Randomly Noted

Various Chinese VIPs have been dealing the U.S. a prolonged public scolding in recent days, as if to say to visiting President Obama and his constituents back home: you may be running the Free World but we’re big and getting bigger – and besides, you are utterly dependent on us for economic growth. Among the rhetorical gems: The U.S. is engaging in unfair trade protectionism. The U.S.’s monetary policy is excessively loose. American corporate giant Microsoft is stealing intellectual property from a Chinese firm. The U.S. is a filthy polluter spewing toxic emissions. All of which Americans could and often do say about China. One could say most of the above about the U.S., too. The current American president and his predecessor both made unnecessary protectionist decisions to appease labor and business interests. U.S. monetary policy speaks for itself and, unfortunately, it’s completely unclear when the tightening cycle will resume. Too many polluters of the manufacturing, dumping, littering and especially big-car-driving kind reside in the U.S. However, American businesses are not in the habit of engaging in piracy and IP theft, and one seriously doubts the judgment of the Chinese “court” which ruled that Microsoft infringed Zhongyi Electronic Ltd.’s IP rights. Moreover, I decline to engage in moral relativism when it comes to any serious U.S-versus-China question. Indeed, it’s high time for the two-country dialogue to step up to a higher level befitting a great state and one that could be great if it were to choose law and liberty for its people.