Not that I'd advocate cutting off or even cutting down trade with China, but if you want to cut off any trade with countries that may use the wealth they gain from it to build weapons against us, I think you would have to support cutting off trade with China.
I'm not advocating cutting on trade... Just reducing on dependence upon strategic economic commodities such as energy.
I just think it makes sense to perceive energy independence, or at least decreasing our dependence, as a national security issue. Look at how fragile the situation is with regard to the primary oil suppliers? Pipelines can be destroyed, refineries damaged by fire and natural disasters, or supplies cut off completely due to regional conflicts.
Oil as an energy source is not going to disappear from the equation. But I want to see the US avoid being dragged into the coming "resource wars" that are inevitable as both China and India find themselves requiring ever larger quantities of it in order to continue their economic expansion.
China, all by itself, would consume 4 times the US, were it's people to achieve the same middle class standard of living as enjoyed in the US.
As for the China/US trade issue, I certainly concur that a lot of US money is financing their military designs. But I also recognize, as does Bejing, that they have an even greater problem in meeting the growing economic expectations of their population. There are hundreds of millions of Chinese still living in near poverty, all desiring the same economic benefits being enjoyed by the remainder. And the means by which they achieve this is by selling stuff to other countries. So should there be conflict between the US and Chinese, it would be interesting to see how Bejing deals with it. We're kind of joined at the hip, economically speaking, IMO. We want and need their cheap goods (minus the toys and other knick-knacks), and they need us to continue buying their stuff so they can keep their people employed. Thus, we're speaking the same language, namely capitalism, at the fundamental level.
I'm more concerned with how our money is being spent by these ultra-rich Arab governments, many of which possess strong elements desirous of spreading Jihad throughout the region, if not the world. That's a "language" that neither we, nor the Chinese, understand, nor wish to learn.. ;0)
Hawk |
