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Liz Peek: Trump's biggest legacy is risking reelection to expose corrupt China
As the coronavirus rolls on, sickening and killing thousands, we are reminded anew of the threat posed by China’s corruption. It has become clear that Beijing lied about the extent and the contagious nature of the disease, allowing hundreds of thousands of travelers to spread the virus well after it had been diagnosed.
More recently, it has emerged that citizen journalists bold enough to expose horrifying scenes of dead bodies stacked in vans or desperate lines of patients seeking treatment have vanished.
Governments trying to protect their citizens are attempting to sort Chinese fact from fiction. Thankfully, the blinders are off, in part because of Trump’s willingness to call out Beijing’s duplicity on trade and other activities, including their breathtaking theft of America’s creative output.
Trump
He has confronted not only China’s unfair trade practices, but also their cyber espionage, their infiltration of American research universities, their multiple breaches of international agreements (WTO, North Korea sanctions etc.) and so much more.
Trump has revealed China’s profound dishonesty, which other world leaders, hungry to access China’s huge market, have been reluctant to do. His campaign has resulted in a marked change in Americans’ attitudes towards Beijing. Last year, according to Pew research, some 60 percent of the country had an unfavorable view of China, up from roughly 38 percent a decade ago, and 47 percent in 2018.
Why were U.S. leaders so ready to ignore China’s misdeeds? As globalization spread, Big Business depended on supply chains in China to lower costs and compete with international rivals. Also, President Barack Obama desperately wanted their participation in the Paris Climate Accord. Even though Beijing’s promises were practically meaningless, Obama could hail the agreement as a diplomatic breakthrough, claims that were magnified by a compliant media.
Today, as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on businesses overly dependent on Chinese supply chains, the cost of that naivete is becoming clear. Companies are scrambling to diversify their manufacturing sources, moving operations to Vietnam, Thailand and elsewhere. Some made the move in response to Trump’s trade war; some are just now pursuing alternative sources to escape the virus-linked lockdown of Chinese factories.
This is a welcome turn of events and will have long-lasting repercussions, including slowing China’s ascent. The world can thank President Trump.
As the coronavirus rolls on, sickening and killing thousands, we are reminded anew of the threat posed by China’s corruption. It has become clear that Beijing lied about the extent and the contagious nature of the disease, allowing hundreds of thousands of travelers to spread the virus well after it had been diagnosed.
More recently, it has emerged that citizen journalists bold enough to expose horrifying scenes of dead bodies stacked in vans or desperate lines of patients seeking treatment have vanished.
Governments trying to protect their citizens are attempting to sort Chinese fact from fiction. Thankfully, the blinders are off, in part because of Trump’s willingness to call out Beijing’s duplicity on trade and other activities, including their breathtaking theft of America’s creative output.
Trump
He has confronted not only China’s unfair trade practices, but also their cyber espionage, their infiltration of American research universities, their multiple breaches of international agreements (WTO, North Korea sanctions etc.) and so much more.
Trump has revealed China’s profound dishonesty, which other world leaders, hungry to access China’s huge market, have been reluctant to do. His campaign has resulted in a marked change in Americans’ attitudes towards Beijing. Last year, according to Pew research, some 60 percent of the country had an unfavorable view of China, up from roughly 38 percent a decade ago, and 47 percent in 2018.
Why were U.S. leaders so ready to ignore China’s misdeeds? As globalization spread, Big Business depended on supply chains in China to lower costs and compete with international rivals. Also, President Barack Obama desperately wanted their participation in the Paris Climate Accord. Even though Beijing’s promises were practically meaningless, Obama could hail the agreement as a diplomatic breakthrough, claims that were magnified by a compliant media.
Today, as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on businesses overly dependent on Chinese supply chains, the cost of that naivete is becoming clear. Companies are scrambling to diversify their manufacturing sources, moving operations to Vietnam, Thailand and elsewhere. Some made the move in response to Trump’s trade war; some are just now pursuing alternative sources to escape the virus-linked lockdown of Chinese factories.
This is a welcome turn of events and will have long-lasting repercussions, including slowing China’s ascent. The world can thank President Trump.
