[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by tshile

i love 'trade deficit' arguments.

Way to cherry-pick. Of course, it ignores the actual point of my economic argument: China engages in aggressive trade and economic policies to enhance its economic standing and, in doing so, is not interested in “cooperative” trade with the US. Rather, it is conducting old-style mercantilism and accruing ownership interest in US financial instruments through a policy of monetary manipulation. Trade deficits in and of themselves are not necessarily dangerous, but the manner in which they are created may be – and, in the case of China, is.

But, hey, aggressive trading policy is capitalism at its best. China’s trade policies would be fine if the US acknowledged their manipulative monetary and piracy policies in our own economic trade policies and attempted to combat them. We could do that any number of ways - either buy back the interest, find a way to force the Chinese to unpeg the yuan and/or impose retributive import fees to counteract the aggressive Chinese monetary policies. However, since most people – and certainly this administration - seem to think as you do that “Hey, we’re trading with them. It must mean they want to work with us on some level,” such policies stand little chance of being enacted.

Very simply, there has been no:

Originally Posted by tshile

significant progress made in relations between us and China in terms of trade and cooperativeness.

China does not engage in “cooperative trade.” It engages in economic warfare including piracy of intellectual property at the drop of a hat.

Explain the basis for you assertion that “significant progress” has been made in US/China relations. Based on everything I have read from govt. and various policy study groups, China has been more combative in its economic policies. Further, in addition to their confrontational economic policies, and in the last 10 years, China has become much more aggressive in asserting their regional military might (i.e. their confrontational stances with both Taiwan and Japan and territorial claims).

And I’m sorry but this statement is completely without merit:

Originally Posted by tshile

There are many that view China as a communist-in-name-only country that's on the verge of officially moving into a more democratic state.

Please provide some reliable source materials indicating that China is in anyway approaching “democracy” as that term is defined in the US. It is a one party country that stifles opposing views and strictly controls information access. It is a brutal and repressive regime that brooks no dissent. As I said previously and which you ignored, the Chinese govt. is not bound by the Rule of Law and not responsible for its actions to its populace.

The idea that we're constantly on the brink of war with China is one that seems to be about a decade or two out of date.

Are we on the brink of a shooting war with China as we were with the Soviet Union during the cold war when two super powers, who were fundamentally and philosophically diametrically opposed, formed a bipolar world and any perceived imbalance between them - such that one might be able to gain world-wide dominance over the other – threatened cataclysmic confrontation? No. Not even close.

Is our relationship with China, however, one in which the Chinese may mistakenly believe that the US will not aid Japan or (more likely) Taiwan if it were to dangerously encroach on Japan's territorial sovereignty or attempt to "reclaim its lost province" of Formosa and force the US’s hand as Germany did with Britain in WWI and the invasion of Belgium (Unaware of certain secret treaties, the German military elite believed Britain would stay neutral in any continental war)? Or as Germany did in WWII with Britain and France in the invasion of Poland (After they sold out Czechoslovakia, Hitler was convinced that B&F would not declare war over Poland)? Possibly.

Your take on China strikes me as incredibly naïve and far removed from reality. But, hey, show me what you got and I’ll listen.