Tony Burman writes that Donald Trump is putting China in the driver's seat. It wasn't supposed to be this way:
It began in 1972 when then-president Richard Nixon, an avowed anti-communist, joined his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, in their historic journey to China ushering in a new relationship.
Triggered largely by the threat and ensuing collapse of the former Soviet Union, it led to some thinking that the 21stcentury might be shaped by a special U.S./China axis that would handle issues such as climate change, terrorism and the threat of nuclear weapons in a spirit of “engagement” and mutual respect.
Although this was probably always too idealistic a notion, it certainly came crashing to the ground once Trump’s “America First” ideology took hold in 2017 and relations with Beijing – particularly over trade — became raw and rancorous.
On the Beijing side, there was also a more assertive approach in its relationship with the United States. Its president, Xi Jinping, laid out a vision of a far more aggressive and influential government at home and abroad. And increasingly, Xi punished whistleblowers and arrested dissidents in an effort to consolidate his power.
When it came to pandemics, however, there was cooperation between the United States and China:
Dating back to 2002, when the SARS virus affected southern China, the administration of then-president George Bush worked closely with Beijing. This pattern of cooperation continued through the Bush administration and during the 2009 outbreak of a new virus, H1N1, when Barack Obama was president.
But that cooperation ended when Trump became president. And, if Joe Biden becomes president, his plate will be full:
He will inherit what seems certain to be the worst economy since the Great Depression and a country barely crawling out from the savage toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of Americans will have lost their loved ones, their jobs and much of their income.
In addition, the next president will need to manage America’s most important foreign policy challenge — its relationship with China – at its most dangerous moment in modern history.
The most important goal of the next U.S. president may be to reassert enlightened and unselfish American leadership in a divided and demoralized world that has largely lost faith in it.
If he fails, will the most enduring legacy of this brutal pandemic be remembered as when the world seemed to change permanently?
One thing is certain: Donald Trump's singular talent is his ability to bring the house down around his ears.
Image: The Toronto Star
6 comments:
It may take decades for the u.s.a. to re build their economy, their social structure and even longer their international reputation. Trump is a joke in most countries around the world. They don't trust him, he ism't intelligent They know he isn't even capable of putting intelligent people in important positions, that he can't speak the English language with any ability beyond that of a toddler, he doesn't understand international law or even his own country's constitution.
Unless Biden wins and controls both houses and works like a trojan any number of countries will over take the U.S.A. AND the leader of the free world will be some one in Europe or Canada, Australia, N.Z., etc.
Trump has done monumental damage to his country, e.a.f. And it could be long-lasting.
Slightly off topic, but I don't understand why we still deal with the Chinese. We send two planes to China to pick up PPE, and they come back empty. We get a shipment of one million N95 facemasks from China and they are defective and can't be used. I heard that tests for antibodies from China were defective. We must have the technology and smarts to make this stuff here in Canada. The special pulp for making facemasks comes from BC. Why bother with the Chinese? Let's do it inhouse.
GDN
That appears to be what we are doing, GDN. The argument has been that we can get things cheaper from china. Obviously, there are some things we need -- and cost is not the first consideration. That said, we deal with the Chinese because we have to. They can no longer be ignored.
part of starting to make things in house again is re tooling and that isnt' any easy thing to do. retooling takes time and money and the re training of people. If Canada were to do it, you can bet people would be howing about the cost. Not I, but lots of people would be.
makings masks requires industrial sewing machines lots of them. we just don't have them any more and not just any can sew. people need to be trained. it was also not a great occupation. salaries were low and working conditions not great. I can remember when there were still clothing manufacturers in Vancouver but then the last of them closed their doors. chinese goods were cheaper. we have no one to blame but ourselves. people wanted 20 t shirts all for $8 a piece. that can't be done in canada. now if you'l settle for fewer t shirts and be willing to pay more, perhaps we can talk.
There's an old saying, e.a.f: "If the price is low, it's because someone else is paying for it." We now know what we have paid for those low prices.
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