Haley and China

There has been among Republican presidential candidates, arguably, no two more frequent criticism of "socialism"  than the degenerates from South Carolina. Here she is waving the flag of capitalism:

This election is about socialism vs. freedom.

Let's make sure freedom wins. pic.twitter.com/tF5hVBunGr

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) July 25, 2023

And later that day:

This election is a choice between the left's socialist polices and our fight for freedom.

We can't allow China to continue infiltrating our schools and economy, and we can't allow Joe Biden to run our country into the ground.

Granite Staters get it. Let's shake up DC! pic.twitter.com/xHNn8cjZr0

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) July 26, 2023

In the video below, Haley (at 2:58) gives the edited version of a stump speech when she remarks

And whether is is looking at the fact that they have spy balloons going across our country. Whether it is the fact that they bought 400,000 acres of U.S. soil next to our sensitive military installations, the fact that they're sending fetanyl across our border, putting propaganda and sending millions of dollars to our universities or that they have Chinese companies lobbying Congress on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, you look now and they've really strengthened their military, they're stealing 600 billion dollars worth of intellectual property from us every year.

               

There is some truth to Haley's accusations. While her remark about fetanyl is largely accurate, her charge about Chinese propaganda in schools is exaggerated, though the matter is concerning. The "spy balloons" were one balloon, which was shot down, allowing debris it contained to be analyzed by American intelligence. Further, the Pentagon maintains "it has been our assessment now that it did not collect while it was transiting the United States or overflying the United States?" (Does that mean "flying over?")

Chinese ownership of land in the USA is a looming threat, one only beginning to get the attention it deserves. However, it is not "they," by which Haley is strongly implying the Chinese government. Instead

Chinese ownership of U.S. land is highly concentrated. USDA data obtained by NPR show more than 80% held by Smithfield Foods and billionaire San Guangxin, through Brazos Highland Properties LP and Harvest Texas LLC.

Brazos, with headquarters in Houston, is primarily a real estate operation and Smithfield Foods is, appropriately, a food company located in Smithfield, Virginia.

Chinese law allows Beijing to get access to all information from individuals or companies, so land owned in the USA by Chinese individuals or companies is nearly as serious a threat as were it owned directly by their government.

Nonetheless, there is different- especially with the American companies involved- than ownership directly by the Chinese government. But Haley would rather condemn the Chinese government than the Chinese companies who are- through American capitalists- buying farmland in the USA, sometimes close to military installations.

Admittedly, the former Ambassador to the United Nations probably is more concerned with infiltration by the Chinese than is any other GOP presidential candidate. However, she is even more eager to deride "socialism"-  whatever that is in the context of the mixed economy we sometimes enjoy here- and to promote capitalism.

Neither applauding "capitalism" nor slamming mainland China poses any risk for a Republican running for President. There is, however, one bold move that the anti-China Haley could take to prove there is a there behind her rhetoric.

The former South Carolina governor could call for banning Tik Tok from the country. That would eliminate a major national security threat, simultaneously strike a blow against the emotional and mental deterioration of young Americans, and eliminate a major and dangerously effective means of disinformation.

Haley won't do it, of course. She'll avoid an obvious means of defanging the Butchers of Beijing for the same reason other Republicans, and Democrats, avoid addressing this hazard to honest political discourse, American youth and society. Some TikTok users vote, although probably at a considerably lower rate than other citizens. Also, "capitalism."

Ignoring the menace of this particularly malevolent social media platform is a bipartisan shortcoming.  Downplaying the jeopardy posed by mainland China also is bipartisan, though Democrats do so more brazenly. However, dishonest ranting and raving about "socialism" is a peculiarly Republican defect, and one not limited to to the Trump-DeSantis authoritarian wing of the GOP.

 

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