China Will Be a Central Theme in the Coming Presidential Election

The 2016 election saw the victory of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. The victory was unexpected as the press had already declared Hillary Clinton as the winner. Trump's victory was a bit of a surprise because something called the "Russian connection" reared its head during the election. The allegations of the Russian connection gathered steam after Trump won and the Democrats wanted him to be impeached for treason.

In my view, the allegations that Vladimir Putin could have influenced the American election in 2016 are a bit far-fetched. It is also an insult to the American voter who is so fickle that he could be swayed by a leader from Russia sitting thousands of miles away.

The 2020 election is on us now. This time there are no imaginary issues and real facts have come to the fore. These concerns China and whatever the Americans say they cannot Ignore what China has done to America. China has unleashed a virus on America that to date has accounted for the death of nearly 50,000 Americans. Perhaps thousands more will die because China never cooperated with the United States as far as the coronavirus is concerned. America also has the sad spectacle of 22 million Americans who are unemployed because of this virus.

The American president even now has not realized the gravity of the issue. He seems to be talking in fits and starts. He has gone around praising president Xi and at the same time has said that China will have to pay for what it has done. He has added a rider that in case the explanation by China is acceptable then it's okay but he has not stated what he will do in case the Chinese do not give a proper explanation.

In between, he has lambasted previous presidents who allowed China to become a superpower. There is a lot of truth in what Trump says on this issue. The previous American presidents had the fond hope that they would integrate China economically with the USA and with their help America would continue its dominance over the world.

My interpretation is that the previous US presidents from Richard Nixon downwards were living in a fool's paradise. There was no way that China could ever be subservient to America because China has always believed itself to be the center of the world the "middle kingdom."

China is now a global economic power. A fact that cannot be brushed under the carpet is how can you ever isolate China from the world economy? I will give you an example. Recently I was in Dubai and purchased the Apple MacBook Pro. This is the top of the line American product but when I looked at the back of the laptop I found the words "made in China."The moral of the story is that President Trump may breathe fire against China but I do not think the United States has the wherewithal to counter China without burning itself.

One small point needs elucidation here. When the virus broke President Trump used to often refer to it as the "China virus".Now he has stopped using this terminology and people may wonder why he backtracked

Unlike the "Russian connection" which was never proved, the Chinese virus is a hot property in the 2020 election. President Trump's super PAC recently released a TV AD campaign this week which painted Joe Biden as soft on China. The apparent Democratic nominee campaign committee immediately mobilized a full-court press to counter the attack.

Trump has turned on China where the coronavirus originated. This is an attempt to distract from domestic criticism of his low recognition of the crisis that has killed more than 50,000 Americans. He will, however, be hard put to explain as to why he was praising president XI in between. The President is unfazed and has slammed Biden for what he claims is a long record of appeasing Beijing.

The former president, however, has not taken things lying down. He has hit back with a digital ad that claims Trump rolled over for the Chinese and he took their word for it. This attack and accusation of directly blaming millions of lost jobs and tens and thousands of US deaths on Trump also says that he left America unprepared and unprotected.

It is a sign of the times that the American people many of whom do not know that this virus originated from Wuhan in central China could potentially define the coming election. The President is looking for an exit strategy to cover up for some of the mistakes which he did earlier and in case he is successful only then he can be sure of repeating his 2016 victory. So his aim is to show that a Democratic candidate is a weak man as far as facing China is concerned.

The President wants to open up the economy but it's a double-edged sword. There is a possibility that there could be a backlash and the virus could spread again. If that happens no amount of explanation by Trump is going to help him.

China is thus one of the factors in the coming election and this is a very very tangible fact. Whoever wins whether Trump or Joe Biden, the new President will have to come to grips with China and it will not be easy to backtrack on policy started 50 years back by Richard Nixon.

The 2020 election is going to be a defining election in American politics. Whoever wins this election will be faced with a nation whose economy has been severely mauled and millions of unemployed hanging around..All this has happened because of a devious plan by the Chinese leaders to undermine the West. Trump a week back had said that the economy of Spain is destroyed.If this virus is not controlled the American economy also could be similarly affected and in that case who will be to blame?.

President Trump a number of times, has been trumpeting the good work done by China.One fails to understand what is his motive and how he will face China in case he is elected.There is no doubt that China reached the present state of its economy with more than a little help from the USA which abdicated its responsibility to the free world by hobnobbing with a totalitarian and undemocratic state where even president Xi has got himself appointed for life.