The Democratic presidential hopefuls did not display great sophistication about China in last night’s debate. Joe Biden was right in saying that we need to have real allies who cooperate with us in identifying Chinese practices that we must oppose. But other candidates seemed to think that a “deal” could be struck with Beijing that would solve all the problems. As I have argued, there will never be a deal to stop China’s technological ambitions or to prevent its massive hacking of American computing systems and placement of spies in our governmental institutions and leading companies.
The most coherent comment on China policy is in today’s New York Times in an article by David Sanger. He noted that the Trump administration does not have an “integrated” policy toward China. I regard that as a very positive comment that hopefully will set the stage for a real debate about what we are trying to achieve. I will quote part of the article here:
“The bigger problem facing the Trump administration is that after nearly 32 months, it has no integrated China strategy. Mr. Pompeo and many in the military establishment view Mr. Xi, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, as determined to spread the country’s influence through Africa, Latin America and, increasingly, Europe–and to use its technology to exercise control. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and other members of the economic team are convinced that Mr. Xi, in the end, will take the best economic deal he can.”
It adds that Trump “gyrates” between these different camps in his administration.
In conclusion, Trump can’t win. “Mr. Xi is playing a long game, and Mr. Trump is playing for November 2020.”
