[Genuine Realist]

Alternate viewpoint - The opening of China over the last 50 years has been a net good for both China and the Western world.  

Don’t believe me?  Go look through images and news headlines covering China’s “Cultural Revolution” from 1970 and then take a walk through Shanghai today, perhaps the French concession, or talk to expats at the Blarney Stone (Irish pub and Shanghai expat hangout that pours a good Guiness).  I think from reading some comment here you will be surprised at what you see and hear.  The world is much safer with China deeply engaged in the world economy - and the people of China are much, much more vibrant, prosperous and free.

I don’t excuse the CCP for what it’s done to the Uighur people, not it’s recent heavy hand in Hong Kong or treatment of religious minorities.  I see the flaws in its handling of the CV outbreak but if anyone thinks economic isolation, military stand-off and disengagement are going to help things look toward the past in your rear view mirror and steer forward with that also in your mind.  We’ve come a long way and so has China.

The US and China both have a lot to learn from how the early stages of CV were handled.  Both will adjust and scapegoating to point at the other as the blame will not help.

I'm pretty much a one-worlder generally. But everyone knows that the effects of globalization have not been distributed evenly. Some sectors gain, others lose. The NAFTA Treaty was not popular with anyone, because of the devastating effect it had on American workers (who saw jobs shipped to Mexico) and Mexican farmers (who had to compete with American agrobusiness.) There were, of course, winners, but too many losers. Whoever won the 2016 election was going to end it. 

Here, if Michael Lind's factoid is correct - a differential of only $2.00 per unit cost to build the I-Phone on shore - there's more than enough reason to repatriate manufacturing operations, quite apart from the health risk. (Lind is not a casual guy, so I assume he's right.) This is a major scandal. The effect of the differential is to enrich highly compensated Apple employees and managers (since the company rarely pays dividends) at the expense of American craft workers. I live in Mountain View. The culture of the companies is so anti-authoritarian as to verge on anarchic. That they at the same time enrich themselves by sending manufacturing off-shore, to a working force known for its docility and passivity, for an incremental return that small is unacceptable hypocrisy. To be sure, American workers are likely to be more unruly and demanding - but isn't that true of the entire society? Something we value?

The fact that there are health risks associated with the sites, and the Chinese government cannot be trusted to handle them responsibly, is another reason. But it is secondary.

[Genuine Realist]

Alternate viewpoint - The opening of China over the last 50 years has been a net good for both China and the Western world.  

Don’t believe me?  Go look through images and news headlines covering China’s “Cultural Revolution” from 1970 and then take a walk through Shanghai today, perhaps the French concession, or talk to expats at the Blarney Stone (Irish pub and Shanghai expat hangout that pours a good Guiness).  I think from reading some comment here you will be surprised at what you see and hear.  The world is much safer with China deeply engaged in the world economy - and the people of China are much, much more vibrant, prosperous and free.

I don’t excuse the CCP for what it’s done to the Uighur people, not it’s recent heavy hand in Hong Kong or treatment of religious minorities.  I see the flaws in its handling of the CV outbreak but if anyone thinks economic isolation, military stand-off and disengagement are going to help things look toward the past in your rear view mirror and steer forward with that also in your mind.  We’ve come a long way and so has China.

The US and China both have a lot to learn from how the early stages of CV were handled.  Both will adjust and scapegoating to point at the other as the blame will not help.

I'm pretty much a one-worlder generally. But everyone knows that the effects of globalization have not been distributed evenly. Some sectors gain, others lose. The NAFTA Treaty was not popular with anyone, because of the devastating effect it had on American workers (who saw jobs shipped to Mexico) and Mexican farmers (who had to compete with American agrobusiness.) There were, of course, winners, but too many losers. Whoever won the 2016 election was going to end it. 

Here, if Michael Lind's factoid is correct - a differential of only $2.00 per unit cost to build the I-Phone on shore - there's more than enough reason to repatriate manufacturing operations, quite apart from the health risk. (Lind is not a casual guy, so I assume he's right.) This is a major scandal. The effect of the differential is to enrich highly compensated Apple employees and managers (since the company rarely pays dividends) at the expense of American craft workers. I live in Mountain View. The culture of the companies is so anti-authoritarian as to verge on anarchic. That they at the same time enrich themselves by sending manufacturing off-shore, to a working force known for its docility and passivity, for an incremental return that small is unacceptable hypocrisy. To be sure, American workers are likely to be more unruly and demanding - but isn't that true of the entire society? Something we value?

The fact that there are health risks associated with the sites, and the Chinese government cannot be trusted to handle them responsibly, is another reason. But it is secondary.