Michael,

I found your piece so thoughtful and interesting that I quoted from it in our Trade-Wars blog. I also compared it with Senator Obama’s and Senator McCain’s perceptions of China.

Senator Obama has stated that he is pleased that United States trade policy is stabilizing this fascist regime. Specifically, here is a selection from his remarks when he spoke to the Alliance for American manufacturing in Pittsburgh on April 14 2008 (www.barackobama.com/2008/04/14/remarks_for_senator_barack_oba_5.php):

“Seeing the living standards of the Chinese people improve is a good thing – good because we want a stable China, and good because China can be a powerful market for American exports. But too often, China has been competing in ways that are tilting the playing field.”

ML:

Thanks, I’m delighted to have stimulated your frontal lobes; that’s the whole point. I hope I’ve posted the right version…let me know otherwise.

Senator McCain was more realistic about China’s fascist government in a column that he wrote with Senator Lieberman on May 27 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121183670827020887.html?mod=googlenews_wsj). They wrote:

“China’s rapid military modernization,
mercantilist economic practices, lack of political freedom and close relations with regimes like Sudan and Burma undermine the very international system on which its rise depends. The next American president must build on the areas of overlapping interest to forge a more durable U.S.-China relationship. Doing so will require strong alliances with other Asian nations and a readiness to speak openly with Beijing when it fails to behave as a responsible stakeholder.”

Howard