Why should he cut off diplomatic relations with Beijing? We applauded Trump's diplomacy with Kim Jong-un. Diplomacy with the Soviets was generally seen as virtuous.
The paradigm isn't the same for any of the situations. Peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula under a stable, liberty-minded government is far more likely than the peaceful reunification of China + Taiwan under a similarly stable, liberty-minded government.
We were able to negotiate with North Korea from a position of strength, because they really don't have much that they can use against us. Their missiles have about ad much guidance as a bottle rocket, and they do not have any kind of economic dominance. They talk big about invading South Korea, which is supposed to be their ace in the hole, but it would absolutely devastate them in the long run if they tried. Deep down, they probably know that they can't. We can negotiate with them on our terms because they have minimal leverage and no chance of becoming a superpower.
As for the Soviets, they gradually moved away from Stalinism whereas China has never really had the same kind of reappraisal of Mao. Sure, they've heavily corporatized their economy, but the extreme authoritarianism has never subsided, and viven the technology available, the surveillance state is probably even worse than the USSR. That gradual move away from Stalin to Gorbachev made diplomacy far more possible. But moving from Mao to Xi can hardly be called an improvement, just a different flavor of awful.
The Soviets were also on a downward trend for decades (especially after Chernobyl) whereas China has not shown a clear indicator that it's going to collapse in the same way any time soon. I'd say that the CCP has learned from its powerful authoritarian cousins (Germany, USSR) that certain forms of confrontation don't work on the US, which is why they're attempting to undermine us with money rather than bullets.
In fact, we're in many ways responsible for that. We've sponsored the rise of China and the gradual corruption of our industries, because we mistakenly believed that we could democratize them with capitalism. That needs to stop yesterday, China's legitimacy should not be promoted any further, and we need to decouple. If we recognize Taiwan's status as the rightful government, which I believe we should, we would not be able to maintain any real relations with Beijing anyway.
But if I'm being honest, another reason why I want to end relations with Beijing now is because it would be a massive middle finger to Biden. "I did the right thing by reopening relations with the regime that doesn't treat its people like cattle. Have fun sorting it out with your overlords in Beijing, you demented old fossil."
Why should he cut off diplomatic relations with Beijing? We applauded Trump's diplomacy with Kim Jong-un. Diplomacy with the Soviets was generally seen as virtuous.
The paradigm isn't the same for any of the situations. Peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula under a stable, liberty-minded government is far more likely than the peaceful reunification of China + Taiwan under a similarly stable, liberty-minded government.
We were able to negotiate with North Korea from a position of strength, because they really don't have much that they can use against us. Their missiles have about ad much guidance as a bottle rocket, and they do not have any kind of economic dominance. They talk big about invading South Korea, which is supposed to be their ace in the hole, but it would absolutely devastate them in the long run if they tried. Deep down, they probably know that they can't. We can negotiate with them on our terms because they have minimal leverage and no chance of becoming a superpower.
As for the Soviets, they gradually moved away from Stalinism whereas China has never really had the same kind of reappraisal of Mao. Sure, they've heavily corporatized their economy, but the extreme authoritarianism has never subsided, and viven the technology available, the surveillance state is probably even worse than the USSR. That gradual move away from Stalin to Gorbachev made diplomacy far more possible. But moving from Mao to Xi can hardly be called an improvement, just a different flavor of awful.
The Soviets were also on a downward trend for decades (especially after Chernobyl) whereas China has not shown a clear indicator that it's going to collapse in the same way any time soon. I'd say that the CCP has learned from its powerful authoritarian cousins (Germany, USSR) that certain forms of confrontation don't work on the US, which is why they're attempting to undermine us with money rather than bullets.
In fact, we're in many ways responsible for that. We've sponsored the rise of China and the gradual corruption of our industries, because we mistakenly believed that we could democratize them with capitalism. That needs to stop yesterday, China's legitimacy should not be promoted any further, and we need to decouple. If we recognize Taiwan's status as the rightful government, which I believe we should, we would not be able to maintain any real relations with Beijing anyway.
But if I'm being honest, another reason why I want to end relations with Beijing now is because it would be a massive middle finger to Biden. "I did the right thing by reopening relations with the regime that doesn't treat its people like cattle. Have fun sorting it out with your overlords in Beijing, you demented old fossil."
That and recognizing Tibet as an independent country would torpedo our relationship with the PRC. It would be glorious.
I'm all about doing our own Boston tea party, but have it be the Long beach cheap Chinese shit party.