The answer is no. By contrast Australian documentary film maker John Pilger noted: Today, more than 400 American military bases encircle China with missiles, bombers, warships and, above all, nuclear weapons. From Australia north through the Pacific to Japan, Korea and across Eurasia to Afghanistan and India, the bases form, says one US strategist, “the perfect noose.”
Does the US really want regime change in China? Even in China’s darkest days it held onto its territory. Surely it will not let any foreign country interfere with its internal policies or tear it apart. As founding Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew said: internally China needs stability externally China need peace. China is not a threat to America or any other country. Quoting Prime Minister Lee again: China wants to be China and accepted as such, not an honorary member of the West.
Dan Bloom
Dan,
Your blind hatred toward China is baseless. You are using one kind of yardstick to measure every one else, like P. Navarro, is truly an evil behavior. Here is how China elected their leaders. They do it orderly each time not as loud or as theatrically as US. Why should all the countries follow US?
Here’s how it works in CHINA: the "National People’s Congress" brings together some 2,000 delegates. Those representatives are responsible for "choosing between 200 and 300 members of what’s called the Central Committee of the Communist Party." Out of those, 24 ascend to the ultra-powerful Politburo, which in the past has been responsible for many of China’s major decisions. But it doesn’t end there. Above the politburo sits the country’s highest decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). It’s effectively a " 7 seven-member" inner cabinet staffed by China’s most powerful individuals, who themselves are drawn from the 24-member politburo.
Just as with a "Western cabinet," each of the PSC’s members oversees a different policy domain. Every member also represents a home district.
Even though they’re running the country, the president and premier are formally members of the PSC, and many of the decisions it makes have to be approved consensually. That means there’s likely a lot of backchannel politicking ordinary Chinese don’t get to see, much less Western observers.
So be it!
Dan,
Your negative comments are out of date. You have read too many US news papers’ propaganda. Today, democracy, socialism, communism or imperialism or whatever combinations it may be is up to its own people to choose. Not be forced in or dominated by American government alone.
Richard L King,
Richard, good point, keep going.
Dan Bloom,
Dan,
Since you are mentioning P. Navarro in your comment, let’s pay attention to his ultra off-base anti-China view points presented in his amateur movie/video "China by death." Two points here must be addressed, the Chinese characters and the modern Chinese history.
First, Navarro’s Chinese name is merely a sound translation as we do for westerners, for years, incl yours, as we did for B. Obama or D. Trump. Both the traditional or simplified characters are sounded identically the same by naming their last names only accordong to Chinese customes of three characters, mostly it has no factual meanings. It’s not dictated by Mao or anyone else, you are balking at the wrong tree. I wonder how much do you know about Taiwan or China at all?
Secondly, regrettably Taiwan was an indep country until 1979 when Carter of US abandoned it and instead to recognize the PRC to represent China for US selfish purposes. Because of that ROC (Taiwan) now is not in the UN as a member. Today ROC is holding tight on US legs to beg for security protection and being used willingly as a pawn or a bargaining chip by the US which will not get ROC to the UN nor will it be recognized by other nations in the UN. Neither the US nor the Japan will sacrifice their troops to protect Taiwan’s freedom. So ROC is better to sit down with PRC to resolve the differences between Chinese people themselves and to maintain the status quo for the next 50 or 100 years. PRC is struggling today to be recognized as a world power of 1.3 billion people since 1949, at least in Asia. So Japanese or,any other nations will not invade China or slaughter Chinese innocent people again as Japanese did in WWII.
Wake up!
Shawn Napper The US has a history of 240 years. All the know-it-all Americans should have a little humility to learn why China has lasted continuously for 5000 years. It was the richest country for thousands of years until the British shipped opium to poison Chinese people in exchange for silver starting the Opium War in 1840. Today the US is so involved in world affairs, without ever learning about the culture and history of the countries when meddling in their internal affairs. It keeps making the same mistake not having learned anything from history. What has the US gained from all the wars it started?– empty treasury, thousands of American casualties, millions of civilian casualties and destruction of properties in the war countries and now millions of refugees with no place to go. There is more hatred, not less. Terrorism only gets worse all over the world with no end in sight. If Chinese leaders are so bad, why is China making such huge progress in a short time? I am glad you are not fooled by the propaganda of US media!
I will let you decide if Shawn is antisemetic. My brother who was born in New York and ex-Naval officer and now retired and is an adjunct professor has been working on the similarities and differences betwee Jewish and Chinese diaspora. He often raise the question why Jews have far more power than Chnese. It turned out he discoverd with some help from me that that is the case only in America or the West. Chinese have attained many similar successes in South East Asia. If you look at the top 100 richest people in Ameica close to 50 % are Jews. It turned out overseas Chinese also have similar representaion in South East countries. He has given many speeches. Telviv University was so impressed with his work that they invited him to be the only non Jewish director. The reason Chinese-Americans like myself are concerned and not Jewish Americans is Israel is not nor will it ever be consider a threat or competitor to America but China is .In fact if you look at the success of Indian-Amnericans in politics vs. Chinese-Americans I would submit it is because india does not count even if India think it does. You can bet if India were the second largest economy instead of China, China would be courted to contain India.
Let me be perfectly clear. Wat China does to its own citizens is none of our business. As Martin Jacques said: Just because the West has dominated the world for the last few centuries, its values are not universal. What about the right of self deternination? According to Pew Reseach more than 76% of Chinese believe their economy is going in the right direction and 82 % believe their children’s live will be even better. That is hardly the kind of dictatorship and oppressive govenment you are talking about
Thank you for your comments. One of the challenges is to educate Americans so as to overcome all the negative comments in our mass media. For example who would think China is by far the worsr polluters in the world. What I want to remind people is when I was a young man, I drove through Pittisburg on my way to school in mid-West, I had to turn on headlights during the day. Today Pittsburg is one of the most livable cities in America as it shut down its steel industry now moved to China. Soon those steel mills in China too will be shut down and possibly move to less developed countries in Africa. China is going through what America has gone through. Interestingly according to WHO of the top worst polluted ciities in the world only one is in China, which is one too many, but 13 are in India. But India is not our target and therefore your rarely hear about its pollution.
Thank you for your comments. But I have to disagree with you that there are two countries, one Republic of China and the other People’s Republic of China. As you know they both claim to represent ALL China. It is for the Chinese and not any foreign country to decide which form of governent Chinese wish to have. I know there are many in our own country who dislike Obama and now president-elect Trump.Does that give another country the right to decide on regime change in America which we have done so so many times. We wanted to change the leader in Syria as we did in Iraq.
Dan Bloom
In one word "Bully", that decribes the American behaviour under Trunp!
Agreed with this article, as Chinese Americans in US, here is a few things we can do.
– We must do everything it takes to make Trump presidence as fail as possible, his domestic policy, his foreign policy to discredit everything that he does.
-Stay active in politics, campign for Trump’s competition, make alliance with other minority groups, run for office or support others that runs for office that opposes Trump’s agenda.
-Stay active with white population as well, get to know them personally, make friends with them, don’t let them get brainwashed by the media about us Chinese Americans.
-Unite together as one group, and vote together, like the NRA, Pro-Israel lobby, get ready to boycott together, write letter to congress, write to media together, protests together, shift your vote from democrates to republican or republican to democrates on a short notice if needed, let the establishment know our power.
-Get to know your rights, memorize the bill of rights, the constitutional amendments, know how to defend yourself when being attacked verbally. Network with fellow Chinese and other races of people, get to know lawyers, politicians, businessman etc…. important powerful people.
-Prepare for the last resort of defense, buy guns for home defense, have plan to liqudate your assets for cash in short time if needed, make connections with your relatives or friends in China if you have time, so you can leave on a short notice if time gets tough.
As China gets stronger, US and Chinese relationship will bond to get more and more hostile, and if this continues, chances are we will only suffer.
DO NOT GET COMPLACEMENT, do everything for the best, but be ready for the worst, millions of Jews in Nazi germany had years to leave that place AFTER HITLER COME TO POWER, but most of them didn’t, because they never thought it would happen to them. We must not make the same misakes.
Thanks Dr. King for voicing it nicely.
I was surprised that in a modern scociety like this, with so many intellent minds, very very few standup again this cheap tactic of "China Bashing". Media and politicans are fully onboard to it for commerical and political benifit, making it part of American culture today.
It is crucial to point out that "China Bashing" hurts Americans more then Chinese. Few noticed that GM is selling more Buick in China then in USA. However, media and politicans would rather cheering for Google’s exist of Chinese market, than encouraging more US company make/sell to the soon-to-be larget market. While Americans criticizing Chinese intellectural property protections, Swiss, Italians and French are selling their goods like crazy, needless to mention Germany.
American industry failed to adjust for Chinese market needs in this China Bashing culture, which will cause America dearly in global competition. Of course, the potential damage to world peace is even more grave.
Proof (I like to do this whenever possible): 9/11.
quote: " … respects its unique system and 5000 years of history."
What is happening now has nothing to do with respect or disrespect of China’s (or any other country’s) 5000 years of history.
Why should a nation’s length of history matter in geopolitics, be it 50, 500, 5000, 50000???? (it makes no sense … the Chinese are supposed to have learned a great lesson from Ching Dynasty’s dealings with far smaller, yet far more advanced nations of Europe.)
Neither the West will nor the Chinese should make its so frequently cited "5000 year history" a factor in geopolitical calculations. Why should they?
I for one will not respect or disrespect someone simply because of his country’s history, but because of his/her own achievement, personality traits and personal qualities – is he/she well-tempered? well-mannered? kind? reasonable? knowledgeable? cultured? generous? …
Anyone who teaches his/her kids that they deserve respect simply because of the country’s n-years of history is doing them, and the country, a huge disfavor.
Dan Bloom , forgot the important one – I agree with Richard King – China bashing has dire consequences for Chinese-Americans, especially if Donald the loose cannon Trump continues his brainless ways. LOL.
I agree with you that fair and honest criticism of Jews or Israel will not have dire consequences for Jews in America under the qualification that (1) the Jews have the political power to bankrupt you and imprison you if you dare to rock the boat, (2) the Jews (both in America and Israel) have been a strong force in dictating US foreign policies – research the CFR, (3) there has been never any fair and honest criticisms directed at the Jews from the US government, for a reason, see (1).
Dan Bloom , (1) I am all for fair and honest criticisms of any country. (2) I don’t think many of the current "criticisms" are fair or honest, quite the contrary. (3) Jews in America, as a group, are far more powerful than Chinese in America. The Jews control the media, Wall Street, the defense industry, the oil business. Fat chance you will hear any fair and honest criticisms of Jews or Israel in the media.
Shawn Napper and shawn, you did not answer my question re in all due respect:… Fair and honest criticism of Israel does not have dire consequences for American Jews and criticism of Communist China will NOT have dire consequences for Chinese Americans or Taiwanese Americans. Peter Navarro himself has never sad or written negative things about the Chinese people as an ethnic group. Never. there is nothing to be afraid of with him.
I suggest you read this book ASAP:
"War is a Racket" by Major General Smedley Butler (1881-1940)
What you are writing is not only exposing your own ignorance (or brainwashing), but reinforcing an already strong steorotype about military men.
I’ll quote Henry Kissinger:
"Military Men Are Just Dumb, Stupid Animals To Be Used As Pawns In Foreign Policy."
Shawn Napper Shawn, of course not, the Chinese people one by one are wonderful people. I live right next door to them. And the leaders as children were once nice people. Now that they are leaders and in the Chinese Communist Party, like the old USSR communist state, they ARE evil people. But i have hope that the one day soon a Chinese Gorbachev will emerge there, someone like Ke LiKiang, who will set China free. Otherwise it’s curtains. AND note that Navarro has never once said bad things about the Chinese people as people. He has only criticized the evil shenanigans of the leaders. They are all brainwashed mindcontrolled robots. Evil to the core.