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847 points kick | 1 comments | 20 Nov 19 15:44 UTC | HN request time: 0.348s | source
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marcoseliziario ◴[20 Nov 19 16:41 UTC] No.21585456[source]▶
Richard Nixon carries a lot of responsibility for the current situation. He never ever put the human rights issue on the table, he never pressed on the issue, because from the beginning his sole goal was having access to a cheap workforce, and damned the rest. The Communist Party situation at that time rested on the abuse of power. Nixon just strengthened their position by given market access and capital without pressure on the human rights issues.

Actually, the cynic in me thinks that this was by design. By reinforcing the power of the communist party, american corporations wouldn't have to worry about the chinese workers fighting for better labor and environmental conditions, thus keeping costs low.

replies(2): >>21585793 #>>21586834 #
1. CharlesColeman ◴[20 Nov 19 18:31 UTC] No.21586834[source]▶
> because from the beginning his sole goal was having access to a cheap workforce, and damned the rest.

Uh. His goals were to further American interests in Cold War geopolitics and increase his personal stature as a statesman. Friendly American relations with Chinese Communists put more pressure on Soviet Communists.

Free trade has nothing to due with it. You're forgetting that Nixon went to China in 1972, but the Chinese economy didn't start opening up until 1978 under Deng (and long after Nixon).