I hate your President.

[Xantar]

Originally Posted by Professor S

When it comes to China, pollution is the least of my worries. China is in bed with too many of the wrong kinds of people, namely North Korea and Iran, with Iran being the perhaps the greatest threat to West right now. First we need to get China to be a GOOD friend of the West, and then we can worry about pollution.

Back to the point, we should use China's burgeoning capitalism against them. We (meaning the Western world) need to have the strength and cooperation to place trade embargos on China if need be. The US needs to have the strength the rip Wal-Mart, Google and other major western owned employers from the country. China now has a taste for capitalism, and if we deny them that foodstuff, they might just have to play ball.

Then I guess the question is whether China needs us more than we need them. An embargo against China denies us everything from cheap underwear to Playstations. It would be a huge blow against our economy, and you just know that the EU would jump at the chance to fill in the void. It's nice to try to hold the threat over their head, but I fear that we've grown too dependent on Chinese manufacturing to stop now (unless we find another good partner. Brazil, perhaps?).

I've actually been thinking that if we succeed in stabilizing and controlling the supply of oil in the Middle East, we have some real leverage against China who is growing thirstier for the stuff every year. Of course, it's highly unlikely that we could get Saudi Arabia at our beck and call, but if we were at least the most favored oil trading partner, we might have an advantage against China. Just a thought, though.