2016 Presidential Politics Distracts From Jobs Issue, TPP, and China Conflict

Too worried about the gossip US politics has become, the world has overlooked the escalating tensions between China and its neighbors. Although the South China Sea Crisis is often framed as a conflict between the US and China, it is actually about shielding China’s neighbors from Chinese dominance. It is also about bolstering the Chinese economy as it struggles to overcome debt and the perpetual need to grow. The decision of an international tribunal in early July against Chinese claims in the South China Sea halted China’s use of international maritime law to rationalize its dominance over the South China Sea, but the unwillingness to support Chinese claims placed the International Community at odds with China.

With that in mind, the nations of Asia need China to fulfill their growing economic needs. The same is true for the rest of the global economy, including the US. What the Peoples of the world do not need, or want, is the communist government of China to gain the power to dominant the International Community. For this reason, TPP is being framed and promoted as a means to balance Chinese influence, even though it is an economic policy. Framing TPP in terms of national security distorts the benefits of this massive free trade agreement and pushes people to embrace a policy that can only be successful if it is economically beneficial to the US and its trade partners.

Read more at http://www.washingtonoutsider.org/editors-blog/july-27th-2016