China Über Alles: Episode 8 – What Made Americans Turn A Blind Eye To China’s Rising Power?

Amy Hao continues her story of the torment induced on her family by the “Red Terror” by describing her parents harassment.  Her father was accused of being anti-Mao for owning a statue of Mao the Red Guard thought was defamatory.  She describes being accused of being anti-revolutionary, because she wrote a passage in her diary questioning why a teacher had been beaten to death in front of her.  After her families possessions were confiscated, she and her family barely escaped execution.

Nan mentions that CCP persecution and state sanctioned murder continued with the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Falun Gaun repression and the persecution of the Uyghurs.

The GOP report “China Task Force Report” and the bipartisan intelligence report “The China Deep Dive“.  The conclusion of The China Deep Dive concludes that the US intelligence community has not adapted to the “unique and growing strategic challenge” of Chinese influence and espionage.   The two reports have much in common.  Both recognize that the US China policy has failed in the past 30 years.

Bill Graff mentions the massive scale of the trade deficit, totaling of 378 Billion dollars in 2018. Chinese goods imported to the US were far larger than any other nation, totaling 539.9 Billion dollars in 2018.  Nan suggests that cheap consumer goods can come from any country. There is no reason it has to come from China.  He points to the failed theory that China would adopt western political values if they were engaged economically.

The China Task Force Report clearly defined the CCP as “never going to be a trustworthy trade partner”, “never going to be a responsible stake holder” and “never going to be a competitor that plays by the rules.

Bill Graff mentions that a lot of food is imported to the US from China, a country we do not trust.  Nan points out that 3M (an American company manufacturing in China) was ordered not to send Facemasks back to the US during the pandemic.

Bill Graff mentions the amazing value of the Levi Strauss jeans of his youth.  To buy a pair of US manufactured Levi Strauss jeans today, they cost around $178 – $68 dollars and “not all the parts are from the US”.  99% of all Levi Strauss products are made abroad. 

Nan mentions the roll of currency manipulation in enticing foreign corporations to move to China.  “Who is making the money here? It’s American corporations and the Chinese government.”  Amy mentions that while 1% of the people in the US benefit from trade with China, the US middle class is shrinking. 

Joe in Capitola mentions that he doesn’t have a problem with China, because cheep goods come from China.  Nan retorts that cheap goods can come from a country that does not pose a security threat to the US.

Richard wants to remind us that “we really did do it to ourselves”, because, even if it is not good for the country, we made decisions because they were good for the company. 

Mike wanted to add that New Balance shoes are made in the US.  He mentions a book called “Politics of the Rich and the Poor”, by Kevin Phillips, which details incentives to move US manufacturing overseas.

Jeff from Monterey, encourages everyone to vote.  He suggests that inflation encouraged offshoring, but that problem does not exist anymore. 

Amy mentions how Deng’s administration was desperate to “open the door” to international trade.  Nan suggests that “socialism with Chinese characteristics” essentially means “everything is controlled by the CCP”. 

Keith speaks a little Chinese, then accuses Dr. Fauci of being involved with the development of COVID19 in Wuhan, China.   Nan mentions that testing was being done on corona viruses, and that viral combinations were being created.

Nan mentions that Taiwan has been moving their manufacturing from China to India and the US.  He suggests that we should not think about the Chinese communist regime in “normal” humane terms.  Amy mentions that her stories are not things most Americans have experienced.  Nan mentions that Bill Clinton suggested in the 90’s that stopping freedom of speech in the internet age would be very difficult.  Now China is exporting “digital authoritarianism” to many developing countries.  Amy mentions that American companies have helped to create censorship.

Nan suggests that the most impressive part of the China Task Force Report is the conclusion that the CCP is not a trustworthy partner.  He details how Chinese farmers were among the first victims of the CCP’s dishonesty, when they lost their land in China’s push to urbanization.  Former farmers are known as “low end” urban population and repeatedly expelled from cities.  The educated population in China was also victimized by the anti-Right Wing movement. 

Amy mentions that the CCP originally called the US and UK “Imperial Capitalists” in 1949.  She suggests that the CCP is now behaving like Imperial Capitalists.  Bill suggests that the CCP is primarily interested in money.  Nan retorts that the interest is in fact power, mentioning that the reports indicate that the CCP’s goal is to become a dominant world power.  Amy suggests that Mao’s era was primarily interested in centralized power through social influence, but, after Mao, CCP controlled private enterprise became the dominant source of power.