Thread by @NoWarWithChina

THREAD:

Thomas Friedman makes some good points about US-China relations - and then gets everything else wrong.

The surest way to spark further economic dislocation, global chaos, & war is to accelerate an arms race with China and deploy more aircraft carriers off their coast!

In his column in the New York Times for Sept. 8, noted author @tomfriedman begins with the provocative headline, “What Comes After the War on Terrorism? War on China?”

First what he got right:

Friedman begins by saying, knowing now about all the mistakes we made in Afghanistan, what are we doing today that deserves a closer look. His answer: China.

He then correctly notes that the relative peace and prosperity of the past 40 years was largely made possible by U.S.-China economic bonding and avoidance of conflict.

He is also correct in noting that things have gone downhill in U.S.-China relations during the past five years, a consequence of the economic jousting between the Trump and Xi Jinping regimes.

The outcome of this breakdown in relations, he warns could be economic dislocation and war. All too true!

But from there on, Friedman gets everything wrong. He says the problem is excessive bullying by China, and that the correct response is a U.S.-led campaign to isolate Beijing – backed by U.S. aircraft carriers.

Yes, China engages in excessive bullying, but so does the U.S. – just ask the foreign ministers of the ASEAN nations who have just been subjected to an anti-China pressure campaign by Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd and @VP @KamalaHarris

And we'll say it again: the surest way to spark further economic dislocation, global chaos, and war is to accelerate an arms race with China and deploy more aircraft carriers off their coast!

The only way to avoid the war and chaos Friedman worries about is to engage in good-faith negotiations with Beijing to overcome differences over trade and other issues in ways that benefit both of our countries.

We keep a careful tally of one type of "bullying" by both China and the USA on our website under "Provocative Military Maneuvers & Close Encounters"

Our tally shows so far this year: 25 incidents initiated by the US and 15 by China:

saneuschinapolicy.org/provocative-ma…

The most recent incident was yesterday by the US: the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65) sailed near the Chinese-claimed Mischief Reef in the South China Sea on Sept. 8, prompting fierce condemnation from Chinese officials. Read more: saneuschinapolicy.org/provocative-ma…