I am in Jordan, attending the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, but I’d like to blurt out a quick China thought now — in reaction to the news of our next ambassador. He is Governor Huntsman of Utah, a Republican.
I have had a line for some years now: Just as China is a one-party state, America is a one-party state, where China policy is concerned. There are no R’s and D’s; virtually the entire political establishment wants the same thing: to make money off China (often a pipedream); to accommodate China; and not to ruffle China at all (e.g., by bringing up what the government does to its citizens).
For chapter and verse, see James Mann’s short, tart, hard-to-refute book The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression.