Last week I voted with the majority of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of granting permanent normal trading relations with the People's Republic of China. For reasons of national security, economic welfare and human rights, granting China normal trade relations is the right thing to do.
China is the third-largest military power in the world.
But China can be a powerful ally. There is no more powerful tool for positive change in China than trade with the United States. I worry that the trend towards isolationism will lead us into another Cold War. Granting China permanent normal trade relations will have a tremendous diplomatic impact. But China is not large in just a military sense.