Nathan Newman wrote:
>As Tim's comments show, there are a bunch who, despite China's nearly
>complete capitulation to capitalist economics, continue to defend their
>brutal anti-labor policies.
-No wonder you don't object to Michael Moore's bending the facts in
-the interest of portraying a Higher Truth. One can object to the
-demonization of China - with all the ancient anti-communist rhetoric
-joined to even more ancient Yellow Peril rhetoric - without
-"defending" China's labor policies.
If folks want to condemn racist statements made in the course of the PNTR campaign, I'm all for it. I did it myself.
But a large chunk of folks defended PNTR itself, arguing that opposing trade with China was inherently racist since China's labor policies were no worse than any other countries. I will dig up the statements of the pro-PNTR left if you need to be reminded.
Sweeney has campaigned against brutal labor regimes in many countries and the AFL-CIO opposes FTAA, NAFTA and GATT. Yet many leftists who opposed all three of these agreements turned around and supported PNTR.
The AFL-CIO was consistent in its politics around fair trade. It was the pro-PNTR left that was not and wanted to make a special exception for China's trade policies.
-- Nathan Newman