When politicians endorse Trump and his authoritarianism, how can we trust them to make policy against China’s authoritarianism?
How demoralizing it must be for Chinese people to see American politicians advocating for the same authoritarian behavior that they suffer.
If a policeman beats his wife, can we trust him to protect victims of intimate partner violence? If a politician supports an authoritarian leader at home, can we really trust him to protect us from authoritarians abroad?
I oppose authoritarianism, whether in China, the United States or anyplace else. So do many policymakers. But many don’t. They think authoritarian conduct is bad when imposed on Chinese people but good when imposed on Americas. These are the politicians who have endorsed Donald Trump for president.
Hypocrisy and double standards are as old as politics itself. But they come at a cost. If a politician cites principle to defend a position but takes the opposite position elsewhere, it undercuts the principle and any moral authority behind it. So when a politician cites authoritarian behavior as a reason to oppose CCP, but then endorses Trump, they’re telling us that authoritarianism isn’t really the problem they have with the CCP.
When a politician blasts Chinese leaders for sending tanks into Tiananmen Square but also supports a presidential candidate who wants to use the military against Americans, isn’t he telling the Chinese people that they don’t have a problem with the fact their own government used the military against them?
When a politician criticizes the CCP for rounding up ethnic minorities and putting them in mass detention camps, but also endorses Trump who pledges to round up migrants and put them in mass detention camps, aren’t they signaling to Uyghurs that the concentration camps aren’t a thing that bothers them?
When a politician rails against the Chinese government’s surveillance as an infringement on individual liberty, but also supports Trump whose team plans to increase government surveillance of women’s pregnancies, aren’t they winking to the Chinese government that intrusive government surveillance can be justified?
When a politician slams Hong Kong authorities for encouraging residents to snitch on their neighbors, but also embraces Trump whose supporters pass laws to provide a financial reward to those who snitch on people who aid women in obtaining an abortion, aren’t they signaling to the Hong Kong government that snitching tactics are legitimate?
When a politician condemns Xi Jinping for ruling with an iron fist, but also endorses Trump who admires Xi’s ability to rule with an iron first, doesn’t it reveal their condemnation of Xi as hollow?
When a politician slams the Chinese judicial system for being subservient to the Party’s interests and lacking independence, but also endorses Trump who has repeatedly expressed his desire to use the justice system to go after senators, judges, political opponents and even non-governmental organizations he doesn’t like, aren’t they telling the Chinese people that an independent judiciary isn’t really important?
When a politician says it’s wrong that government employees in China are required to pledge loyalty to the Party, but also endorses Trump and his plan to ensure that government employees are loyal to his Party, aren’t they telling the CCP that what it’s doing isn’t really wrong?
When a politician criticizes the CCP for censoring and banning books, but also endorses Trump whose supporters censor and ban books, aren’t they winking to Chinese authorities that it’s really OK to censor and ban?
When a politician disapproves of the CCP’s efforts to promote teaching of history that conforms to Party ideology, but also supports Trump who used government resources to create the “1776 Commission” to promote teaching of history that conforms to his Party’s ideology, aren’t they signaling to the CCP that history-washing is acceptable?
When a politician criticizes the CCP for cracking down on media outlets that don’t tow the Party line, but also embraces Trump who wants to revoke the license of TV networks that do things that displease him, aren’t they revealing that they don’t really care about principle of freedom of the press?
I could go on. I’ve documented the many MAGA-CCP and Trump-Xi parallels here, here, here, here and here if you want to read more.
I have spent a good part of my career documenting human rights abuses in China -- the fruits of CCP authoritarianism -- and devising policies to counter it. Always in the front of my mind are the people in the PRC who must live under such oppression and aren’t able to realize their aspirations to live in freedom and liberty.
I can only imagine how demoralizing it must be for people in China today to see half of America’s political establishment endorsing a man who seeks to impose many of the same authoritarian measures on Americans that they suffer under in China. How dispiriting it must be for people in China to see Members of Congress, who utter righteous criticisms of CCP behavior, to be supporting a man who admires CCP behavior and plans to implement much of it in the U.S. Why should they ever consider as genuine these American politicians who claim to speak out on their behalf? Do people in China wonder if these politicians even understand what authoritarianism is?
The United States should be a voice of moral authority when it expresses support for the aspirations of the people of China and calls for the Chinese government to respect their rights. But the U.S. forfeits this moral authority if it puts in charge a man who admires the strongman who runs China and his methods. And for all the politicians, especially the Members of Congress, who have endorsed this man, Donald Trump, and his plans for authoritarianism in American, we are left to doubt their sincerity when speaking about or making policy on authoritarianism in China.