Posted on 07/19/2002 10:29:32 PM PDT by AIG
NEW YORK - A decade ago it was Japan that touched off nationalistic fears among Americans who worry about being out-competed by Asian industrialists. Now it is China's turn to generate the scare stories. The reflex cannot be helped, but nor should it be indulged in any policy sense. China's rise is inevitable and should not be viewed as a threat.
Consider this front-page story in today's New York Times: "China Emerges as Rival to U.S. in Asian Trade." That sort of headline will become commonplace in the next few years as China increases its dominance of East Asia's economy. Yet at the same time, U.S. exporters will benefit from the growth of China's internal market, and U.S. consumers will benefit by buying China's low-priced and increasingly high-quality exports.
China's rise does call for an adaptive response from Washington, which must find a graceful way to accommodate itself to the new regional superpower. But in terms of trade, the key policy already is in place--China was last year ushered into the World Trade Organization, under whose auspices this formerly closed society will be fully integrated into the global economy.
Of course, there's still the little matter of Taiwan, which the U.S. is pledged (in vague terms) to defend. The best-case scenario: China's embrace of capitalism forces it to evolve into a full-fledged democracy, as people who gain economic control over their lives insist on political control as well. If that happens, Taiwan will end up clamoring to merge with the mainland in order to avoid the fate of China's other small neighbors, which will find themselves overshadowed by the revitalized Middle Kingdom.
Let's minimize the hand-wringing over this situation. Would anybody seriously prefer that China had remained shackled to the Maoist precepts that kept its economy small and weak? In any case, that's not an option. China's emergence is a fact to be recognized rather than fretted over. And it is also an opportunity, because America with its flexible economic system is well positioned to adapt to new realities and benefit from them.
The supposed threat from Japan generated a lot of concern in the early '90s, yet nowadays the scare headlines are all about Japan's economic decline, which is seen as bad for the United States. If China's economy runs into serious trouble, that too will be bad news for America.
But China, even if it stumbles along the way, is a much better bet than Japan to eventually achieve regional dominance, both politically and economically. This will make some Americans nervous. They may as well start getting used to the idea now--and make plans to take advantage of it.
Frankly speaking, I find Chinese to be some of the least arrogant and most down-to-earth people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.
That's why they crush protesters with tanks and gather on the shore to hiss at capitalism and liberty.
Hasn't the CIA repeatedly demonstrated that there info about closed countries is guess work -- usually wrong guesswork.
The doucheing of taiwan..
Sure, as long as the PRC get's to play CEO..
But when those rogues on that island do it.. Ohhh!
Maybe not BEST friends. Don't forget who told the Chinese how they could blow America up. Also, whose campaign was it the Chinese were contributing to?
Don't you DARE let farmers sell their crops to Cuba..
Heaven forbid we finance the enemy! (insert self righous indignation here)
And that's fine.. Just don't tote them over on gunboats please..
Thank you.
Oh come on.. Nukes, schmukes..
I mean, this is the stock market we are talking about here..
Just sell taiwan down the river and everything will surely be fine.
But don't point a gun at them.. ah, AH..
Because we wouldn't like that.
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