One of the headline news recently was John Bolton's new book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, published on June 23, 2020 by Simon & Schuster. (This publisher also has two other books about Trump's family, one, The Art of Her (Melania) Deal by Mary Jordan and another, Too Much and Never Enough, by Dr. Mary L Trump, Trump's niece.)  The Wall Street Journal published a 4000 words synopsis of Bolton's new book raising White House's objection for its publication. After carefully reading the WSJ article, I came to a conclusion different from my thoughts before reading the introduction. Originally, I thought Bolton might be writing a book to help Trump's campaign (to make up) or he was writing about his 'being wronged” and presenting his political thoughts after his experience as the Director of the National Security Council in the White House (WH). But I was wrong, Bolton seemed to be focused on making money through the book, publishing in the election year and focusing on Trump's obsession for getting re-elected. Nothing wrong with making money from writing a book after a WH experience, Obama and Clinton both made it alright. However, what is disappointing about Bolton's book is that it shows that Bolton has little to say about national security or his political insights or new views. WH responded by saying he is lying, but my conclusion is that Bolton has very little to say. He has no imagination. He can't even lie very well.
 
Bolton started with American's China strategy with two hypotheses. First assumption is that if China were developed and became prosperous, she would observe international rules (hence in 2001 China was admitted into WTO), The second assumption is that if China became rich, she would become more democratic not competing and engaging in Cold War. Bolton said the facts were just the opposite. I think Bolton held this obsolete legacy without the ability of learning on the job which caused his demise. I think the differences between the U.S. and China result from that the U.S. puts capitalism first and socialism second and China is just the other way around. China is doing everything for her 1.4 billion people and the U.S. is doing everything to preserve her capital to continuously gain enough profits. For example, the U.S. is used to applying her power to protect her capital and generate adequate return. She  regards China's One Belt and One Road program as an invasion plan rather than from China's view that she is trying to generate enough job opportunities for her large population and oversupply of labor and production. China needs to create new jobs and  markets to support her people. She hopes it will be a win-win program for the world. Although Trump did not have much foreign policy experience, but he is a fast learner through many debates held in the WH (Bolton admitted that there were no conclusions from debates on trade dispute, likely on many other issues). Trump probably see through Bolton's lack of fresh ideas and let him go, but he and Pompeo do not seem to have any new idea other than repeating the stale rhetoric against China.  
 
Bolton charges that Trump is spending too much time on trade issues, no progress, no strategy and often flipflop. From Bolton's own description, I suspect that Trump is learning on the job and uses his businessman instincts and smarts to guide him. Bolton blames Trump for dropping the Tariff from 25% to 10% in December 2018 as a give-in, but I can imagine Trump's thinking, Christmas is coming, 25% tariff is hurting American people more. Thus Trump yielded on Tariff to get the Chinese back to negotiation on substantive buying and meaningful structure reform. Judging from the Phase One Trade Agreement US-China reached, the U.S. did not lose much but did get China to commit to buy $200B more  goods and services from us  over 2017 level in  two years. Even with COVID-19 Pandemic, according to Lighthizer, China has already bought $100B goods ($30B soybeans, 2/3 of US production and largest US beef importer). Bolton simply can not understand Trump's “incoherence” which is growing out of his cunning business mentality and fast learning on reality to find short cuts. Bolton's old textbook approach, especially not working very well, can not be effective for his job in the WH. 
 
Bolton also charges Trump placing winning re-election far more important than any other issue. How can he not know that is the characteristic of American Democracy (and of course for authoritarian government as well), no president would not put the re-election as top priority. Bolton is either naive or stubborn in challenging the president's re-election goal which is the President's score card and legacy defined by the voters. Bolton states that Trump is using the G20 as opportunities to meet with Xi for trade negotiation and helping his re-election. He focused on the praising words exchanged between the two leaders and took too seriously for their worth. China always pride herself claiming she will never interfere in another country's internal affairs. Do you think both Xi and Trump will take the phrase “Please do me a favor” seriously in diplomacy? China believes in signed black words on white paper, but never any fancy cute conversations. Bolton ought to have learned that on the job. Bolton also says that Trump mixes his personal interest with national interest. Personally, I feel, the American political system makes the President as the nation and the nation as the President. When Trump suggested to hold the 2020 G7 at his Florida resort, you may think it is a conflict of interest, President Trump thinks it is a legitimate business opportuni8ty fair and convenient to him.
 
Bolton has no positive words for Trump. He mentioned 'Huawei' which Trump initially was not engaged, but Bolton had no idea of his own on this technology war which is pushed by the Pentagon saying it causes a military exposure. Be it that may, it is likely Pentagon's own mistake in letting our technology slip and dependent on foreign products. Again, Bolton has no idea of his own, now that Trump is testing water and realizing that, just like trade war, technology war is no less complex and we are mutually intertwined. Bolton also mentioned the Taiwan Unification, Hon Kong unrest, Xinjiang Ughur and COVID-19 pandemic and claimed that Trump should have taken advantage of these issues as leverage against China, but Trump pondered why he should  meddle in Taiwan and Hong Kong (both as China's internal issue) and expressed he was not interested in making Tianmen memorial statement. (Trump said that it was 15 years ago but actually it was an event more than 30 years ago). Trump is honest about that the U.S. has human rights issue as well. What is in it for us to raise human rights issue against China? Following the events, we see that the Congress has just passed a law about Xinjiang Uighur Human Rights which Xi has told Trump that China is not building concentration camps in Xinjiang but job training centers to help local economy to fight poverty and terrorism from external influences. We may not believe everything CCP says, but lifting people out of poverty is a fact and no terrorist event in Xijiang for the past three years is true as well. Otherwise,
 
Based on the Walls Street Journal introduction and the foreign affairs occurred during the Trump Administration, I may predict Bolton's memoir can never raise to the level of Kissinger's White House Years Memoir. Therefore, I hold no expectation from Bolton's unimaginative book!
           


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Western Anti-China Sentiment
 
Anti-China sentiment in the West has been gradually on the rise since the 2008 financial crisis. The rise has been greatly hastened after Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017. Trump, in an effort to shift the focus from his woefully inadequate handling of COVID-19, repeatedly called the virus “the China virus,” thus encouraging racism and anti-Asian bias.  He used inflammatory words such as “China rapes the US” to lay the blame for the huge US trade deficit between US and China. Confronting China has been one of his signature policies over the past four years. Policies such as leveling heavy tariffs on Chinese imports, targeting Chinese technology giants such as Huawei, delisting Chinese tech companies such as China Mobile, attempting the forced sale of Tiktok, banning Chinese international students, and closing the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, pushed the US-China relationship to a historic low since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979.
 
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has upped the ante with China by constantly saying the Chinese Communist Party is the central threat of our time and calling for “Free society to stand up to Beijing.” He has gone even further in the waning days of Trump’s presidency by lifting the restrictions on the US government’s contacts with Taiwan to further antagonize China.
 
Western media, while touting their objectivity, truthfulness, and fairness in their reporting, often engages in cherry-picking in their reporting on China. One example that comes to mind is their reporting during the Hong Kong riots in 2019. With the exception of a few news outlets such as RT America and, to a smaller extent, DW (the German public broadcasting company), the focus of the mainstream Western media was completely one-sided, i.e., favoring the rioters and ignoring the destruction of property and loss of innocent lives caused by the rioters.  The storming and subsequent vandalization of the legislative complex in Hong Kong was far worse than what Trump supporters did to the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Yet the Hong Kong rioters were praised as democracy fighters while the rioters at the Capitol building were deemed as traitors.
 
Voices of Reason
 
The great strides that China has made in improving the livelihood of her citizens in the past four decades has been mind-boggling. However, deliberate disinformation efforts spearheaded by the US government and media create negative views on China in the minds of many people in the West.
 
Fortunately, there are increasing numbers of people from the West who have more positive views on China. These are the expats either currently living in China or who have stayed in China for a long time. They witnessed China’s amazing progress and through their daily interactions with the Chinese people, have gained a much better understanding of Chinese culture and the political system.  To dispel many negative narratives promoted in the West, they use their first-hand information to tell the truth about China through YouTube or social media such as Facebook and Twitter.  
 
The following are a few examples:
 
Cyrus Janssen
 
In a riveting speech entitled “Why the World Needs China”, Cyrus Janssen offers a candid discussion of common misconceptions about China, including that China has no democracy because of its one-party system, people have no freedom and no safety, China is a threat to democracy in America, and China desires to take over the world.
 
As you can see from the YouTube video below, Janssen comes across as a mild-mannered and sincere person. His 10-year experience of living in China enables him to convincingly allay the doubts many may have about China. At the end of the speech, he also expresses his hope that the US and her allies will work with China to benefit the entire world.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3seXF5Cuy6Q
 
Nathan Rich
 
Based in Beijing, Nathan Rich is also known as Hot Pot King (火鍋大王). He has 485,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. Rich has made many videos dispelling the Western media’s distortions of China on topics such as the Hong Kong rioters, the real Muslim genocide in the Middle East, the origins of COVID-19, Taiwan, etc. He is very meticulous when presenting his arguments. There are always citations and statistical data to accompany his narratives. His strong stance in support of China makes him a very popular figure in China.
 
In his video below “Why do I defend China”, Rich stresses that he mostly talks about the dishonesty of the Western media on China. He is not defending China; he is just against any type of systemic oppression imposed by the West.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plujK57y8bY
 
Daniel Dumbrill
 
Daniel Dumbrill is a Canadian beer brewer who lives in Shenzhen. In addition to commenting on serious topics such as “What is the Communist Party of China?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKxQDezR7Bg), he also touches upon controversial topics such China’s treatment of Uyghurs by interviewing Uyghur activists. During these interviews, he is respectful and professional but asks tough questions of the activists’ motives, their sponsors, etc. His videos on visiting a Tibetan middle school and interviewing a Living Buddha reveal much information seldom known by the outside world.
 
Two Powerful Voices
 
In addition to the expats’ YouTube channels mentioned above, there are some scholars, such as Martin Jacques and Kishore Mahbubani, whose views on China may also have some positive impacts on people’s perceptions and understanding of China.
 
Martin Jacques
 
Martin Jacques is a British journalist and author of a global bestseller When China Rules the World, first released in 2009. At that time, China’s GDP was only approximately 1/3 of that of US, and China was behind Japan as the third largest economy in the world (it soon overtook Japan in 2010). In that book, Jacques criticizes the woeful ignorance of the West about China, suggests that the Western-dominated international order will end someday, and implores the West to imagine a future dominated by China.
 
Kishore Mahbubani
 
Kishore Mahbubani is the founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and spent over 10 years as Singapore’s ambassador to the UN. His profound understanding of China and the US provides guidelines and useful suggestions to lessen the geopolitical confrontation between these two superpowers of the 21st century. His book Has China Won? is highly praised by Western scholars.
 

 
On January 13th, Congress eagerly passed the second impeachment against the 45th U.S. President with a charge of ‘Incitement of Insurrection’. This followed shortly after the protest at Capitol Hill, which turned into a riot storming into the capitol building on January 6th and the impeachment was quickly passed on the 13th. The Democrat-controlled House was so righteous to blame the riot on the President and orchestrated the impeachment without waiting for any evidence from the official FBI investigation, which is still urging citizens to come forward to identify the few 'criminals'. As a citizen shocked by what happened, I could not help but reflect on what really happened. I come to the conclusion that our Congress with corroboration and counter reactions is creating 'hate' and dividing our nation. Congress must stop this 'hatred' immediately - Americans are not haters!
 
Trump may not be a favored U.S. President for everyone, but he was fairly elected as the 45th President in 2016. The Democrat-controlled House began to plot an impeachment against Trump even before he took office sowing a seed of HATRED between Trump and Pelosi and dividing the voting population as anti-Trump versus pro-Trump supporters. The House succeeded to pass the first Impeachment with two charges, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress - both political in nature and reflecting hostility between the House and the Administration. The impeachment failed in the Republican-dominated Senate, but the entire impeachment proceeding from December 18, 2019 to February 5, 2020 not only wasted the energy and time of our government including all legislators, but also took everyone’s attention away from the COVID-19 virus. Trump, Biden, many legislators even Fauci all underestimated the impact of this pandemic, thus the U.S. has become the number one infected country in the world. People became angry and hate crimes soared all because our government branches engaged in more 'hate' rhetoric rather than cooperating to find solutions. The media are also eager to report stories blaming others and each other all contributing to elevating the 'hate' index of our society and dividing our nation. President Trump and his Administration and our Congress all have failed the people of the U.S.
 
Thomas Friedman coined the phrases, one party authoritarian government and one party democracy, alluding to the latter's ineffectiveness in getting things done, a fact with plenty of evidence. Observing what the Congress has done and is doing to the out-going President, with some of the media obviously responding or collaborating, we citizens should be worried more about the ‘one party democracy’ phenomenon: rejecting the other party entirely, trying to dominate the media, creating 'hate' to cause more hate crimes and dividing our country. Who is above the law to give a guilty verdict to all Trump supporters, to allow social media to ex-communicate the President and his followers, and to presume that only one party is right for the U.S.? Grant you the 75 million Americans who voted for Trump are not the majority of the U.S. voting population, some may even regretted voting for him. But as one receiving political ‘fan’ or 'Ad' mails (reads more like 'hate' mails) from both Democrat and Republican parties, I feel that I am being hijacked by 'the one party Democracy' if I don’t speak up against the political 'hate' activities in our government branches. I pray that the media will let me speak. 
 
I urge anyone especially journalists in the media to review the events that have happened in the last four years: Congress has focused more on impeachment and condemning other countries than constructing bills stimulating our economy and rebuilding our nation.  Don’t you see a ‘hate’ index increasing in the U.S. - everywhere from our capital to campuses (disgusting!) pertaining to  partisan bickering, racism, anti-immigrants fervor even against foreign students, no respect for law and order, riots and killings? This must stop! Our Congress and the President bear the responsibility: First, I urge the Congress to stop the impeachment and with the new President to focus on rebuilding rather than dividing the U.S.! Stop creating hate, Americans are not haters!




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