Recently more and more people from the MAGA movement, especially in the last year, are calling free trade a fake trade. Unlike what the globalist dreamers will try to tell you the case with China is precisely that. Because a free trade must mean a fair trade. It should be fair to everyone and everyone should comply with the most basic human rights. Such as negotiable salary, paid leave, vacations, being able to live an honorable and decent life, and provide for the basic needs of his family with hard work.
Now, there is no doubt, that the regular people in China work hard, but this has nothing to do with the competitive environment of the free world. From my personal experience, in which I had multiple visits to Chinese factories and multiple conversations with Chinese factory managers and workers, all of them have none of the basic human rights that every other economy from the free world provides to its citizens and workers.
Recently you will hear people like the respected member of the CPAC board Gordon G. Chang talking about “forced labor” when it comes to China. I’ve seen forced labor myself, with my own eyes.
Chinese people have been distributed and sent to the Chinese factories by the CCP. And this so-called “distribution” quite often happens only after they have been taken by force from their villages, somewhere far in the Chinese rural areas.
Words cannot describe the conditions that these people live in, usually in small apartment buildings in the factory backyard. They don’t have paid leave or vacations, they are allowed to leave the factory for only two days in a year, usually around the Chinese New Year February-March.
They cannot send money back home, simply because they are not paid enough for their labor. They would never accept this job – no payment, no decent payment, no leave, no rights, no medical care, if they were not forced by the Communist party and its regime. And this, my friends, is why the so-called “free trade” is an absolute “fake trade” when it comes to China. Because your competitor, and our global competitor is a country with a centralized, state-owned economy, where the workers are basically slaves of the regime.
None of the free world societies operate like this. In our economies, companies compete for the best workers by offering higher wages, paid leave, family assistance, health benefits, vacation time, and even perks like childcare.
Workers have the right to protest, to strike, and most importantly, to negotiate pay based on their skills, which is exactly what drives people to improve those skills in the first place.
None of the above exists in contemporary China. If you are a regular Chinese citizen, chances are you will be forcefully taken out of your village and sent to any Chinese factory, for any salary, any living conditions, and any working conditions, but with no hope for a better life.
In a world of global competition, of so-called “free trade,” when the game is not fair for all the competitors and when all the competitors are not following the same basic rules, it is a fake trade. When one side believes in human rights, freedom, meritocracy and perspective for personal development, and a better life, and the other does not, it is a fake trade.
Let’s say you start a company in the free world today. You have to compete for workers by offering better conditions than existing employers, such as higher pay, health benefits, opportunities for skills development, support for their families, and decent working and living conditions, especially if they stay on-site during the week. That’s what fair competition looks like in a free market.
Let’s say your friend from China decides to start a company tomorrow. Basically, all he has to do is embed politically with the CCP, and they will give him all the help he needs. Obviously there is nothing “free” about trading with such “entrepreneurs.” Especially when they also steal intellectual property, with the implicit blessing of their leaders.
Now, there is no doubt that this system is so far successful for China itself. There is no doubt that after the reforms from the end of last century and the moderate “freedom” of private initiative, China has achieved a great volume of growth and success.
More than eight hundred million people grew from being poor to being (at least by Chinese standards) a middle-class working person. But it all happened under the centralized CCP regime, and I would argue, thanks to the unfair practices described above. This is not a fair competition. This is a blatant robbery.
And it has to stop. The game is rigged. And now it is time to end it once and for all. But fortunately, I have confidence that President Donald J. Trump will level the playing field.
George Harizanov is the CEO of the Institute for Right-Wing Policies in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation
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