Originally Posted by BENZ-LGB

Excellent article and one which considerable food for thought. I just hope that we do not become the rabbit who stops to take a poop and get eaten by the fox.

The following paragraph (from the article quoted above) illustrates the dangers of our current philosphy that trading with the current Chinese government will make friends out of the ruling class in Beijing.

The clerical regime, however, knows what Italian city-states and the Ottoman Empire knew well: you can trade with and concurrently try to vanquish your enemy. Europeans and many Americans are enraptured by the idea that commerce and capitalism make friends out of enemies, a view that conveniently allows one to spend less on defense and practice a more friendly foreign policy.

Trading with the enemy will only make it stronger and richer.