Monday, May 25, 2020

Coronavirus & China: Max Baucus Shills for Beijing's Propaganda Machine

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, former U.S. ambassador to China Max Baucus has given a series of interviews to Chinese state media outlets in which he criticized the American response to the crisis in a rather provocative manner.

"There were times when I said, Senator, I know you love China, but we need to allocate appropriate time vis-à-vis the time you spend on China and trade issues versus what you spend on ," Sullivan said, adding that Baucus did not heed his advice.

Sullivan said that Baucus's interest in China was noted in other quarters: "If you were in the multinational business community interested in China, you knew Max Baucus was going over there."

At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on June 6, 2002, Baucus expressed hope, tempered with some skepticism, that China's entrance into the WTO would spur "Greater opportunities" for U.S. businesses as well as the reform of governance inside China.

In late 2013, President Obama nominated Baucus to the post of U.S. ambassador to China.

During his confirmation hearing in January 2014, Baucus told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "I'm no real expert on China." Eventually confirmed as ambassador despite his stated lack of expertise, Baucus took up the post at a sensitive moment in U.S.-China relations.

Senator Josh Hawley, who has established himself as one of the foremost skeptics of the global-trade regime's status quo, has even called to disband the World Trade Organization that Baucus and countless U.S. officials helped China to join.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/coronavirus-china-max-baucus-shilling-for-beijing-propaganda-machine/

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