Mr. Clinton's recent threat to impose sanctions on a tiny segment of Chinese exports, in retaliation for Chinese pirating of American compact discs and software, seems today like nothing more than political posturing. The United States of America, the beacon of liberty and freedom, will be saying to the communists in Beijing, it is okay if you keep producing shoes for America with slave labor, just don't pirate our Madonna records.
China is potentially the greatest rogue nation on earth.
It exploits conscript and slave labor to produce goods for export. And there are now more Christians imprisoned in China for their faith than in any other country on earth. Beyond this monstrous record on human rights, China has become a threat to U.S. friends and allies. It has sold missiles to Iran, nuclear technology to Pakistan, and has launched rockets at the ports of Taiwan to disrupt a democratic election. All this is financed by a burgeoning trade surplus built on the backs of American workers.