Bush Administration Continues To Bob On Chinese Apple
The recent refusal by the US to condemn China's blatently unfair currency policy is yet another indication that either they're bribing US officials, or that US officials are simply unwilling to do anything about the Chinese for fear of retaliation from US business interests.
By maintaining their currency policy, the Chinese artificially keep the value of the yuan low, making their products dirt cheap in the US, while US products are expensive in China.
Many members of Congress know China is acting wrong, as does the Administration. US businesses and jobs are directly affected by this.
What do we owe to China? Why do we continue to bow to them? Turn off their imports and watch them kowtow.
China's Giving Us Bread Crumbs, Propaganda To Follow
China's being pressured by the US on a number of fronts. At the moment, their government has their sights on Unocal, the #3 producer of oil and gasoline in the US. However, the US government will have some say as to whether or not the can acquire Unocal.
The US also has been pressuring the Chinese government to change their currency policy, stop pegging it to the US Dollar.
Recently, they've been magnanimous enough to stop an exact peg to the dollar. Now they've graciously pegged thier currency to a range around the dollar, +/- 0.3% of the US Dollar. Sure...they claim the range is around a "basket of currencies" but they won't say which currencies. It's to their benefit to closely track the US Dollar, so you can be the Dollar makes up a big component of that basket.
Now, the Communist Chinese will proudly state "We've complied with your request to not exactly track the US Dollar, so give us Unocal." When we refuse, you can bet there will be a propaganda storm throughout China and the US, decrying the Obstructionist US Government.
The US Media splashes headlines "China Drops Currency Tie To US Dollar" which is a load of crap, but we can always count on our media to frame stories in the way that sells the most news. We've been wanting to hear that China will finally play fairly, but this is too much to ask. It's also too much to ask the US Media to give realistic headlines. For the foreseeable future, we're stuck with headlines that don't reflect the stories they preceed.
The Plot Thickens: USA Alliance With India
So, China decided to rattle its sabres at the US...if we interfere with the military takeover of Taiwan, China may use nukes against the US.
First off, that would be a huge mistake on China's part.
Secondly,
now the US is in bed with India. Should China decide to do something stupid, the US can now call on India to plow through China's backdoor.
This game is getting less fun, eh, China?
Behaving Like Children
Sweet Mother of Jesus. If you take the
recent issue between China and Japan, where the Chinese delegation left abruptly, and replace China with "Tommy" and Japan with "Jimmy", you'd get the typical kindergarten play yard spat. Except on a much larger scale, and with all the delicious scandal of a celebrity lover's trist gone bad.
It's no wonder - take two contries who value pride above everything else. Each gets some dirt on the face of the other. BOOM!
If this happened to Americans, the American official would look to his handlers and say "Screw them. If they don't want to talk, we'll take our business elsewhere." No petty "You insulted me first...NO YOU DID" schoolyard crap.
Those other folks don't want to play ball? Take your game somewhere else and make them regret it.
Chinese Communist Currency Policy
The Communists in China are very unaccustomed to competition. They run pretty much everything and can pretty much do away with any dissention.
They've pegged their currency value to the US dollar at a rate where US goods will always be expensive, and their goods will always be cheap. Europe is all but locked out of their markets.
The world is getting upset at the Chinese for their unfair, non-competitive currency policy. Not unpredictably, the Chinese have no interest in modifying their currency policy, as it artificially keeps their goods cheap and keeps the goods of others expensive.
Their first response was in essence "We'll change it when we're good and ready". Today, they
announced the opening of a Chinese currency exchange which allows trading on every major currency except the Chinese Yuan.
The Chinese have no motivation to change the status quo, unless the US and EU decide to get tough, which won't happen.
The EU Gets A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
Chinese Textile Firms Take EU Ruling To The WTORemember when the US tried to prevent EU steel makers from dumping their excess steel in the US, to prevent destruction of the US steel industry?
Remember how the WTO made the US remove the steel embargo, claiming it violated free trade?
Did you know the US Steel industry is getting decimated by cheap EU steel?
Now the Euro's get a taste of their own medicine. China is dumping its excess textile capacity on Europe, and Europe is trying to prevent it. China has taken the EU before the WTO to set aside the EU action.
My favorite quote: "Cao said the Chinese textile firms want to get fairer treatment from foreign governments by taking the case to the WTO."
Not surprisingly, as teh WTO is pretty much dominated by Europeans, past anti-dumping rulings have been held in their favor. Note, the US anti dumping rulings have held the US is guilty of illegal trade practices.
End The Arms Embargo??
China claims the
international arms embargo is political discrimination. France and Germany Agree...and I suppose if you ignore the facts, namely, China is flush with cash from exports while France and Germany have been in an economic recession for years, I'm just being a stick in the mud.
Sure...let's let FR and DE lift the ban.
China said they wouldn't buy inordinate amounts of arms. Just ignore the recent billions spent on Russian fighters, ships and submarines.
Don't worry, the Europeans assure us they'll monitor China's arms purchases, via non-binding code of conduct. Hey! Just like they did with Sadam Hussein during the embargo of Iraq, and the Oil for Food program!
