Mapping the China Debate

This week’s Diplomat column looked at some of the political divisions within the United States with respect to China policy:

The bad news for China is this; it has relatively few friends in the United States. The friends it has (generally those in the trans-Pacific commerce business and to some extent in higher education) do have some power, but that power has come under assault from both right and left in recent years. Americans are acutely aware of China’s repressive activities in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and while there is little appetite for intervention there also isn’t much toleration. By and large, they view China as both an economic and a military threat; some view it as a cultural and racial threat, as well. Rarely has such a consensus so rapidly developed on American foreign policy, and it bodes ill for the future of the trans-Pacific relationship.