When it comes to China and the Chinese government, I feel like only libertarians get the issue right, if anyone at all.  There is a lot of nuance.

There is a difference between the Chinese people and the Chinese government.  There is also a difference between the Chinese rulers’ goals on foreign policy and their goals domestically.

There were big protests going on in China, presumably because of the harsh COVID lockdowns that have persisted to this day.  It is a much scarier thing to protest in China than in the United States.  If you are American, you just need to not use violence and not enter any government buildings (i.e., the Capitol), and you will most likely be ok.

If you are Chinese and you protest or speak out against the ruling elite, you risk getting arrest, or perhaps even disappearing.

I have again heard some conservatives and libertarians criticizing Americans because even the Chinese are protesting and Americans just don’t care.  But as I pointed out many months ago and last year when there were mass protests in Europe and elsewhere, the reason Americans aren’t protesting as much is because there is less to protest.  We haven’t had any lockdowns in 2022, and most mandates (with some notable exceptions) have gone away.

With that said, it is also unfortunate that conservatives and leftists are getting things wrong on China.

Conservatives

I hear so many conservatives taking political shots at China.  Some of them are even half-decent on other foreign policy matters.  Of course, Donald Trump has done that since at least 2015, and he slapped tariffs on Chinese goods, which served to make things more expensive for Americans.

Conservatives who like to bash China are mostly just trying to score political points.  They are also finding someone to blame for their own shortcomings, collectively speaking.

I hear that China is this big threat to America.  I’ll actually hear conservatives say that China is manipulating their currency.

My response: “Yeah, no kidding.  Just like the Federal Reserve and every other central bank on the planet.”

To talk about China as a currency manipulator is a joke.  Let the Chinese people worry about their own central bank.  If anything, Chinese currency manipulation has made things cheaper for Americans.

On foreign policy, conservatives like to make China out to be the bogeyman.  It isn’t all that different from what the left does with Russia.

China is certainly run by some bad people (like just about every government), but they aren’t the communists of old.  Economically, China is far more open than it was 40 or 50 years ago, and the Chinese people are a lot wealthier.

It is mostly a Keynesian system now, but this type of central planning if far preferable to a communist system.  There are major civil liberty issues in China, including the rights (or lack of) to protest and speak out.  But the totalitarianism is against the Chinese people.  The Chinese government is not showing any signs of wanting to take over the world.  They are having enough trouble keeping their own subjects in line.

As long as the U.S. government doesn’t provoke things, China is not a threat to Americans.  The Chinese are not interested in a major war.  The Chinese government wants China to become an economic powerhouse, but in their own way, while keeping the people obedient.

The Political Left

The stuff coming from the political left these days is rich.  We get to hear from Fauci who refers to the draconian lockdowns in China.  We get to hear from Trudeau who says he supports the right of the people to protest.

Let the hypocrisy flow.

It is amazing to hear all of these people criticizing China for the harsh lockdowns.  Hello!  Does anybody remember 2020, and even 2021, in the United States of America?

These people criticizing the Chinese government are tyrants themselves.  They just don’t like that the Chinese government is too in your face with it.  They need to do it with a bigger smile on their faces.  They need to do it all in the name of protecting people.  They need to do it for the children.

For the left, it is ok to terrorize people and order them around.  You just have to do it in a way that resonates.  The people have to feel like they can’t live without their benevolent rulers.

When Americans were forced into lockdown, it was for the health and safety for everyone.  If China does it for a bit longer, it is a human rights violation.

Conclusion

There is a lot of nuance when it comes to China.  It is a much freer country than it was prior to 1980.  But there is also a great deal of totalitarianism, and I hope that the Chinese people are able to break free from it.

But the American politicians and media talking about China is just terrible to hear.  They are either wrong or being highly hypocritical.  They are also using it as a distraction and for blame for their own failures.

Americans shouldn’t worry about the Chinese, or at least not to the extent that the government should do anything about it.  The best things that Americans can do for the Chinese is to trade with them and to set a good example for liberty.