I actually (and I'm not being snarky) like how the narrative has generally shifted from Trump is doing too much on China to he isn't doing enough. There is one enormous problem however with this narrative in that there is very little thinking about this implications of that. 1/n
To translate that idea into practical reality, it is going to require imposing AND accepting significant costs. Take a simple example: you could make a strong case right now from public evidence that almost all Chinese cotton comes from forced Xinjiang labor. If you believe 2/n
This is a problem worthy of policy redress, that would require sanctioning or passing legislation blocking Chinese cotton from US markets. That is not insignificant. Think about what would happen if US imposed financial sanctions on all senior CCP members and their family 3/n
Living in Florida or attending grad school at an Ivy. I can hear the cries of racism and other BS from the woke as I write this right now. Right now the polite foreign policy conversation is to just use the WTO and get Europe to help. For all their supposed "wokeness" 4/n
Europe is amazingly skilled at not being able to find Chinese human rights violations. Like really they'd give Muslim countries a run for their money in geopolitical and human rights blindness. So let's circle back to what this means for policy. I am totally on board that 5/n
Trump should do more but to almost everyone saying this, it does not mean anything other than signaling their anti-Trumpy wokeness. This isn't a red line you can then say "I didn't really mean it." It means there are costs associated with imposing policy that need to be 6/n
Recognized and we accept those costs. Otherwise your just a self righteous virtue signaler. I'm personally totally willing to take those steps but I have almost zero faith that most people who spout a position I actually agree with understand what they are actually saying 7/n
and the second order implications. This means your Ivy League will get fewer Chinese donations. This means accepting Europe will do nothing. This means imposing significant costs to textile supply chains. No, I don't believe most of you actually understand what you're saying.
