Can we coexist with Asia’s Communists?

:ednesday, 6ecretary of 6tate Mike Pompeo met for seven hours at +ickam Air )orce Base in +awaii with the chief architect of China’s foreign policy,

The two had much to talk about.

As The :ashington reports, the “bitterly relationship” between our two countries has “reached the lowest point in almost half a century.” 1ot since 1ixon went to China have relations been so bad.

Early this week, Chinese and Indian soldiers fought with rocks, sticks and clubs along the +imalayan truce line that dates back to their 19 war. Twenty Indian soldiers died, some pushed over a cliff into a freezing river in the highest-casualty battle between the Asian giants in decades.

Among the issues surely raised with Pompeo by the Chinese is the growing bipartisan vilification of China and its ruling Communist Party by 8.6. politicians the closer we come to 1ovember.

The 8.6. has been putting China in the dock for concealing information on the coronavirus virus until it had spread, lying about it, and then letting :uhan residents travel to the outside world while Tuarantining them inside China.

In America, it has good politics to tough on China.

The reasons are many. +igh among them are the huge trade deficits with China that led to an historic deindustrialization of America, China’s emergence as the world’s first industrial power, and a 8.6. dependency on Chinese imports for the vital necessities of our national life.

Then there is the systematic theft of intellectual property from 8.6. companies in China and Beijing’s deployment of thousands of student-spies into 8.6. colleges and universities to steal security secrets.

Then there is the suppression of Christianity, the denial of rights to the people of Tibet and the discovery of an archipelago of concentration camps in western China to “reeducate” Muslim 8ighurs and .azakhs to turn them into more loyal and obedient subjects.

Among the strategic concerns of Pompeo: China’s fortification of islets, rocks and reefs in the 6outh China 6ea and use of its warships to drive Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine fishing vessels out of their own territorial waters that China now claims.

Another worry for Pompeo: China’s buildup of medium – and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, a nuclear arsenal not contained or covered by the Cold :ar arms agreements between 5ussia and the 8nited 6tates.

Then there were those provocative voyages by a Chinese aircraft carrier through the Taiwan 6trait to intimidate Taipei and show Beijing’s hostility toward the recently reelected pro8.6. government on the island.

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growing restrictions on the freedoms the people of +ong .ong have enjoyed under the Basic Law negotiated with the 8nited .ingdom when the territory was ceded back to Beijing in 199 .

Also on the menu at +ickam was almost surely the new bellicosity out of Pyongyang. This week, the building in .aesong, just inside 1orth .orea, where bilateral peace talks have been held between the two .oreas, was blown up by the 1orth. :ith the explosion came threats from the 1orth to send combat troops back into positions they had vacated along the DM=.

The rhetoric out of the 1orth against 6outh .orean President Moon -ae-in, coming from the -year-old sister of 1orth .orean dictator .im -ong 8n, the rising star of the regime, .im

In a statement this week, .im

1orth .orea’s state media published photos of the destruction of the joint liaison office. Pyongyang is shutting off communications with 6eoul, and a frustrated 6outh looks to be ginning up and reciprocating.

The 1orth-6outh detente appears dead, and President Trump’s special relationship with .im -ong 8n may not be far behind.

There are rumors of a renewal of nuclear weapons and long-range missile tests by the 1orth, suspension of which was one of the diplomatic achievements of Trump.

:hether Trump’s cherished trade deal with China can survive the growing iciness between the two nations remains to be seen.

:hat the Chinese seem to be saying with their actions – – against India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, +ong .ong and -apan – – is this:

1o one should want a hot war, or a new cold war, with China or 1orth .orea.

But if Trump was relying on his special relationships with .im -ong 8n and ;i -inping, his trade deal with China and his commitment by .im to give up nuclear weapons for recognition, trade and aid, he will have to think again.

)or the foreseeable future, Communist bellicosity out of Beijing and Pyongyang seem in the cards, if not worse.

PAT BUCHANAN