Two stories about the bizarre relationship between the United States and China seem to underscore the not-so-subtle double standard of American foreign policy.
The first is the revelation that the American government is laying 13 charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou for alleged money laundering and a host of other alleged breaches of trade and sanction violations.
The second involves trade talks between the U.S. and China.
READ MORE: U.S. charges Huawei, proceeding with Meng extradition from Canada
Of course, none of the allegations have been proven in court, but the implications are serious; just ask the Canadian government, which has been sucked into this diplomatic vortex.
But, while the justice department is chasing Huawei, a group of America’s heavyweight trade negotiators are preparing to meet with Chinese officials to discuss dialling down the tariff war and working toward a trade deal between the two countries.
WATCH BELOW: U.S. justice department files charges against Huawei exec held in Canada
A cynic might suggest that the legal action against Huawei might be used as bargaining leverage for the Americans to gain a more favourable trade deal with the Chinese.
That would add credence to the theory that the American request for Canadian authorities to arrest Meng was, at least in part, politically motivated.
It may seem hypocritical for the Americans to label the Chinese as international trade scoundrels, yet try to strike a deal with those very same scoundrels. But, as poet John Lyly wrote hundreds of years ago, “All is fair in love and war” — and apparently, in politics as well!
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.
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