Why Do We Have A One-China Policy?

Friday, 18 February 2005

Why Do We Have A One-China Policy?

Is it:

Because we are ashamed with our association with the Kuomintang Government during WWII because they lost China to the Communists after the war?

Or is it because we are afraid of the Red Chinese?

correct answer>>Or is it because we are afraid that we won't have access to cheap Chinese/slave-manufactured consumer products? <<correct answer

Wouldn't it be terrible if we had to break ourselves of both the heroin habit of cheap illegal immigrant labor and cheap goods made out of the country?

We are now a nation of consumers instead of producers. In some ways, that's great - you don't need to be the world's most prolific manufacturer of stamped metal children's toys (we are losing ground in a wide variety of other, far more important manufacturing concerns); you can leave this noble undertaking to other nations. We consume inexpensive products and services, and feel compelled to do so because wages have not risen in any fashion that has kept pace with inflation since the 1980's. Because American corporations can import cheap goods - or when we lose the ability to produce those goods domestically and are thus forced into a service-economy - cheap illegal immigrant labor, they don't have to pay the working public any competitive wage. They get an unfair advantage over the workers, and the workers have to seek out $19.99 CD players and $5.00 McDonald's meals. In the 1980's McDonald's meals were also $5.00. Houses were $85,000, but now are $285,000. Have they gotten $200,000 better in quality of construction? Our One-China policy doesn't cause these problems, it is just a symbol of the root cause of our current economic softness in the world.

In other ways, it insidiously leads us down a path of laziness and impaired productivity (to be fair, America is still the most productive nation in the world), and feeds a relentless spirit of consumerism and of practical deflation of goods and services. Wonder why the dollar has never been lower in the world? Ever wonder how they make that $19.99 CD-player? Here's your answer - we make virtually nothing but great weapons and crummy popular music, self-hating media and great restaurant food.

Oh, by the way, the Euro is specie-backed, don'tcha know? Many investors, unimpressed with the dollar's continued plunge, are abandoning it to head for other currencies, or to precious metals. This situation is supposed to make American made goods relatively cheaper, and may serve to reduce the imbalance of trade we have with a wide variety of countries, China chief amongst that list.

Too bad it's not coming true.

American cars are facing onerous import restrictions, various consumer-products manufacturers are forced to confront tariffs and official red-tape, and these corporations are uninitiated in the corrupt politics and nefarious business practices of foreign trading partners. Remember how we got caught flat-footed with the Oil-For-Fraud scandal? If we hadn't invaded Iraq and picked up enough clues, we would have never gotten any clear idea of the grand scale of the crime. I suspect that we are viewed as too Calvinist not to be taken advantage of.

So when Taiwan, an honorable trading partner and a beacon of freedom in unfriendly Asia needs our help, will we be there to give aid if China comes a' callin'?

I hope so. China's weekly threats against that tiny country cause your Sergeant Major grave concerns for her safety. I propose we abandon our "One-China Policy" and declare that Taiwan receive our protection and our valued declaration of Most-Favored-Nation trading status, and that we begin placing tariffs on Red Chinese-manufactured goods. This might be a first step in the right direction for creating equitable competition in trade, and may help bring back a weak dollar.

posted by: underwhelmed at February 18, 2005 08:20 | link | comments |

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Why Do We Have A One-China Policy?

posted by: underwhelmed at February 18, 2005 08:20 | link | comments |

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