What’s Mine is Mine....

I read an article last week that reminded me of an old saying, What’s Mine is Mine, and What’s Yours is Negotiable.  We actually used to accuse the Russians of applying this principle all over the world, but it has come to China to really make it work.  Jacob Schlesinger had a piece in the Wall Street Journal about how China manages the World Trade Organization where it has put a stake in the ground and said China was a “market economy”, though by what standard is not clear.  They said, in trade that position was “non-negotiable” as if China could say it, and everyone else would go along because they said it.  That is arrogance talking, and we seem to see a lot of that in China recently.

The South China Sea is the most egregious.  The demand that the President of Taiwan be barred from travel in US territory is another example.  Europe is finally paying attention to this and actually trying to stop the drumbeats from drowning out their position with respect to trade.  They have ignored the same situation with Russia.  That seems conflicted to those of us on this side of the Atlantic, but since diplomacy seems to be in the realm of the Wizard of Oz, it is not surprising.

China has a way of demanding, and getting its way.  Look at what they did to South Korea after the THAAD deployment.  They cut back on tourism, trade, and positive press about the South.  They went after South Korean businesses in China.  THAAD is still there, but you can bet President Trump and Chaiman Xi will be talking about it soon enough.  The Chinese start down a path, pause, and start back up.  They don’t get off the path and keep the goal in mind.   Unlike Russia, they are patient and believe they have history on their side.