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Diplomacy
OpinionChina Opinion
Alex Lo

My Take | ‘China (bashing) week’ in the US is more spectacle than deterrent

From drones and EVs to cheap goods on Temu and Shein, Washington is busy protecting Americans from free trade with Chinese communists

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Photo: Reuters
Alex Loin Toronto

After a long relaxing summer holiday, members of the US Congress returned last week to the Capitol with renewed purpose and energy. Ready to confront myriad problems affecting average Americans and make their lives better?

Nah, not really. Helping ordinary people doesn’t offer any pay-off from the corporate backers of congressional members. In fact, that tends to work against corporate interests. What, lowering drug prices? Instead, let’s start the new session with “China (bashing) week”.

“This week, we will draw a line in the sand. With one voice, the US Congress will tell Xi Jinping, this far, and no further,” declared John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CPC.

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In just days, the House of Representatives managed to pass 25 bills “to protect Americans against the military, economic, ideological and technological threats posed by the Communist Party of China.”

Hopefully, those bills are all finely crafted with well-thought-out policies embedded in their sections and clauses. Unlikely though, considering the legislative expertise of congressional members has been in terminal decline in recent decades, so you are probably dealing with the worst specimens in the current congressional session.

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Many bills simply target Chinese companies with any made-up excuse because the Chinese are doing well. It’s a lot like the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) under Travis Tygart going after Chinese Olympic swimmers simply because China has become highly competitive in a sport long dominated by Americans.

Or is it the other way, that is, Usada copying the US Congress? Anyway, it’s all so transparent.

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