Online Blogger Gets an F
One of the online security scandal scribe’s favorite topics is China-North American relations. It’s a terrific topic—and very helpful to understanding how the global economy works. Unfortunately, rather than promote an understanding of history and economics, the blogger takes an extreme ideological approach to foment fear, promote prejudice and misunderstanding.
The blogger shows no understanding of the important ties between North America and China, and how those ties boost the North American economy and directly translate into good jobs for families all over Canada and the US. Since the 1970s, U.S. presidents and Canadian prime ministers have been visiting China and building mutually beneficial economic, political and humanitarian ties. China is Canada’s third largest export trade market.
The US President recently had his first meeting with the Chinese President in Florida. The Chinese President also met with Alaska Gov. Bill Walker on the trip. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Alaska sold more than $1 billion worth of goods to China in 2016.
And Alaska is not alone, according to the August 2016 U.S.-China Business Council’s annual report on US State Exports, China was a top-three goods export market for 33 states and among the top five for 13 U.S. states. Vice President Mike Pence knows this well. He led a delegation of business people to China for a jobs mission in 2015 when he was governor of Indiana.
Here’s an informative quote from Mike Pence about that trip and the mutual benefits of China-U.S. relations. “Indiana and China are stronger together. … And as global understanding grows, so does economic growth. Today Chinese companies are creating great Hoosier jobs in all corners of our state, and Indiana-based companies are thriving globally. Through the relationships we’re forming on this trip, I’m confident that this is just the beginning of generations of growth to come.”
The blogger’s anti-China bias is on parade in countless “articles.” If he’s blogging about anything related to China, it’s negative. For example, the scribe predicts that the economy in China is on the verge of collapse.
These predictions have been proved wrong annually for the past 30 years. The Chinese economy grew at around 10 percent annually since the 1980s. In the past couple of years it has grown at about 6 percent annually, far surpassing growth rates in the West that average around 2 percent. More importantly, growth in the Chinese economy has positively impacted people and businesses in China and around the world, decreasing poverty in China and producing a Chinese middle class that buys Western and Japanese goods and services.
So what’s going on here? It’s one of two things: Either the blogger hasn’t done his homework and really doesn’t understand the historical and economic issues at hand, or he does understand but he’s intentionally misleading his readers. Either way, the blogger gets an F.
It’s unfortunate that the blogger’s financial and ideological goals prevent him from sharing a thoughtful examination of China-North America relations. However, there are many other reliable sources for information on this topic. And, as Vice President Pence points out and as the U.S.-China Business Council data demonstrates, the ties between Chinese and North American businesses and people continue to deepen and expand for the betterment of all. Hikvision is proud to be a Chinese company, and we’re also proud of the jobs and other positive economic contributions our company makes to the growing number of North American communities where we do business.