Charles Burton, an associate professor of Political Science at Brock, wrote a piece recently published in The Conversation about China’s efforts to rally support for its U.S. trade war.
Burton writes:
China has launched a new charm offensive to rally support for its growing trade war with the United States.
Opinion pieces being placed in newspapers around the world, under the byline of the local Chinese ambassador, insist that Beijing strictly follows the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) rules-based international trade regime.
They also claim China is adamant about protecting intellectual property rights, always releases honest and accurate reporting of economic statistics and engages in no discriminatory measures in procurement and market access.
As we know, Washington has been slapping tariffs on Chinese imports because of:
- The relentless thefts of billions of dollars’ worth of intellectual property.
- The flaunting of WTO rules by imposing non-tariff barriers.
- Unfulfilled promises to open parts of the Chinese economy to foreign investment.
- Imposing arbitrary fees and taxes to inhibit foreign access to the Chinese markets.
In their newspaper articles, the Chinese ambassadors say all four of these reasons are baseless. Clearly these diplomats grossly underestimate the intelligence of Western newspaper readers.
Continue reading the full article here.
