Will Trump Rescue China's Communism?

by Gordon G. Chang • June 25, 2019 at 5:00 am

China has violated its WTO promises and all the other trade deals. Now, President Trump is seeking to remedy Beijing's failure to follow promises — and its continued annual theft of hundreds of billions of dollars of American intellectual property — by inking another pact.
Moreover, Washington's determination to end Chinese theft of intellectual property also undermines Xi Jinping's signature Made in China 2025 initiative to dominate eleven critical technologies by that year.
In short, there is no chance that Xi will comply with any agreement that is acceptable to the United States.
A trade agreement now will be seen as an end to the "trade war" and as Trump's support for Xi. A pact, therefore, would constitute America's fourth great rescue of Chinese communism.

A trade deal with President Donald Trump looks as if it is the only thing that can revive the Chinese economy and thereby save Xi's brand of communism. Will the American president do so? Pictured: President Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with President Xi on November 9, 2017 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty Images)

Three times — in 1972, 1989, and 1999 — American presidents rescued Chinese communism. Now, Xi Jinping's China, plagued by problems of his own making, desperately needs a lifeline.

A trade deal with President Donald Trump looks as if it is the only thing that can revive the Chinese economy and thereby save Xi's brand of communism. Many, in fact, are urging Trump to drop his Section 301 tariffs and sign such a pact.

Will the American president do so?

At the moment, Xi is besieged, blamed for multiple policy mistakes. First, his relentlessly pursued back-to-Mao policies have helped push the Chinese economy downward, perhaps to the point of contraction, as May's depressing numbers suggest. Perhaps the most indicative statistic is that of imports, which during the month fell 8.5%, a clear sign of softening domestic demand.

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India: Modi and Minorities

by Jagdish N. Singh • June 25, 2019 at 4:00 am

"In cases involving mobs killing an individual based on false accusations of cow slaughter or forced conversion, police investigations and prosecutions often were not adequately pursued. Rules on the registration of foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were discriminatorily implemented against religious minority groups..." — United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Annual Report, 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi must now make it his mission to realize his own mantra, and guarantee the safety and freedom of all minorities in his country.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media in New Delhi on May 25, 2019, following his landslide re-election on May 23. (Photo by Atul Loke/Getty Images)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide re-election on May 23 presents an opportunity to correct societal ills that in past years have been neglected. In particular, Modi, who was sworn in on May 30, might focus on addressing the concerns of the country's minorities.

Modi has long been talking of "sabkasaath, sabkavikas" ("everyone's support, everyone's development"). Upon his re-election, he added to the motto,"sabkavishwas" ("everyone's trust").

"This is our mantra," Modi said in an address in the central hall of Parliament to MPs of his Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). "I will work for all citizens of India."

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