Issue brief: China

The Electoral Issue:

China is projected to become the world's largest economy in a few years, limiting America's global influence and jeopardizing American economic and political security.

The Challenge:

To manage China's rise constructively, welcoming them into a global leadership role while safeguarding the United States' economic, political, and human rights interests.

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Obama: Romney's China crackdown like fox defending chicken coop

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Ryan: Obama a "doormat" to China

Problems:

American Debt Held by China

America owed $1.164 trillion dollars to China in June 2012, making the Chinese government America's largest foreign creditor. To put that number in perspective, China's share of our debt is about 22 percent of the total American debt owed to foreign creditors.

In the aftermath of America's 2011 credit-rating downgrade, the Chinese state-run news agency published a piece admonishing the U.S. to "live within its means" and explaining, "China, the largest creditor of the world's sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States to address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China's dollar assets." Apart from this embarrassment, China's ownership of American debt prevents America from more aggressively cracking down on China's currency manipulation and unfair trade practices. If China ever decides that American debt is not a sound investment, ceasing their purchase of U.S. treasury bonds, it could severely weaken the U.S. dollar, sending borrowing costs skyrocketing.

Trade Deficit

The value of Chinese exports to America far exceeds the value of American exports to China. Simply put, they don't buy as much from us as we buy from them. If America can't increase the value of goods and services it exports to the world's most-populous and second-largest economy, its economy will not perform at full potential. One study from the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-allied think tank, estimated that between 2001 and 2011, America's massive trade deficit with China caused job losses totaling 2.7 million, with 77 percent of the job loss borne by American manufacturing.

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Currency Manipulation

One reason behind China's prolific exporting is the Chinese currency, the Renminbi, which many experts believe is significantly and intentionally undervalued. The exchange rate - about 6-7 renminbi for 1 American dollar - tilts the trade balance in China's direction, making everything they buy from us more expensive, and everything we buy from them less expensive. The trade deficit described above is one result.

In a rare bit of agreement, policymakers from both parties have condemned China for what they call "currency manipulation," or taking active steps to devalue the Renminbi by selling it in the international market and buying reserves of foreign currency, particularly the American Dollar. The increased supply of the Renminbi drives down its price (and therefore the cost of Chinese items priced in Renminbi) and the increased demand for the American dollar drives up its price. The Chinese, in turn, have accused the United States of hypocrisy, arguing that the Federal Reserve's "quantitative easing" policy - basically printing money - has a similarly depressive effect on the value of the U.S. Dollar.

Human Rights & Political Freedom

Despite the significant progress China has made in moving their population up the economic ladder, the country remains a one-party state, ruled by a central Politburo committee and almost completely closed to popular sovereignty.

This is not the China of Tiananmen Square. The state is more quietly than aggressively oppressive - political violence is rare, but censoring access to the Internet, restricting public protests, limiting press freedom, and quashing dissent are regular features of Chinese political life.

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Blind dissident Chen brought to U.S.

In one recent episode, Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, a democracy and civil rights activist who was arrested because of a lawsuit he filed against China's one-child policy, escaped from house arrest and sought asylum in the American Embassy in Beijing. After negotiations between the two governments, Chen was allowed to enter the United States as a student. The incident, though resolved peacefully, provided a revealing window into the continued pattern of political repression that characterizes modern China. Due to press censorship, many Chinese citizens remain unaware of the dust-up over Chen Guangcheng.

North Korea, Iran, and Syria

North Korea is a pariah state - a dictatorship with a rogue nuclear program and no regard for human rights or international norms. Its most meaningful international ally is China, which sees North Korea as a valuable buffer between the Chinese mainland and the U.S. forces in South Korea. China's position on the United Nations Security Council enables them to veto or water down any U.N. attempt to censure North Korea for their frequent provocations.

China causes similar problems in U.S. policy toward Syria and Iran, using its perch on the security council to prevent the United Nations from more directly intervening in Syria's massacre of its own people and Iran's nuclear program.

Aggressive Territorial Claims

China has claimed wide swaths of maritime territory off the Chinese coast, including all of the South China Sea, an oil-rich body of water that is also claimed by adjacent states Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, among others. The move has sparked fears in Pacific rim states that China is becoming more territorially aggressive as its global clout increases in tandem with its economic power.

The claim to the South China Sea, which could have as many as 213 billion barrels of oil, is seen as a move to secure energy independence. But examined together with China's claim of the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, the big picture begins to look like an effort by China to extend its sphere of influence, pushing American naval assets away from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, and positioning itself as a regional power. Some analysts worry that China's audacity, coupled with its rapidly increasing military budget, will spur an Asian arms race in which the rest of the region intensifies military spending to mediate Chinese influence.

Jargon Watch:

"Crack down on cheaters like China"

Bromides like this are feel-good sloganeering, but they ignore the complex economic and political issues involved in the American-Chinese relationship. Presidential candidates frequently talk tough on China, promising aggressive action on behalf of American interests, and backpedal when they reach the Oval Office, recognizing that the sound-bytes of campaigning are rarely conducive to the delicate dance of international diplomacy. Candidates that talk tough about "cracking down on China" must explain how they would crack down - tariffs, World Trade Organization sanctions, etc - and how they hope to avoid the diplomatic reprisal that would likely result.

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[randysanders]

Where's the promissary note that someone signed indebting us to China? Just because China bought some US Savings Bonds and expected to cash them in on some arbitrary date at a higher rate when America is doing better isn't the same as borrowing money from China.

Theirs is a Republic, and their justice system is just now becoming more civil because they are reaching out to their citizens in rural areas. Until they have a better judicial system, they won't be a respected global financial leader.

[RiderI]

U.S. China Policy: Campaign Issue not Punching Bag
Dear Dr. Guthrie

http://blogs.forbes.com/dougguthrie/
After reading this article. I find that he has never seen the worlds biggest collection cite on communist china's economic warfare attacks on the west and Democracy. Their President literally declared cultural war on the West and Democracy. The Communist Chinese are still 75% centralized economy, with the other 25% only being owned by the state political party elders and leaders. They have funded all of our enemies in the war on terror. Which are called proxy warriors against Democracy if you understood the second cold war. While every time a Communist Chinese company moves in. It imports its own workers and leaves the area with an non competitive lifestyle as per wages and quality of life. Along with that the Communist Chinese fund local Maoist extremist political movements when they gain entrance to areas. Business, like we see in India, Philippines and the USA along with other areas that the Communist Chinese State Owned Enterprise Business have moved into.

I do not think that Mr Cooper is qualified to speak on Communist China if he has not read one single article on the side of the collectors cite or any of the specific written notes on how the Communist Chinese are the west's biggest threat. Obviously you did not read the Proxy war books on how Communist China funds fascist regimes to attack Democracy and Western cultures for genocide of them in favor of Communist regimes. Your opinions represent the people of the west and when an journalist does a half but article and states that our biggest enemy is not our biggest enemy I know 100% he has not done his research. As my cite alone has collected 6 dead MSS agents as they have tried to kill me for my work against them.

Furthermore, you cite Gary Locke as if it is a good thing. However, you must not know that Gary Locke, Secretary of Science Chu and a Federal Contracts Chinese person according to many books on the US green tech war and why we lost our first ever industrial world battles. Show that the three of them worked to give away 80% of all US green tech stimulus at the begging of this era's new nuclear and physics analogizable industry. Which if you know about the book Venona, you can easily analogize the acts of Gary Locke and the other two as what the KGB admitted two in the book when they where defecting. Which is they where sent to cycle into power to destroy the US's next high tech industry through leadership positions. Just like Gary Locke did the green tech industry. According to a numerous amount of Business personnel and books, one of the top of my head is http://www.amazon.com/Death-China-Confronting-Dragon-Global/dp/0132180235 Where it states that the US citizens went to get the stimulus money but it was given away by the three Chinese state leaders. Your assistant who prepped you with the Briefs on Communist China was very ill informed and has caused a major doubt to your leadership in the reality and facts and statistics of Communist Chinese economic warfare or what in the free market we would call mercantilism. Furthermore, Both Locke, Chu and the Federal Contracts actor, all new about the innovation law that forces business to give over IP secrets and to be in forced joint ventures. Where as compared to India or any other Democracy it is free trade. Yet the three pushed to allow the Communist Chinese to build our Jet's micro chips, guided missile micro chips and to allow the Communist to have hands on industrial knowledge of our State Owned Enterprise engine Company GM by allowing them to give over our most prized Eletrical Engine IP just because the three of them pushed high tech science trade with the worlds worst economic warfare centralized country.


Please review the cites below
http://rideriantieconomicwarfaretrisv.blogspot.com/

Rider I
I am also willing to accept a full scholarship to the school to tutor in Communist Chinese economic behaviors and economic warfare as they are a militarized economy not a free market.