US-China Forum (English)
                             
  • Home
  • Weekly Forum
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Special Events
  • Donate
  • Article
  • 中文

Tough Talk of U.S. Presidential Candidates on China

12/5/2015

0 Comments

 
​Dr. Wordman
Foreign Policy is an important subject for US Presidential candidates. They have to demonstrate to the American voters that they are qualified to manage not only the U.S. domestic economy which is of the most concern but also able to deal with the foreign affairs in terms of protecting US national security and interests. The candidates often make tough talks to arouse patriotism during campaigns, but once elected, they soon face the reality and must adopt the ongoing foreign policy or make an adjustment if they know what to do. History bears this out. For example, candidate Obama made strong statements regarding the Middle East affairs, but President Obama, soon made revisions to his campaign promises as the reality dictated his decisions. Foreign affairs often change with time. A national leader must be able to make sound judgments as affected by events.

As China is rising to be a great power, the U.S.-China relation becomes one of the most important foreign relations to the U.S. The importance of the 2016 U.S. presidential election from the standpoint of leadership transition of the two nations is critical. The U.S. presidency is four or eight year terms whereas the Chinese presidency is five or ten year terms, hence the leadership or power transition of the two nations would occur at 2016 (US), 2022(China), 2024 (US), and 2032 (US and China). Any steady foreign relation has its inertia, leaders tend to follow the steady course and react to its course outcome. President Xi assumed power in 2012 and adopted an aggressive reform course to sustain China's rapid growth. Xi has successfully promoted China's diplomatic influence on the global stage and offered olive branch to the world especially to the U.S., whereas the U.S. in the past 2-3 years under Obama and a Clinton-Kerry transition has conducted a fuzzy (inconsistent and self-contradictory) China policy. On the one hand, the U.S. cultivates military alliances with China's neighbors to contain China and on the other hand increases interactions with China on all levels (even military) to derive stable trade and investment opportunities and economic benefits. The 2016 U.S. president-elect will be mandated to crystallize a clear China policy dealing with Xi. If a hostile relation were maintained, a bad Domino effect would take place through the subsequent leadership transitions (2016-2032) likely to produce a tic-for-tac foreign policy. Such a downhill undesirable relation may not be easily reversed until the Year 2032 when both nations have a new leader to take the opportunity to reconsider. Wouldn’t it be too late then?  

Republicans will be challenging the Democrats in 2016 to take back the White House. It may likely happen. While Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front runner, with her Obama legacy, questionable performance (Banghazi, etc.) and style (email, arrogance and hostility towards China) may not be a good choice, but the large number of the Republican candidates give American voters tough choices with their ‘tough talks’ with little beef. Since most of them had no foreign policy experience, American voters must pay attention to what they say in their campaign speeches and among debates, especially on China policy. Here, I will start with a collection of news reports from ChinaFile and other mainstream and organic media on candidates’ view on China and add with my comments for you to ponder on the China issue and think about which candidate can best steer the U.S.-China relation to a positive and fruitful course, in view of the fact the American public has lowered their favorable view of China over the past decade due to a biased mainstream media reporting.

Donald Trump, the leading Republican Presidential candidate, on November 10, 2015, in Milwaukee, commented on TPP: "It’s a deal that was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone.” This remark shows his knowledge as a businessman in understanding the importance of TPP but obviously not factual about China's strategy on trade and investment via bilateral agreements and her visionary scheme of ‘one belt and one route’ (trade routes) to promote world- beneficial development. The new U.S. president should seek this collaborative opportunity rather than ignoring it.

Chris Christie, the New Jersey Governor, said: "The Chinese don't take us seriously. If the Chinese commit cyber-warfare against us, they are going to see cyber-warfare like they have never seen before. .. On South China Sea, I will tell you this, the first thing I'll do is I will fly Air Force One over those islands, then they will know we mean business." It may be heroic when a candidate talks tough, but it is silly to say that the Chinese don't take us seriously. We see repeatedly that the Chinese not only take the U.S. seriously, she also tries very hard to get the U.S. to believe that China desires to rise peacefully. To ensure China to rise peacefully does not equate to instigate conflicts escalating to war. 

It is amazing that on a serious issue of China policy, we merely hear meaningless rhetoric such as, Xi should be disinvited and taken to a woodshed (Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin), I would offer Xi a Big Mac rather give him a pomp dinner (Donald Trump) and I would downgrade Xi's State visit to a working visit (Marco Rubio). No concrete idea or a new plan to work with a rising China came from any Republican candidate. No one seriously reflected whether it is China who does not keep her words to rise peacefully or the U.S. who keep instigating conflicts between China and her neighbors. South China Sea had no single incidence not even sea pirating obstructing maritime traffic. Historically China's sovereignty included large portion of South China Sea and the U.S. maintained neutrality or silent position for decades. The Philippines and Vietnam had begun squatting some islands and started constructions several years ago. China's recent landfill construction appear to be a counter action to the ‘squatting’ very different from the camp Schwab military base the U.S. is building at Okinawa. Sending naval ships to South China Sea and urging other nations to strengthen naval force simply force China to turn those island constructions for military use. This kind of China policy is neither productive nor honorable if world peace is kept in mind.
​
Regarding Chinese economy and China's recent stock market drop affecting the U.S. stock market, the candidates had a lot to blame, Carly Fiorina on Federal Reserve, Chris Christie on Obama and Huckabee on Wall Street elites. "Because China's going bad it's going to bring us down too, because we're so heavily coupled with China," real-estate mogul Trump said on Fox News, "I'm the one that says you better start un-coupling from China because China's got problems." It seems that a special debate just focused on China issue nay be in order. Should the U.S. target China as an enemy? What concrete steps should an elected U.S. president take to guide the U.S.-China relation to a productive and mutually beneficial path? Since a hawkish position is likely to increase tension, and arms race leads to war, perhaps all candidates need to think through the rationales and the consequences of hawkish statements before addressing the public.
William Pesek in a recent article for Bloomberg View had said: “There’s a time warp quality to this sort of China bashing.” I wholeheartedly agree with him. As American voters, shouldn't we ask the above questions and assess our presidential candidates accordingly?!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Chinese Society
    International Politics
    Reprints
    Taiwan Politics



    An advertisement
    will go here.




    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly