HE’S EASILY BOUGHT?
Why China thinks it’s got a future President Biden in its pocket.
Biden Tempted To Nuzzle Chinese Leader
Beijing had a good reason to bet on Biden: they had given sweetheart deals to his son, Hunter Biden.
The vice president took his son along on Air Force Two when he flew to Beijing in December 2013.
Not long after the father and son duo returned to the US, Hunter Biden’s small firm received a $1 billion private equity deal from the Chinese government. This was later increased to a cool one-and-a-half billion.
The Chinese government was literally funding a business that it co-owned along with the sons of two of America’s most powerful decision-makers. John Kerry's Stepson was also in on the scam.
Now you see why Beijing’s leaders were convinced that they had Joe Biden in their pocket — or at least in their pocketbook.
At the time, the former vice president seemed like a sure bet — not just to Beijing but to many on this side of the Pacific. The early polls suggested that he was a shoo-in for the Democrat nomination, and the odds-on favorite to beat Trump.
Betting the farm on Biden, the Chinese likely stiffed Trump’s negotiators.
Now they seem to be having second thoughts. Negotiators are crisscrossing the Pacific again, and the Chinese have placed a couple of big orders for farm products.
Are they hedging their bet on Biden, or simply biding their time until they get the election result they want?
Time will tell.
Meanwhile, this being Trump, there is a price to pay for such perfidy. The tariffs are a little higher now and the terms of any future agreement will be even tougher.
Vice President Mike Pence
did not mince words on Thursday when he said that the US will continue to insist that China make significant reforms to its economic system, including abandoning trade barriers, forced technology transfers and predatory subsidies for “national champion” businesses.
And Trump himself has made clear that, if no agreement is reached by the time of the 2020 election, Beijing will have an even steeper hill to climb during his second term.