This week’s column was going to be about my constant battle with the wildlife attacking my gardens. Not really a new subject, but the past couple weeks have made me uneasy to the point that my column is not going to about the battle of the gardens. I have 19 different gardens—no wonder the deer think of my place as a restaurant.
This one is about China.
First, let me make this clear; this is my personal opinion, not of the newspaper I work for. Sometimes readers don’t make the differentiation.
Second, let me put forth I am not a real fan of Donald Trump.
Not because of his presidency, but because he produced a vodka starting back in 2005 that went nowhere after a few years. I remember all the hype well because I talked to Drinks America, the marketing distribution arm for Trump Vodka, about its viability selling Asia. I didn’t see it happening. Especially after I tasted it.
The brand was launched with the slogan “Success Distilled”, with Trump predicting it would outsell Grey Goose vodka. He also said that when mixed with tonic, which he referred to as a “Trump and Tonic”, it would become the most drunk cocktail in the United States.
The Trump Vodka brand was discontinued in the United States in 2011 due to sales not hitting sustainable targets.
Tell me a spirit brand is great and it isn’t, you have little chance of getting on my good side.
When Trump became president, like many people, I was curious how he would shape the course of the country’s policies.
There are subjects we disagree on, but there is one in which we are in total agreement.
I believe he is absolutely right on facing down China’s trade practices. This country has been taken advantage of us for years, and also many other countries, because their market is so vast and developing. Most countries won’t do anything about it because they are in fear of being shut out if they complain.
I lived in Shanghai about five years, Suzhou one year and also resided in Shenzen and Beijing. Plus I visited the interior several times.
I am no expert about China and its trade practices, but working in the liquor industry, where I saw counterfeiting on a massive scale, President Trump is not wrong on how the Chinese government does little to prevent it. Since Xi Jinping took over in 2013, this particular leader has made it his mission to have China as a dominant player in global markets on all sorts of goods.
President Xi tolerates little to no dissent and the technology he is using to keep control of the people is scary. Facial recognition is everywhere in urban centers and protests, whether in cities or countryside, is not tolerated. The reeducation centers in the Western province of Xinjiang are, for the most part, concentration camps.
What is going on in Hong Kong is frightening to me. I visited the place before 1997 and saw it when it was still a British colony. It was a lot of fun.
Once it went to China, not all that much changed outwardly, but seeing Chinese soldiers patrol the streets with machine guns told me the place had changed. The city still feels rich as ever, but there is an insidious, creeping feeling that the Chinese government is taking away the freedoms wherever it can. The Chinese government has made no secret of its desire to dominate the people there.
In truth, I think President Xi has made mention of wanting to dominate the Pacific Ocean and he is certainly doing his best.
Saying all this about the government and its leader, I have to qualify, most of the Chinese people I have met and worked with, are pretty damn cool. But for some reason, call it nationalism, they think Xi is good for their country. Many say since he took power, nobody can push China around.
So, yeah, I support President Trump’s policy on China enthusiastically and I am truly sorry if any farmer or company is getting hurt by the measures he has taken to get China to play ball fairly.
I am not going to be happy if our economy takes a hit either, but there is no doubt in my mind China has to be told to stop its unfair trade practices. Good on Trump for taking a stand.
However, I am the wrong guy to hear him or his supporters call a person who dissent on what they see is wrong with America, “socialist wackos, communists and people that hate our country.”
It is actually spine-chilling to me.
I lived in one of the most serious communist countries there is, where I knew any spoken words against the government could land me in jail. I truly had to watch my words whenever I was out in public if I questioned the Chinese government policies.
I mean it!
Jail because you publicly criticized President Xi or the Communist Party. It is scary. Really scary!
I have to ask, didn’t the United States learn under the era of McCarthyism, that calling people un-American and communists because they didn’t agree with our government’s status quo, was one of the darkest times in recent American history?
One of my favorite Mikeisms, when I was overseas, was telling people I loved being American even if I didn’t always agree with its policies. A major reason for this love was I could always disagree with my government and I could voice it.
Live in China and you too will appreciate this freedom.
I love I can write this column and say I think President Trump is going too far when he accuses people of being un-American because they find fault with how he is governing the nation in some ways, and in the same breath, I can voice that I feel what he is doing with China is correct.
I am sure people will disagree on either subject.
But at least we can.
I never want to feel like I did while living in China and was scared to speak out when I saw things wrong. China is like any place, good and bad. However knowing farmers in China are arrested because they protest the seizure of their land for development; it is sad.
Our country was founded on freedom of speech and, being a reporter, I don’t take this freedom lightly.
And whether you are a supporter or critic of our President and how he is running the government, you should not take this freedom lightly either.
It would be a terrifying day if we ever became like China.
Trust me on that.
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