How do you stop it without political argument?
Good question.
If you look at the nations and societies in Asia, there's a situation common to many. You find ethnic Chinese, behind the scenes, own and run things.
The Chinese are brilliant businesspersons.
We, being the smug Yankees we are, for a long time saw them as third world peasants. Now we're pretty much confused and ambivalent.
That's progress, but we're about 20 years behind the learning curve.
It seems to me, the primary political belief driving conservative support for free trade, specifically with China - is that China, given enough of *our* money, will become a big Taiwan. A democracy, a great big 51st state.
That's ridiculous.
The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is really not much different than 5,000 years of Chinese emperors and dynasties. Sure it's brutal, and you still have got to admire that lone protester who stared down the tank in front of the Beijing Hotel.
But China's not going to become a democracy. No matter how much money we send them.
It's not going to happen.
We need to deal with that fact.
The People's Republic of China, is a significant competitor.
They are entirely capable of outmanuvering us. Imagine the Soviet Union. Without the inefficiencies of the Russian bureaucracy.
China can eat our lunch.
Nobody is going to stop them from doing so, if we don't.
Better to have that argument now while we still have a military advantage than 20 years from now when our entire manufacturing base is gone, and we have no leverage left.