Will Kamala Harris unify Democrats or expose weaknesses?
Chairman of The Harris Poll Mark Penn breaks down what the Kamala Harris VP choice says about Joe Biden and the state of the Democrat Party.
Sen. Kamala Harris hasn’t been in Washington long enough to make her mark in defense and foreign policy. So, Harris mostly takes the expected Democrat line, aiming to cut defense spending, soothe Iran and embrace the Left’s international climate change policies.
However, Harris has come out strong on one theme: China. Even as a freshman senator she challenged China on Hong Kong, the ethnic minority Uihgurs, steel dumping and cyber espionage. Despite some early gaffes, I see in Harris a potential China hawk.
China might agree, for they are already slamming Harris for “her harsh stance on China” per state-run Communist Party mouthpiece The Global Times.
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If Harris does sharpen her talons on China, watch out. As California’s attorney general, she took on big banks and transnational gangs. I’d like to see Harris go after China’s Xi Jinping the way she went after Biden in the 2019 debates.
Harris does have some big negatives. In May, she co-sponsored a Senate resolution condemning the term “Wuhan virus” as anti-Asian. That’s not serious foreign policy.
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However, when she drops the rhetoric, Harris can sound like a cool-headed realist. She pounced on a chance to talk China in the Sep. 12, 2019, ABC News Democratic Debate. “It’s a complicated relationship,” Harris said of China. “I sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee and Homeland Security Committee,” Harris remarked. “We need to partner with China on North Korea.”
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That comment tells me Harris has seen spine-chilling briefings on North Korea and realizes China’s key role in denuclearization. She’s also been exposed to the full ramifications of the China threat penetrating American society.
I give it at least a 50-50 chance Harris evolves into a surprisingly strong voice on China. Here’s why.
Hong Kong. Harris took her stand on the repression of Hong Kong a year ago, when others like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., declined to do so. “I stand with the people of Hong Kong and affirm the fundamental right of all people to peacefully protest for their rights,” she tweeted on Aug. 13, 2019.
Trade. On trade, Harris bashed Trump’s tariffs and their impact on California. But her in-depth statements say more. “We have to hold China accountable for trade theft, intellectual property theft, for dumping substandard products into our economy, including substandard steel,” Harris told PBS Iowa in November 2019. “Our highest priority is exporting American products, not American jobs,” Harris added.
Her brief record as senator shows Harris has some of the right instincts on China.
Cyber Espionage. Almost two years ago, Harris introduced legislation to combat cyber economic espionage and make it easier to prosecute trade thieves like China. The bill came in December 2018 as the FBI was announcing high-profile indictments of Chinese hackers. She re-introduced the bill in 2019. In July 2020, she sponsored another Senate bill requiring foreign agent news outlets to disclose their connections – that’s you, Chinese press.
The Uighurs. Harris denounced China’s “abysmal human rights record” in a Council on Foreign Relations interview in 2019, and has followed up, supporting Senate calls this summer for investigation into China’s treatment of the Uighur minority.
Her brief record as senator shows Harris has some of the right instincts on China. However, Harris has yet to speak forcefully on the military threats posed by China. On June 15, China’s military killed 20 Indian soldiers in a shocking border fight. Don’t forget Harris’ mother emigrated from Chennai, India, and her aunt still lives in the city, which Harris has visited often.
We also don’t know how Harris – as VP or someday, president – would handle China on 5G.
America and allies like Britain and France are going all-out to stop China’s Huawei from dominating worldwide installation of 5G wireless network devices. It’s unclear if Harris, so new to national politics, will be firm enough on 5G.
She made a wishy-washy move supporting a 2019 Democrat bill to take away FCC jurisdiction and restore local city control over installing 5G devices on utility poles. That piecemeal approach could give China’s spies a back door to utility poles in towns and cities for espionage across the U.S.
No Democrat can be soft on China this year. Just look around. Americans haven’t forgotten we are in this coronavirus lockdown mess and economic catastrophe due to China, which committed the heinous act of covering up COVID-19, then trying to blame it on others.
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In the end, perhaps China’s propagandists will make Harris into a hawk. China’s Global Times even mocked Harris’ Chinese name. Yes, the Federal Voting Rights Act required Harris and all other candidates to choose a Chinese name for the ballot in San Francisco, where over 17% of registered voters are Chinese speakers. Harris, who says her first name Kamala stands for “lotus flower,” branched out and chose He Jinli for her Chinese ballot name. It means intricate, beautiful celebration. It’s a California thing.
America’s China strategy is the existential question of the 2020s. Hopefully, as an ascendant Democrat, Harris can start to put national security ahead of identity politics at least when it comes to China.