The Patriot Post® · Trade: What China Can Do That Trump Can't

Amidst the ongoing debate about tariffs and Donald Trump’s supposedly crazy “trade war,” one important point gets lost in the shuffle. It’s fairly simple, yet profound: The Chinese can gear their tariffs to hit Trump and Republicans politically, while Trump cannot reciprocate. Why? Because we’re a democratic republic with free elections and constituencies that respond to economy stimuli at the ballot box. Communist Chinese leaders face no political consequences from the Chinese people over their policy decisions, because the “People’s Republic” isn’t about the people or the republic; it’s about dictatorial, one-party tyranny.

While Democrats are obsessed with hanging “election meddling collusion” around Trump’s neck, they have not said a word about China’s direct and overt targeted election hacking using tariffs because it’s districts where Trump has support that are being hacked.

When the European Union comes to the negotiating table due to Trump’s moves, it’s because EU leaders face the same electoral pressure as Trump. If the Chinese negotiate, it will be because their economy is more dependent on trade than ours is, and the overall pressure forces their hand.

Speaking of the Chinese communists, Beijing has reportedly muscled the American tech giant Google to capitulate in building a censored search engine for use in China.

First of all, Google’s unofficial motto is (was?) “Don’t be evil.” The almighty dollar makes companies forget such things. Second, we also don’t hear Democrats complaining too loudly about communist censorship in China because they’re too busy with “fact-checking” and “fake news” here in the U.S. But when your government is run by a one-party tyranny, not only is the trade field not level with other countries, but your own people are deprived of the free flow of goods and information — and life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Left may insist Trump is Hitler, but he’s got nothing on Xi Jinping.