Joe Biden surrogate Max Baucus appeared on Bloomberg TV Thursday to address the situation with regard to China and Hong Kong, and the elections here in the U.S. Baucus is both a former Democratic senator from Montana and was U.S. Ambassador to China during the Obama administration. Since that time, and during the entire Trump administration, Baucus has become an increasingly visible advocate for the Chinese government’s positions in western media.
At the end of the interview, the host asks Baucus whether Republicans and Democrats differ on China, or is it one area of bipartisan agreement. Baucus said that there is a “true bipartisan agreement” regarding China, but that there would be a difference if Biden defeats Trump in the fall — a difference the communists in Beijing would find to their liking.
“Under a Biden presidency, Beijing will think, ‘Well gee, we can deal with this guy,'” Baucus said. “‘They don’t like us. They’re tough with us. But a deal is a deal with him. Whereas, we try to deal with Trump, we don’t know if we have a deal.’ That would be the difference.”
China already deals with the Biden family.
The character of the deals made really does matter. Biden has consistently downplayed China’s capabilities, while it grew into a menacing world power. Biden’s son has an ongoing dubious financial deal in China, despite claiming that interest has ended, similar to the one he has been criticized for in Ukraine. The China and Ukraine deals involving Hunter Biden create more than a whiff of Joe Biden using his very dubious son as a conduit for policy pay-to-play. Congressional Republicans want Hunter Biden’s deals investigated; Democrats so far have resisted.
Trump was elected in part on changing how the U.S. deals with countries like China. Under previous administrations including the Obama administration, China received very favorable treatment despite its long history of belligerence, intellectual property theft, its support for rogue states such as North Korea, and its support for international terrorism going back to the 1960s.
Trump battled China in a tariff war that culminated in the 2019 trade deal. The deal included several key wins for the U.S. including:
- The deal reportedly includes promises by China to buy more U.S. farm goods, Bloomberg reported.
- According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, U.S. negotiators have offered to slash existing tariffs, which cover roughly $360 billion of Chinese goods, by 50%.
- The U.S. will also cancel the next round of China tariffs, planned to take effect on another $156 billion of Chinese goods on December 15, the report said.
- Included in the deal is a promise made by China to do more to stop intellectual property theft, and both sides agreed to refrain from purposely manipulating their currencies.
As the trade war heated up, Baucus complimented Trump for “punching China in the nose” but otherwise consistently articulated China’s position, arguing that it could wait out Trump and the trade war would not slow down China’s manufacturing dominance.
Baucus has stepped up his anti-Trump rhetoric as the campaign has gotten underway, even comparing Trump — not China’s Premier Xi Jinping — to Hitler.
Fmr ambassador to Beijing and senator Max Baucus likens the reaction to Donald Trump’s China rhetoric today to Nazi Germany: “A little bit like Hitler in the 30s, that a lot of people knew what was going on was wrong but they didn’t stand up and say anything about it.” pic.twitter.com/m8jqt16VJ1
— Hala Gorani (@HalaGorani) May 6, 2020
Only one of the two world leaders currently operates concentration camps, and it’s not Trump.
The former ambassador has a big financial connection — to Chinese industry. This is from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce bio of him:
Ambassador Baucus currently lives in Bozeman, Montana, where he and his wife, Melodee Hanes, have formed a consulting firm, Baucus Group LLC. Ambassador Baucus provides consulting services to American and Chinese businesses and serves on the Board of Directors of Ingram Micro and the Board of Advisors to Alibaba Group.
Alibaba in turn is deeply connected to the Chinese government.
When Max Baucus opens his mouth, who is really doing the talking? Is he advocating for Biden, or Beijing?
Thanks to China’s handling of coronavirus and its belligerence toward Hong Kong, it’s sure to be an issue in the fall elections. A recent Harris Poll found that a large majority of Americans are turning against China.
Using Chinese happiness over a Biden win may not help the Democrats’ cause.
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