As regular readers here will recognize, the policy I have advocated with respect to China for decades has been one of reciprocity. At the Washington Post Josh Rogin reports that the Trump Administration has finally begun some small, mostly symbolic steps in that direction:
For years, the Chinese government has become accustomed to doing things in our country that it doesn’t let us do in its. But those days may now be coming to an end. The Trump administration is focusing on the concept of “reciprocity†to pressure China to compete fairly or suffer consequences. The implications for the U.S.-China relationship are huge.
On Wednesday, the State Department announced that Chinese diplomats inside the United States are now required to notify the U.S. government before visiting state or local officials as well as academic or research institutions. David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said Thursday that the goal was not to constrain such interactions but to respond to Beijing’s severe and unfair restrictions on U.S. diplomats inside China.
“We’re not going to say no; we just want to have an idea who they are talking to,†he said. “Our goal is also a relationship with China that is fair and reciprocal with China living up to its many commitments.â€
That’s just one small step and I wonder if we have the guts to pursue a policy of reciprocity with China completely. As is the case with this step, the Chinese authorities will lie, characterizing such steps as provocations.
Ultimately, we must deal with the China that exists rather than the one that we wish existed or the China of the Chinese authorities’ press releases.
Not just government, LeBron James has a weighty decision to make, and he won’t be the last.
Sounds like a small give for China that costs them nothing in return.
Steve