Democrats Are Allowing Trump to Frame the Debate on China
“Have you ever met anyone who’s read the party platform? I haven’t,” the former Republican House Speaker John Boehner said during a 2012 interview about his party’s manifesto. Last week, the Democratic National Committee released a draft of its new platform. But in this case, when it comes to China, the document merits a close read. It shows how dramatically President Donald Trump has reframed the debate about relations with Beijing—and how challenging those terms will prove for Democrats, even if they’re lucky enough to regain power.
The first notable element of the draft platform is how large mentioned “China” or “Chinese” eight times. This year’s document references the rising superpower and its people 25 times. (By contrast, references to Iran have fallen from 16 to seven.)
