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Trade Brings Prosperity And Freedom
I want you to be free to run your life the way you think best, not the way Al Gore or George Bush thinks is best.

Neither of those two candidates, nor any other person in the federal government should be deciding whether you can buy from, or sell to, the Chinese.

If you believe trade should be linked to human rights improvements in Tibet, or the lessening of religious persecution by Beijing, then you might refuse to buy or sell Chinese products. But your question, Kelly, asks whether the government should force all Americans to conform to the conclusion reached by the politically powerful. I do not believe trade relations should be decided by whoever currently occupies the White House. Rather, these matters should be decided independently by each American for himself.

If you delegate to the government the right to restrict trade with China because you think China abuses the Tibetans, then you automatically will have given the government the power to restrict trade with any other country that falls out of favor with politicians. Human rights abuses are perpetrated not only by the Chinese government, but also by virtually every single governmental entity across the globe. Suddenly, you and your friends and neighbors will find that you need to obtain permission from Washington D.C. in order to trade with anyone currently out of favor with the President. That would be a system contrary to the interests of all Americans.

Sanctions are supposedly aimed at dictators, but like war or other aggressive acts, it is the innocent who are hurt. There have been trade sanctions against Cuba since 1963; how have they helped America or helped the Cuban people to be free? If trade sanctions worked, Fidel Castro would have fled Cuba long ago and Saddam Hussein would no longer wield power in Iraq.

As to invasion of Taiwan by China, my Administration would react with disgust and disapproval, as I disapprove of all efforts to solve problems by initiating violence. But, the highest obligation of the American government is the protection of its own citizens. I would not involve the American military because it is un-American to shed one drop of American blood for the sake of foreign nations.