With Sinophobia now officially hitting the Republican primary debates (astonishingly triggered by no less than the former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman — excellent Christian Science Monitor article HERE ), the Chinese government's announcement that it wants to bankroll U.S. infrastructure is a game-changer…and a reality check for those who continue to view U.S./China relations with a lingering Cold War attitude.
While it isn't a startling revelation to my particular readership, the American public in general would be dismayed to learn that China has over $1 trillion invested in U.S. bonds. That kind of economic might is precisely what feeds the xenophobia that seems to make for such good political posturing in this climate of a stalled U.S. economy. Historically — and the examples are many — the combination of our blessed North American bounty and the buffering of two large oceans on our left and our right — we've reacted in times like these by further closing our economic doors to those economically stronger than us.
If you read the CSM article linked above between the lines, Ambassador Huntsman's comments are as pragmatic as they are optimistic: in a global economy, America's continued economic cooperation with China is not only prudent…it is necessary. It blows my Libertarian mind (at least that's what my label-loving cousin says I am) that the former U.S. Ambassador to China himself has to pussyfoot lest he sounds too "Pro-China".
Well, since I'm not running for anything (expect perhaps a proper post-Art-Basel martini at some point this evening) I'll say what Ambassador Huntsman CAN'T say publically: the Chinese government – with all its dents, blemishes, and problems – is making a grand diplomatic gesture by announcing that its currently passive U.S. investments should be instead channeled toward improving U.S. infrastructure and creating American jobs. The Chinese KNOW that without an economically strong America, they will never return to those wonderful days of three-production-shifts and triple digit expansion…and languish, the poor dears, in those double digits of economic gain which are causing such stress back home.
A good weekend to all. JEL
Minister: China wants to invest in US roads, rails – National Business – MiamiHerald.com.
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