Tuesday, January 25, 2011

U.S. hypocritical on treatment of China versus Cuba

Las Vegas Sun

Letter to the Editor:

John Esperian, Las Vegas

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Will someone please explain the justification for the total hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy regarding China?

Perhaps someone from the Tea Party — which advocates less and less government intrusion in the lives of American citizens — can help explain the red carpet treatment of China’s communist President Hu Jintao and the concurrent 50-year-long embargo of “communist” Cuba, designed originally to bring down Fidel Castro?

If the answer is absence of human rights, have we forgotten that this is the Tiananmen Square China that leads the world in repressive governmental policies? Or could it be simple Economics 101: Cuba has 11 million people, while China has more than a billion — making for great market potential? The cynical answer is, of course, that Miami Cubans, who despise Castro, vote in a powerful bloc, influencing both local and national elections.

Continuing to open the doors to China, for commerce and dialogue, as Richard Nixon initiated years ago, is good for everyone, so why not do the same for the island nation 90 miles off the coast of Florida?

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