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Part of the reason I'm so skeptical of people who claim they understand the threat China poses is almost none of them actually detail costs they are willing to accept. For instance, "we should join TPP". Agreed but the costs/benefits are almost zero and impose only 1/n
Existential costs or restrictions on China. We can disagree about which specific and direct costs should be borne by the US economy and what costs or restrictions should be imposed upon China but you cannot challenge China selling to change behavior and not impose serious 2/n
Costs or restrictions. For instance, limiting CCP leadership access to US universities for their children under Magnitsky sanctions or US forms sales to Xinjiang security firms. These are all direct and specific costs that are widely debated and disliked. However it is 3/n
Notable that everyone is very willing to accept positive costs such as a US infrastructure bill, who doesn't like money, but refuse to entertain forgoing money. You cannot challenge China with credibility and refuse to have a serious discussion about the costs you will 4/n
Impose on your own economy and the Chinese economy. People that claim to recognize the threat China poses will gain credibility when the debate shifts to outlining costs they are willing to accept to confront the threat China poses. I would like to give a special 5/n
To @JimMillward who says impose Magnitsky sanctions recognizing the costs and noting it wouldn't be worse than the tariff battle. Clear recognition of the costs and the trade offs needed in defending human rights. You can't challenge China without recognizing this trade off.
