No, it isn’t about getting tough on trade and currency manipulation. And no, it isn’t about anything to do with human rights or the environment. As Bloomberg News suggests, it’s all about serving the multinational corporate class that underwrite America’s politicians:
Chief executive officers from Microsoft Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will be among the corporate leaders the Obama administration is bringing together today for a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao aimed at expanding U.S. business interests in China.
CEOs Steve Ballmer of Microsoft and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman will be joined by General Electric Co.’s Jeffrey Immelt, Jim McNerney of Boeing Co. and 10 other U.S. business leaders for the meeting, the administration announced.
Is there a similar meeting being set up by the White House between President Hu and, say, labor leaders? Do I even need to ask? Absolutely not, especially considering that “expanding U.S. business interests in China” is mediaspeak for “moving production facilities to China” – which, unto itself, is a fancier way of saying “outsourcing more American jobs abroad.”
