How Trump Forced Next the Administration To Continue Confronting China

Mainstream politicians championed globalization in the 1990s and then President Bill Clinton ushered China into the World Trade Organization. That short-sightedness allowed the communists to pilfer off American intellectual property, use unscrupulous trade practices, steal its way to the second-largest economy, and emerge as a global threat.

“The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily, and technologically,” Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe reportedly stated. “The election is over. Now let’s all be honest about China.”

After President Donald Trump drew a red line in the sand and stood his ground, the next administration has no choice but to keep confronting China. His presidency was born out of a populist movement of working Americans who saw manufacturing, energy sector and other good-paying blue-collar jobs exported to Asia. The Republican fought tooth and nail for four years to reverse the trend. Unemployment and poverty fell to historic lows.

Although Joe Biden and his team of Obama cronies represent the same misguided globalists of the 1990s, their political survival requires them to follow the path blazed by President Trump, like it or not.
“I would not call myself a globalist anymore,” Prof. Jeffrey Frankel, an ally of Biden’s Treasury Secretary choice, reportedly said. “The word itself is so damaged. We’re definitely chastened.”

It was only four years ago that Obama administration officials touted globalism and wanted to work more cooperatively with China. Former Treasury Department official Nathan Sheets went on the record claiming “the gains from globalization and our economic system needed to be shared more widely.” That kind of talk won’t get you elected any longer.

In fact, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives recently joined Republicans to unanimously approve a bill aimed at delisting Chinese-owned companies such as Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com from U.S. exchanges. To remain in the American exchanges, they would be required to submit to an audit by American regulators within three years.

The legislation, called the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, had already garnered unanimous consent in the Republican-controlled Senate. It’s a rare moment when Republicans and Democrats come to a complete agreement in these divisive times. But all parties agree that China must be brought to heel.

“It does appear to part of a broader effort to tie Biden’s hands and limit his room to maneuver on China policy,” Asia expert Bonnie Glaser reportedly said. “In prior administrations, the norm has been to avoid taking such actions during a presidential transition, but the Trump administration has long set a pattern of bucking the norm.”

The next administration inherits a Congress that has effectively followed President Trump’s lead and the China pushback has gained traction with American allies as well. According to reports coming out of the EU, officials have drafted a proposal to join with the next administration to stand against “authoritarian powers,” and the “closed economies (that) exploit the openness our own societies depend on.”

“As open democratic societies and market economies, the EU and the US agree on the strategic challenge presented by China’s growing international assertiveness, even if we do not always agree on the best way to address this,” the EU draft reportedly states. “Using our combined influence, a transatlantic technology space should form the backbone of a wider coalition of like-minded democracies.”

Similarly, Australia, India, and Japan have been developing policy in concert with the U.S. to roll back China’s influence and economic power grabs. Australian lawmakers pushed through a measure that allows the federal government to nix any agreements with foreign powers. Insiders see a clear line between the American pushback and Australia’s rejection of China’s Belt and Road agenda that seeks global economic dominance.

It would be something of an understatement to say that the next administration has little choice but to continue maximum pressure on China. They can soften the adversarial relationship with pleasant speeches, but thanks to the determination of President Trump, there isn’t another alternative.