After Ukraine policy disaster, we now take on China.

 IS THIS JUST ARROGANCE AND HUBRIS OR JUST MADNESS

LAYING DOWN RED LINES FOR CHINA, WILL DEMAND THEY CROSS THEM

So, it seems our enlightened foreign policy experts are now escalating their focus to China. While China is without a doubt an economic rival, up to now it has not been considered to be an expansionist military threat and not a hardened enemy of the United States. The best and most effective weapon that could have been used against China, in an effort to contain China, was economic competitiveness from our domestic industries. Sadly, that route would be contradictory to the policy of climate change and ensuring Americans are increasingly economically dependent on their government. 

So the other option seems to be to threaten and bluster economic and military consequence if China does not submit to the demands of the United States. Understanding the history and culture of China  these policies will not produce the desired results, unless making them a hardened enemy is the desired result. 

The roots of these problems with China are two fold,  first China has been exceptional in becoming a major industrial power. While they are still a mixed market and demand economy they have been able to produce much of the worlds goods and have now created dependent economies around the world. A marvel of competitive enterprise that has given them huge trade surpluses and the ability and necessity to use that windfall to further their economic expansion. If you have lots of money, it needs to be invested  and they have been investing it in Africa and around the world, places with essential materials that they want and need. They have even been buying U.S. farmland which many consider a threat. It may be a threat but when your own economy has given them ships full of dollars, what are they to do with these dollars? buy whatever they believe to be a positive asset in the future. They may no longer believe that U.S. debt is a good investment.

Up to now U.S. politicians of both parties and international corporations have been very happy to buy low priced goods to sell in advanced economies, even if it meant putting much of their own populations on the government dole, after all, they still need money to buy those goods. China's economic miracle was created by the United States and western Europe and the hard work and industriousness of the Chinese people. Now all of sudden we don't like it, but no one was willing to listen to the Ross Perot's and Pat Buchanan's of the past. Now we have reaped what we sowed.

Then there is the issue of Taiwan, an island off the coast of China, that became the refuge of the former leader of China, Chiang Kai-shek and his followers after the communist Chinese overthrew his government in 1949. Taiwan has been an issue since that time. It was an issue in the 1960 debates between Kennedy and Nixon, which at time there was talk of Taiwan being an independent and sovereign country or the legitimate government in exile of China. The fact is, after the 1969 initiatives by Nixon in his effort to split China from The Soviet Union and the lure of profits from an industrialized China, we no longer saw an independent Taiwan as that big a deal.

In 1979 China insisted that the world recognize the Chinese communist party as the legitimate government of China and that Taiwan was part of China. Jimmy Carter agreed and the rest of the world went along, in fact it was the government of China and many saw economic opportunity and the continued division of China from the Soviet Union.

Everyone agreed to the re incorporation of Taiwan into China, that was over 40 years ago. In fact, many Taiwanese support that proposal. Taiwan does over 50% of its business with China. Everyone verbally  supports the peaceful incorporation, but behind the scenes this is not the case.

Every President including the current president has agreed Taiwan is part of China. At the same time we are rattling war drums and arming Taiwan to the teeth and now placing U.S. troops in Taiwan. We are then amazed and threatened when China builds up its Navy and other hi-tech weapons as it is now in a confrontation with the United States.

Personally, I believe Taiwan should have been declared and independent sovereign country in 1979, but that is not what happened, so, now we are threatening war if Taiwan, an agreed to part of China is reincorporate back to China. The Taiwan issue is a product of a misguided foreign policy mistake, we made the mistake and now are caught in a contradiction. Do we support the separation and independence of a part of China and are we willing to go to war to enforce that separation? 

The consequences of this dilemma are having the worst possible result, we now have a reconciliation between Russia and China, a threatened China, that will now use its industrial capacity to rearm the world. This coupled with a expected withdrawal of the use of the dollar by much of the world and economic consequences of a conflict even without military action will be devastating to the United States and the rest of the world.

While many seem to want to stick with a course that is leading to disaster on many fronts, we are sorely lacking in real diplomats and leaders that can see beyond today's talking points and delusional narrative.  I guess this is how it is in the lead up to historical catastrophes.