Democratic governors are forming regional blocs to resist President Donald Trump’s efforts to get the American economy moving and put people back to work. They have picked up a powerful ally, one that should give the public cause for alarm. On April 19, the editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a major media outlet of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote an op-ed in which he stated “My advice is to focus China-US anti-epidemic cooperation with US states, while giving the federal government a cold shoulder.” Like the Democrats, Hu Xijin attacked Trump’s policies and proclaimed, “China needs to take necessary actions and express its strong dissatisfaction.” The graphic accompanying Hu’s column showed an American fist slamming down in a demand for action being held in check by a Chinese hand held up signaling stop.
There is every reason for Beijing to want America’s economic downturn and political turmoil to continue as long as possible while it recovers from the effects of the pandemic. The regime has been pushing hard to reopen the economy and declare that its position as the center of worldwide manufacturing has not been weakened by the crisis. Indeed, an essay in the state-run China Daily proclaimed on April 14, “Global Reliance on China Won’t Reduce.” It asserted, “Even if more regionalized and diversified supply chains would reduce risks, China retains considerable competitive advantages in many areas, such as electronics and machinery and equipment manufacturing.” New “investments will help China build on recent progress in even more high-tech sectors, including big data, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and the industrial internet. Which in turn will deepen China's integration into the global technological supply chain.” On March 24, it was declared that Dongfeng Honda, the largest industrial enterprise in Wuhan, which runs three factories producing over 3,000 cars per day, was up and running. Beijing also claimed that most industry outside the Wuhan area was already back in operation.
Even earlier, on February 28, China Daily reported "If the central authorities' policies can be implemented to the letter, the real economy and the job markets could be gradually stabilized in the first quarter, laying a solid groundwork for a quick and strong recovery in the following quarters." The piece also claimed that exports will boost recovery -- which means along with domestic fiscal and monetary stimulus, Beijing will be pushing exports with subsidies. The U.S. and Europe will need to monitor and counter this "dumping" to prevent China from...
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